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Gear Ratios
whathaveidone - January 25th, 2011 at 09:45 PM

Now i sorted out my spool problens im being forced to rebuild my gearbox. Im thinking of getting Albin gears but not sure weather to stick to stock ratios or something a bit more 1/4mile friendly. What have people out there got and what works the best. Getting sick of pulling the box out.


dangerous - January 26th, 2011 at 07:05 AM

Hi Ben,
you box originally had the following ratios:
4.375 diff
3.778 first(strogest of the VW ratios)
2.059 second
1.50 third
1.125 fourth

The last upgrade that I did for Craig,(when he owned the car),
enabled the use of any Albins 002 style mainshaft set as a future upgrade.
The mainshaft set includes 1st and 2nd gears.

Albins can make any ratio you want as a custom order.


dangerous - January 26th, 2011 at 07:12 AM

In the interest of more strength , you may want to upgrade to a taller,
and thus stronger 4.125 or 3.875 crownwheel and pinion.

My calcs show that at 106.6mph your current RPMs would be about 6750,
so this is pretty good for your engine I think...although your dyno sheets will tell you where tha power drops off.

If you want to just acquire an "off the shelf" gear set from albins,
an easy option with your 4.375 diff would be the 3.33 and 2.08 mainshaft set.

If you go for a taller 4.125 diff, thay also have a 3.55 and 2.25 mainshaft set,
but to maintain the good rev-drops you would probably be best to change third and 4th to a 1.59 and 1.19.


dangerous - January 26th, 2011 at 07:17 AM

Most trans builders would agree that the 3.875 is the strongest crownwheel and pinion,
but to make it work well for drag racing, you will likely need a low first gear ratio.
Albins can custom make any ratio you want, and for your car I would choose:
3.75 first,
2.356 second
1.67 third
1.25 fourth


dragvw2180 - January 26th, 2011 at 09:45 PM

I think both gear sets are good, what I ran in my Ghia was similar, 3.88 rp
3.78 , 2.31, 1.58, 1.21 . The other trans was 3.88rp
3.78 , 221, 1.65, 1.31, both on 26 inch slicks. Mike