What gearbox is the best for just track days eg strength ratio's as i find the standard abf box long winded and syncro's weak , or is there a combination of ratio's from different boxes that can be put together to come up with right box etc The car is a mk2 running ABF engine. Thanks for any help mike
All your options are listed in the Transmission FAQ section You have probably got an 02A CDA, but grab the code to make sure (should be on a flat surface of gbox facing up, near starter/ flywheel inspection hole) For example here are the other 02A boxes available: From thread: http://www.clubgti.com/showthread.php?115595-Gearbox-and-ratios-FAQ-VW-range
Thanks for the list but that means nothing to me all i won't to know if possiable is what people have tryed and tested and found to be the best way to go. Whether it be apart from a vr6 box and a final drive from this box which makes a good reciepe for the ideal gearbox. Thanks mike
I'd be more inclined to go for an 020 box - the flywheel is half the weight of the 02A cable change box, so should help the engine spin up a bit quicker. A standard Mk2 8v or Mk2 16v GTI box could be your base, but it will make a huge difference if you get hold of a 3.89 or 4.25 CWP for it, as well as fitting a limited slip diff. That'll make more difference than any engine tuning you might do for similar money. Synchros are all much of a muchness I think. Better gear oil might help a bit, but hard use will still wear them out.
This is a picture of the underside of my trackday car which ive just finished building already have had one outing at snett, i already have a quaife diff for this box. The flywheel has already been lightened to minimum weight before you loose any engine braking and the engine has had alot of head work.
Believe it or not, the box you have, even with a light 02a flywheel will still 'feel' quite flat compared to the same engine with an 020 with a lightened flywheel, even if the ratios were the same. Main reason is the weight of flywheel. The 020 would be around 3.2kg, the 02a 5.2kg(bit lighter with a fidanza). It kills the feel regardless of the headwork and shiny paint on the underside of your car lol But if you already have a diff and don't want to go down the route of swapping everything over to 020 I recommend you look into changing the final drive at least. If you've got a mk3 16v box (you don't mention the code so we assume it is the original) then you're running a 3.6 final drive. You can change this to a 3.9 or 4.2. While it's apart you can also look into ratio swaps for the rest of the gearing. You really need to do someresearch if you're doing track days and think your gearing is holding you back. All the 02a/j ratios are interchangeable so you have plenty of choice. The only thing you really have to look at is 1st and 2nd that are machined on and cannot be seperated so you'd need to pick a pair that are suitable.
