I have been approached on numerous occaisions by Vanagon owners asking what
the ideal gearing setup for Subaru powered Vanagons. My interest is
primarily syncros, but I think much of what is said about gearing for 4WD
also applies to 2WD.

The key question that must be answered, upon which all gearing advice
depends, is what rpm the vehicle should have at 76mph (working top speed
given the speed limits). That is, what is the rpm that you would be
comfortable with at 76mph?

If you set the rpms too high, you annoy the passengers in the vehicle and
possibly extra wear on the motor. If you set the rpms too low, then you
have a loss of power and torque.

In the non-subie stock Vanagon with a slight power boost through ratio
rockers and computer chip upgrade, I believe the desirable figure is 76mph
at 4,000 rpm (compared with ~71mph in stock form). But I have heard
comments from subie owners complaining about high rpms, and I am under the
impresssion that subie owners would prefer to set this number lower -- say,
3500 rpms at 76mph, or even lower. How low I just do not know.

This email is a general query to subie owenrs who drive in non-flat areas
of the country to send me an email saying what they judge the best gearing
out come in 4th gear would be, given your experiences. I need emails that
explain "I think we should be at x rpm at x mph in 4th gear.)

This information will later be used to construct tables of desirable
outcomes that other drivers will use in the future when planning their
gears and placing gear orders.

If you have a great deal of clarity about the lower gears as well, I can
accept that data too, but my primary interest is in the 4th gear.

_______________________________________________
Derek Drew
CEO & Co-Founder
http://www.ConsumerSearch.com/
New York, NY
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for product reviews on the Internet
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derekdrew@rcn.com
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