I've got a great setup for highway driving. 2:88 rear + a 5 speed with
.73 5th gear. RPMs are around 2000 at 70. When you hit 100 mph or above
(not that I would....wink, wink, wink), there's still lots and lots of
RPMs still to go. It's not super strong from a dead stop though, and
you have to get it more in the mid range with the gearing before it
starts to get exciting. I'm probably going to go to a 3:21 or so (I
forget the exact number) soon to get some more jump at the starting line
while still keeping 70 mph RPMs below 2500.
If you haven't found it, there's a great "Sunbeam Speed Calculator"
available for download on the Sunbeam Alpines page (which is a great
information site even for those of us with the extra four cylinders).
When there, go down the column and click on "tech tips" and you'll see
it at the bottom of the list. Download it to your computer and you can
figure out exactly what your RPMs will be with different gear ratios and
tire sizes. If you want to figure what a fifth gear would give you, just
enter your 5th gear ratio into it and you have it.
Here's the link:
http://www.team.net/www/rootes/sunbeam/alpine/mk1-5/index.html
Steve Sage
|