Mendeola.....3:55-vs-4:11

[fastthings]

I figure I would start/continue the discusion of the gears.

quote from Crash,
"Well, we run the 4:11 and our top speed is about 140 MPH on the Thunderhill straight away with 380 RWHP. Top speed in 5th at 6500 RPM would come out to around ~196 MPH if we had a longer straight or more HP. I think that is plenty fast, don't you? I think the biggest problem is probably the exhaust note. Cruising at under 3k is not that bad, unless the exhaust or intake is really loud...IMHO."

196mph is certianly fast enough for me, I seem to enjoy quik bursts up to 120, 140 or so. I'm really not expecting the car to be quiet. I will only drive it a few months a year, on sunny days. By the time I'm ready they will most likely have the 3:55 thing ironed out.

Does it sound like a may enjoy the 4:11 gear over the 3:55? In the test drive video Dave didn't seem to hapy with the 4:11 gear.

Hell, I don't know. Help me out guys, what gear do I want????

[crash]

I will tell you that long before FFR was involved with Mendeola, I sat down with Mike and Ian and we discussed the 3:55. IMHO it is the "right" final drive for the GTM. That said, I adjusted the gearing I chose for the FFR PDG GTM to accomodate the 4:11 and it has been just fine. I was able to get the gearing pretty much exactly where I wanted it with the exception of 5th gear. Mendeola made a custom 5th gear(which took 8-9 months to get actually into the gear box) and all has been well as far as gearing for the last year or so. We should be uping the horsepower this year and will see where things end up. I don't think we will change much as the gearing is more specific to a track as opposed to a power level as the car can only get through a corner so quickly because of grip, regardless of power level of the engine.

To answer your question, the 3:55 is what you optimally want, but the 4:11 will be just fine.

Think about this. Why not start with the 4:11, and if it doesn't work, then go ahead and swap out to the 3:55 once the 3:55 is sorted and "on the shelf"? I'm sure Ian can answer what the cost of swapping out the R&P would be, but I can't imagine it's over $1,000, and I will guess that once you try the 4:11, you will be fine with it. Heck, if they still have the SDR with the 4:11 in the 914 test car at Mendeola, you could even try it before you buy it! :)