Do you think this could possibly work for a Syncro?
Yes, but there are
some clearance issues. Also, there is no way to outfit this transmission with a
locking rear differential and there would be no granny gear. It would make a
great "Allroad" style Vanagon but not one suited for heavy offroading.
Incidentally, the Subaru AWD system is a true full
time system with a center differential and 50/50 front to rear torque
distribution. It's a good system. Kind of like turning the capable t3 syncro we know into a t4 syncro. I'll pass. Great read though with some otherwise some great ingenuity.
To: subaruvanagon@...
From: gpanderson@...
Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2012 20:47:39 -0600
Subject: Re: [subaruvanagon] Regearing 3rd & 4th gear after conversion
Use the Subaru transmission made for the engine
On 2012-04-17, at 20:02, Richard Koerner <rjkinpb@...> wrote:
They used to advertise "close ratio transmissions" as a selling point back in the 70's. I'm still not even sure what that means. But I'm guessing winding it out "equally" in all four gears, and then cruise merrily along. I've been advised by an extremely knowledgeable Vanagon guy to NOT change the gears when considering a Subie conversion; a modest tinkering with tire diameters is OK but DON'T change the ratios inside the tranny.
Rich
San Diego
--- On Tue, 4/17/12, Scott Daniel - Turbovans <ScottDaniel@...> wrote:
From: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <ScottDaniel@...>
Subject: Re: [subaruvanagon] Regearing 3rd & 4th gear after conversion
To: subaruvanagon@...
Cc: "Tom Dueck" <glen_burnie@...>
Date: Tuesday, April 17, 2012, 6:51 PM
I can tell you this ..
higher 3rd and 4th gears are not neccessarily better.
two cases..
one guy raised his gearing in hopes of better fuel milage as he was
spinning something like 3,800 rpm at a good cruise speed.
His fuel mileage got worse, not better, going for lower rpm's at cruise
speed.
( and 3,800 is not that bad on a 6K rpm engine anyway )_
another case ...I insalled a modified gearbox into an SVX Syncro I had
built for a guy.
He raised 3rd and 4th ..
and in my opinion kinda ruined it.
Sure ..with a very tall 4th you can cruise at 75 + more replaxed than
with stock gearing. ..
but how often does one get to cruise that fast anyway.
the real bad part though was..
I'd be drivin' nicely in 3rd ....50ish and rev's were too high for
relaxed goin' down the road..
shift into 4th ..lugging .
Shift back to 3rd ...more rev's than ideal.
There are no 'holes' in the stock gear like this..
the gap between ratios is very important.
if one wanted to raise the over all gearing in all gears ( and thus not
affect the gap between gears ) that would be fine..
say 10 % worth ...like with taller tires.
The gaps between the ratios are quite good the way VW set their manual
trans us ..
and ...they also match a fat wide torque curve ..
which both a waterboxer and a subaru engine have.
( in a wbxr...there's not all that much power ..but you are strong in
the power band from about 2,800 to 4,400 rpm , roughly ..
subaur is the same way ..
good power at say 2,500 on up ..to over 5K rpm ..
that matches stock gear ratio gaps very nicely.
If anything ...just raise the overall gearing a little, but don't raise
just 3rd and 4th.
Doing that turned a very nice 'power is nice in all modes..
whether loafing or rippin' vanagon' into one that has holes in its
power curve from gear to gear, mainly 3rd and 4th.
Scott
www.turbovans.com
On 4/17/2012 4:42 PM, Tom Dueck wrote:
Thanks for your advice, it's much appreciated. There seems to be a mixed consensus on this issue.
Tom
To: subaruvanagon@...
From: eric_rowland1@...
Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2012 12:05:42 -0700
Subject: Re: [subaruvanagon] Regearing 3rd& 4th gear after conversion
My '91 Westy/Syncro is running a 3.0 conversion w/16" rims and a higher 3rd/4th gear courtesy of Lucas Hofgard in Boulder. The higher 3rd works as intended and the gear spacing between 2nd/3rd is not an issue when driving in town. Even here in the Southern Rockies at 7000 feet with the higher 4th gear I can climb almost any hill at highway speeds and maintain 60/65 in 3rd on those occasions where I need to downshift. From my experience, I'd recommend both changes with a 6 cylinder engine but your 2.5 may have different requirements and your location may present a different set of issues. If your trans is in good shape you can leave it intact and add 16" rims to see if that gives you the upper range you're looking for on the highway. Then tackle the gearing at another time if the rim/tire choice doesn't give you everything you're looking for.
--- On Tue, 4/17/12, surfervan91<tomdueck@...> wrote:
From: surfervan91<tomdueck@...>
Subject: [subaruvanagon] Regearing 3rd& 4th gear after conversion
To: subaruvanagon@...
Date: Tuesday, April 17, 2012, 10:00 AM
Hello everyone, I'm a newbie here with my first question. I'm about to sink a 2.5L SOHC Subaru into my '91 Westfalia. I've been reading about some people recommending that it's best to regear 3rd and 4th in my Westy tranny to accommodate the new engine. What are people's thoughts on the pros and cons or even the necessity of doing this?
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