Selecting gear ratios

[Ron Roberts]

In selecting gear ratios there are a few different considerations I guess. Just because the engine makes alot of power doesn't mean you want alot of tall gearing, which is what it sort of sounded like in my first post above. Even if you have 3 times the power between 1000 and 2000 rpm as a stocker you still want to consider the engines power band. And also the speed in MPH or KPH that you like to drive and shift. Also with the air cooled engine it is best to ere (or is it error) on the low side with your gearing. I brought this up because I have a mild 2017 with good low end power. The engine wants to shift into 2nd around 10MPH which is sooner than I like. If the engine liked to rev higher and was well ballanced I could rev it more without it feeling like it needed to shift. 3rd and 4th are pretty good for my engine.
3.875 R/P
3.8
2.06
1.26
.89
1st is almost useless and 2nd is just a little short. With a good T4 I could see the gearing being a little taller for non racing transportion. Shoot, if I wanted to drag race I'd go with a T1 and even shorter gearing!

Thanks for the replies
Ron