Hello Frank,

I'm curious, as I've never seen the 228 before. Is it a long engine? If it is, I think a very good combination exists for you to get into the "left lane" and run with the big dogs.

I think your gearing may be causing most of your troubles. I am by no means a gearing guru, I just deal with engines. 4:11 is very low for a road hawg, you spend alot of your time over the back edge of your torque curve - heading for peak hp. Acceleration is all about riding your torque curve upwards. I'm not saying you don't have the hp to play in the fast lane, but its takes a hard downshift to get back over your torque curve and run at a higher relative rpm to get to your desired mph. I don't care what engine you're talking about, the higher sustained rpm - the shorter life it has.

I was recently treated to a ride in Bob Criswell's Dodge Bros. Coupe (Thanks again Bob!). He installed a very tall gear in the coupe and hitched the stock 230 to a t-5 tranny. Peak torque on a stock 230 is somewhere in the 2500-3000 range with peak hp in the low 4000's

His coupe was cruising down the road at 2000 rpm in 5th,@60mph, and just begging for more rpm. A good lean on the pedal, and you could feel the little 230 climbing up the torque band with noticable acceleration. He had all the throttle response you would want with no downshift to get there. He leaned on the pedal and put us in high 70's @2500 in seconds and had more pedal to go.

It was sweet, I promise!

The ideal setup to me would be to cruise just before the peak of my torque curve, use the curve to help me accelerate without a shift. Then, if If wanted to get froggy, use the rest of my torque range to bang me into peak hp at a significantly higher mph - after a good shift to wake it up!

The "seat of your pants" feel Bob's coupe has is directly associated with his engine dwelling just at the front side of his torque curve, right below its peak. His engine wants to accelerate all the time, and your engine has already reached its peak looking for another gear.

Bob would likely show you his license plate on the big road, but you would probably show him yours on the strip!

I hope Bob chimes in and gives us a good talk on mopar gearing.

Hudson

[This message has been edited by Hudson (edited 08-31-2001).]