The following is in reference to a 3.44 final.
1st gear. You will never use it on a track, ever. Gear it for stop lights and putting it on the trailer. Mine is 2.66. A bit taller would be more in line with a race gear, 2.4 would be perfect in a hairpin, but 2.6 is a good street/trailer ramp gear. Anything lower than 3.0 is a waste of a gear. You will start using 2nd to take off.
Your 51mph 1st @ 2.58/3.78 is too low IMHO. You want at about 65 mph out of 1st. This will get you a comfortable approx 35mph @ 3K revs shift point.
2nd gear. My 2.66 first goes well with the 1.75 second I have. I do use 2nd at thunder hill through the cyclone but nowhere else..... unless I am really trying then its 3rd. Good for slow speed around the neighborhood and will feel right at about 25-30mph when you are being good with the cops around. By the way the car will just fly if you stand on it at about 3500 in this gear. Best tire smoke, donuts gear.
3rd gear. Here's where the car lives. Mine is 1.38. I shift at 5800 and it is really pulling hard. That's just short of about a 100mph @ 6K. It will reach all the way down to about 50mph (approx 3K )and still really pull hard.
4th, you are going to want a 1 to 1 gear in forth. 6K revs will get to just above 140 mph. Perfect for most main straights without using 5th.
5th. A really nice cruse rev is about 2500. SBF's just feel good at that rev when cruising down the highway at 75 mph. A .75 5th will get you 76mph @ 2500 with a 26.5 inch tire.
If you run a 26 inch rear all these gears are near perfect for a 6K limmited SBF. More revs will just let you pull each gear longer.
Don't forget the limmited slip. I'll make my plug for a Quaife TBD. Look into them and don't build a nice fast 40 without a limmited slip of some kind. If you do you will regret it.
By the way at most race tracks you will use only 3rd and 4th. And that's on street tires. If you run slicks then all your corner speeds will be much higher. If you decide you will want to use 5th at the track then go with a .8 5th. This will get you a nice usable rev drop and the car will still be OK on the freeway cruse speed. Still well below 3k @75. I run at 80MPH 2900rpm with a 315X35X17 rear. I think that's about 25.7 diameter or so. Still very comfortable.
I bet you never run the car at 200mph. But I bet you run the car more than half the time at 75mph.
By the way Alen, drop me a PM. We both live in the bay area and I'll buy you a beer if you drop by for a chat.
