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Reply to "How do you make it rain in California?... buy a speedster."

"Al is always going to advocate for the drag-race gearing, because he can't help himself."

Thanks for the laugh, Stan! If I was strictly a drag race advocate I'd be telling anyone with a 1915 or smaller to use a 4.375 ring & pinion with close ratio gears; it'll give the best acceleration off the line (highway speeds will suck big time, but that's the price you pay with a 4 speed). Back on topic- Ted has a stock (3.78 or 3.80 with 2.06 2nd; doesn't matter which) mainshaft which, along with a 3.88 r&p, will serve well for street gears. This combination (in a 5 speed) will give a car that's still pretty snappy on the street (which he's said he doesn't want to lose) and have the highway speeds he's looking for as well. So yeah, it's what I (and others) have suggested, as it's the most economical way of doing it.

If I was setting up a 5 speed strictly for acceleration with a 2 liter (or larger) I would probably suggest a 4.125 r&p with 3.78/2.25 2nd (out of the beetle semi-automatic trans and grafted on to the 4 speed mainshaft in place of 2nd)/1.58 3rd/1.21 4th (or maybe 1.26 or even 1.31, depending on the power and rpm's it's made at) and probably .89 for 5th.

Yeah, it's possible to go longer (or taller, whichever you want to call it) with 1st gear, but you and I both know that's a fair chunk of change (1,000 or $1100) and then he'd have to have it lengthened (more $$$), and Ted's patience has already been more than tested with the resulting wait. Also, living in a hilly area, I don't know about a 1st gear much longer than the 3.88/3.78 combo. I'm not saying it can't be done; it just could be a little awkward (at certain traffic lights, stop signs and into a couple of friends' driveways- Vancouver is not flat!).

I can see where (depending on your driving style, power level of the car and locale) running a longer 1st with a 3.88 r&p would be warranted; you get a close ratio 2nd out of the deal, can tighten up the distances between the remaining gears and still get decent highway speeds out of the car. It would be a lot of fun.

Ted- using the VW mainshaft isn't cheaping out; it's the right gearing and strong enough for your application.  

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