914 Nose Shift gear ratios

[Beetle_X]

Hi, I need a nose cone shift transaxle and I'm confused on the factory installed ratios. I have read where all 914s have the same gear ratios but there are guides that go into length on how to determine the gearing from the serial number. I want a transaxle that has a overdrive that will produce lower than 2400 rps at 70mph or so. I would rather not have two overdrive gears to help with acceleration.

Thanks for the help!

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

All of the 914-4 transmissions had the same gearing. The 914-6 transmissions had different gearing--1st and 4th were the same, while 2nd and 3rd were taller, and 5th was shorter.

See: 901&915Ratios

Note that both 4th and 5th are overdrive gears, but the 7:31 R&P is relatively short so they don't result in super low revs on the freeway.

Lots of gear sets were available at one time or another for the 901-based transmissions, but a lot of them are currently made out of unobtanium, and priced accordingly. Oh, and 2nd gear is a part of the mainshaft, so it can never be swapped unless you come up with the huge $$ for the 904 mainshaft.

--DD

[Beetle_X]

Thanks for the great run down on that! Your reply will save me alot of time.

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

Oh, and in the 914 world we usually refer to the early-style transmission as "tail shifter", since the end of the transmission is at the back of the car. The later-style 914 trans is the "side shifter", and is generally preferred because of the shorter and less complex linkage, which gives fewer opportunities for slop.

--DD