Gears Gears Gears!!!!

[COBRAon18s]

GEARS GEARS GEARS!!!!, thats all i ever hear on every single page of this forum, so they gotta be good. Ive got a 99 cobra, pretty much stock except for the h-pipe, and im pissed that camaros and trans ams can get me right of the line. My car has good high end but the low end hp sucks!! I want gears cause everybody says that that is the cheapest thing that will actually make a noticible difference. I have a few questions about them since i know nothing about them (sorry). I know that the preferred brand is FRPP, but here are some questions, any help is apreciated:
1)how will they affect the speed of the car, low end, high end, top speed, quarter mile times.
2)3.73's or 4.10's, i do both highway and city but im looking for a good take off to beat camaros and trans ams
3) will they put any excessive wear on the car
4)what do the gears actually do
5) and any other explinations about gears.

thanks, sorry for all the writing but any help is apreciated, im new at this stuff.