Tranny gears

[Mike Martin]

I would like some of your thoughts on gear stacks. I know alot about vw trannys and have my on opinion.  Other people also have theres. My friened has a car with a stock 378.1 1st, 206 2nd,[big drop in rpms], 158 third and a 114 4th. The ring gear is a 411.1. To many rpms lost,2nd gear. My friend said he was going to try a 388.1 in his car with a short gear stack. I told him with a short stack he needed to use a 388.1 ring gear. He only runs half of 3rd gear in the 1/8 mile. The car weighs 1800pd and runs mid 7s with a small motor. Say you put a 413 or 411 st, 246 2nd, 172 third and 132 4th. I say that the car will shift faster, pull harder and run faster in the 1/8th mile. Do you think that the car will run faster or slower. The friend of mine talkes to a guy and he said it would make his car slow down. What are your thoughts. I told my friend that the guy was crazy. Just my opinion. A know of some pro stock cars that have short gear stacks in them and they all fly.  Please reply with your thoughts so my friened can make his on mind up about using the stack he has or building a short stack . He wants to go faster.

[superdrag]

I ran a 3.88 with a 3.78 and 2.06 in the 1/8th mile, then went to a 4.12 with the same mainshaft thinking it would make a world of differance.  NO CHANGE AT ALL in the e.t.'s in the 1/8th mile.  However, it did cause me to run out of gear in the 1/4.  This is a high 7 second car in the 1/8th.

[Ohio Tom (DdK)]

Heck yeah. 3.88 with a 4.11/2.47/1.72/1.32 will get with the program.
You may even run out of gear unless you take the motor to 8Krpm.
Doug's prostock has a 1.27 and1.25 4th for 1/8mi use.
We put a 1.21 to get the car down the 1/4mi.
Still cranking some rpm thru the traps.
Runs 10.30's in the 1/4.

[Mike Martin]

I told my friend just listen to me and I will get his heavy a$$ car down the track. It should run low 7s. The motor is set up to run 8k easy. 544 lift and 328 duration, no ploblem. Thanks Tom for your input.

[orangepeel]

3.78, 2.21, 1.65, 1.25  with a 4.11 Ring and Pinnion will work well for both the 1/8th and the 1/4 mile. I ran that setup for 14 years in a 1850lb car. Remember switching to a 3.88 will change the whole setup 500 rpms. If your friend is in the mid 7's with the current gear setup , closing the gap from 1st to 2nd will really help. I use the CB Gear ratio calculator when I build a gear box.

[mmccarthy]

 Hey Mike,
              I sold my old tranny to Wes Jordan from the Ghia and it made a differance. The old tranny was 3.88/ 3.78/2.06/ stock 3rd and forth on a 26 inch tire, the one I sold him was 3.88/ 3.78/2.31/1.58/1.21 on the same slicks, his engine is a 64x94 combo. He has been so happy with his car that you couldn't slap the smile off his face.      Mike McCarthy