What gear set for a 1340 at Daytona?
Headed to run at Daytona in early December. Has anybody run there with a 1340? Curious what gear ratio to use.
I'll take a stab at this although I don't really know. The top speed of the track appears to be pretty fast. My rule of thumb is to match the top speed of the track with the top speed of the gear ratio set, and then bring another set if in-between. For example, the top speed of VIR is about 144 to 146 mph on the back straight. Most people run the standard gear set 3.07:1, but I prefer the 2.91:1 ratio. If a track is faster than about 144 mph, then consider 2.91. If 135ish mph top speed (e.g. Barber MSP), then go up to 3.235:1. This is with a 1500cc, however I am not sure how much difference it makes at Daytona. For tracks that have a slow turn leading into a long straight (e.g. COTA), the 1500 has a little bit of an advantage over 1340 on the top speed, but for tracks where momentum is critical (e.g. Watkins Glen), then there is less difference between 1340 and 1500.
So what is the top speed of Daytona in a 1340? Well the FE2 is nearly identical performance to an SR3 1500cc, and one race I watched on Youtube showed 150mph on the straight or the banked straight. 150mph is faster than I have ever gone in an SR3, so I would say try the 2.91:1 set. What I don't know is how drag affects top speed in a 1340 compared to 1500. If a 1340 has sufficient power to redline the standard gear set in 6th gear (I would guess that it does), then I would start with the 2.91:1 set, but if not then standard ratio.
One of the owner's manuals for SR3 has a top speed for each gear and gear set at 10,500 rpm. I grabbed the screen shot for you to see.