All,
Could someone please put up a cross reference sheet that shows all the gear ratios 1,2,3 and 4 for the IRS Beetle, Kombi 1800 and kombi 2L.
Or just write them up here !!!
I need to compare some figures and cant get straight answers !
Thanks James
From published period road tests:
Superbug S gearbox:
1st: 3.80 2nd: 2.06 3rd: 1.26 4th: 0.88 Diff: 4.125
Superbug L gearbox (and '76 Beetle):
1st: 3.78 2nd: 2.06 3rd: 1.26 4th: 0.93 Diff: 3.875
1600 Kombi gearbox:
1st: 3.80 2nd: 2.06 3rd: 1.26 4th: 0.82 Diff: 5.375
1700 Kombi gearbox:
1st: 3.80 2nd: 2.06 3rd: 1.26 4th: 0.89 Diff: 5.375
1800 Kombi gearbox:
1st: 3.80 2nd: 2.06 3rd: 1.26 4th: 0.89 Diff: 4.86
2000 Kombi gearbox:
1st: 3.78 2nd: 2.06 3rd: 1.26 4th: 0.88 Diff: 4.57
T3 2000 air-cooled Kombi gearbox:
1st: 3.78 2nd: 2.06 3rd: 1.26 4th: 0.85 Diff: 4.57
T3 1915 water-cooled Kombi gearbox:
1st: 4.11 2nd: 2.33 3rd: 1.48 4th: 1.02 5th: 0.77 Diff: 4.86
T3 2109 water-cooled Syncro gearbox:
G: 6.03 1st: 3.78 2nd: 2.06 3rd: 1.23 4th: 0.85 Diff: 4.86
Have fun with your calculator...
Are all these gears interchangable?????😎
Hurry up and wait
albinsgear.com.au has an excellent ratio calculator
Thanks heaps guys,
I appreciate your time !
Bring on the calculator...😁
James -
Phil , the info for the 1700 box is wrong as they are not the same as a 1600 as suggested , sorry cant find my chart at the moment to tell you what the difference is but it definetly diffferent to the 1600 .
Andrew
Don't let body work get in the way of real suspension travel
Hi Andrew,
You are probably right, I just got those figures from period road tests (published in the Brooklyn Books series), and magazines often get things wrong. I will have a look through some workshop manuals and see if I can find any figures different from the above.
Jeff Unwin and Michael 'Shimo' did a lot of work on tailored VW gearbox ratio swaps for custom apps a number of years ago, and their articles were published in the Aussie VW mags of the time. They would be worth talking to if you are going to attempt ratio changes for any reason.
This table comes from the Clymer VW Transporter 1961-78 workshop manual (4th edition), published 1978.
It shows - that for US-spec Kombis anyway - that the 1600 and 1700 gearbox ratios were identical except for the reverse gear.
Wow,
ok Let me get this straight there is a US SPEC KOMBI and a GERMAN ???, BRITISH ??? or AUSTRALIAN ???
I thought they were all the same !!!
Can someone straighten this out for me and provide another cross reference sheet like the one above for the applicable SPEC if they exist !!!
Thanks James
Sorry to jump in here but these numbers are the number of revolutions of the gearbox output to the engine input?
so for e.g
1st = 3.8 revolutions of the motor = 1 revolution of the wheels
2nd = 2.06 revolutions of the motor to 1 revolution of the wheels
3rd = 1.22 revolutions of the motor to 1 revolution of the wheels
etc?
If so this explains why an identical beetle with a 4 speed vs my auto stick with the 3 speed i would take off faster but high end speed i would die out.
Thanks eraser but i understand the process with revolutions etc !
I need figures !
Phil's Table is excellent ! Is there another KOMBI SPEC other than US ?
I thought that all KOMBIS of the same year were the same regardless of where they were built around the world ???
If this is not the case could someone please provide me with MANUAL TRANSAXLE SPECIFICATIONS for the different KOMBIS around the world ???
This really is quite a mission...hahaha
Thanks James -
Hi,
I added the qualifying statement 'for US-spec Kombis', as the Clymer manuals were printed in the USA using US-spec information. We know from experience that US-spec info needs to be treated with a grain of salt when referring to Australian VWs, as they are sometimes different (since the Australian VW factory manufactured VWs here from 1960 to 1968, and assembled them from 1968 to 1976).
For Kombis, the above US-spec info for Kombi gearboxes SHOULD also apply to Australia. After 1968 Australian VWs were locally assembled from German CKD parts, so whatever was right for Germany was also right for Australia, since the gearboxes were made in Germany (but bolted to the body shells in Melbourne).
Some of those road tests I mentioned earlier came from South Africa. They also had their own VW factory - in Uitenhage - which was (and still is) a full-on manufacturing facility. Their gear ratios may have been slightly different to the above. Old stocks of one ratio would have been used up before they changed to a new ratio, so their road tests COULD be different from the US/German specs above. James I don't have any specs for South African Kombis, and I don't think anyone else on here would either. But what does it matter?
Until evidence to the contrary is forthcoming, I think you can regard the Clymer spec table as correct for our Kombis too.
Eraser - not quite. They are revolutions from the engine to the gearbox output shaft. Eg 1st = 3.8 engine revs to 1 output shaft rev, or 4th = 0.88 engine revs to 1 output shaft rev. To get to the wheels, you also have to multiply by the diff ratio (which is constant for all four gears, of course). The higher the diff ratio, the faster the engine turns at a given road speed.
save yourself the hassle and call Shimo at Dunham Autos 02 4284 3666. Ask him what you want the box for and he'll tell you what you need. Even build it for you and put it on a crate if thats what you want.
