SoundGuyDave
This Space For Rent
- Joined
- Apr 9, 2007
- Posts
- 1,978
- Reaction score
- 28
The Rockland does have the holy grail of gear ratios. My motor is happy from 4K - 7K, so I could stay with a 4.10 rear gear and get the same numbers your looking at with the 3.73 gears. 2nd is very usable, 3rd pulls just long enough, 4th-no change, and with 5th being a 0.84 it may be usable. The 0.68 5th gear ratio in the TR-3650 brings my car to a near stall. Is anyone using this tranny? And using 5th gear on track in particular?
When I shift to 5th, my car starts to shutter a little. It's not a comfortable sensation. Am I seeing the beginning of the end for my TR-3650? How does one know their tranny is "on it's last legs" as Dave puts it?
[\politics]
I haven't driven one of the RSG T56 boxes before, but I know their rep is absolutely solid. I think you're reading the numbers right; usable 1st for tight hairpins, absolutely usable 2nd/3rd (depending on exit speed, really), 4th is the same. 5th... I had the Astro RoadRace 5th (.81 from memory) T5 in my old CMC car, and yes, it was absolutely usable. In terms of pull, shifting 4-5 FELT almost the same as 3-4, and while that 302 (Windsor) was set up to spin to 8K, it was all noise and heat at that point; the powerband was all done by 4500 or so. Yes, the RR 5th made a BIG difference at the big tracks (3.55 gears), and the RSG ratios are "close enough" to predict the same results.
I'm not sure what you mean by "shuttering" when you go to 4th. Is it at all times in that gear? Is it ground-speed dependent? 4th is a direct-drive, where the input shaft is directly coupled to the main-shaft, so that takes the cluster gear out of the equation.
With my 3650, the 1-2 synchros are GONE, and the 2-3 are solidly on the way out, so it has to come out and get refreshed. I'd rather put that money into a trans that I don't pathologically hate... The RSG is also a "Magnum" style trans, without a remote-mount shifter, so... It's just a pricey piece, particulalarly when you option it out.