this is exactly my reasoning as well...
my tranny is actually on the way to shep..when it gets there I'll ask him which route I should take.

I just want to do 9's and finish in 4th with my stroker..which can rev up to 8900rpms...

hoping that fiddling with the ratio's can do it easily...
just dont want problems with launching as one guy said...if it really is like that

 

Just to clear up a lot of the mis-information in this thread...

The Ultimate Ratio transmission from Shep uses Evo 9 1st and 5th gears, and Evo 8 3rd and 4th gears. The 2nd gear is identical on both 8 and 9.

It does not include a final drive change, but it is an option.

An Evo VIII tranny has the following redlines:
1st 39mph 2nd 59mph 3rd 82mph 4th 112mph 5th 160mph

An Evo IX tranny has these redlines:
1st 41mph 2nd 59mph 3rd 80mph 4th 105mph 5th 151mph

So the "Utlimate Ratio" has:
1st 41mph 2nd 59mph 3rd 82mph 4th 112mph 5th 151mph

If you were to change to 4.11 final drive, from the stock 4.53, you would get:
1st 46mph 2nd 65mph 3rd 90mph 4th 123mph 5th 167mph

 

^^^^^
Thanks for the information....

 

ended up getting my shep trans..being installed right now.

I would advise all you guys looking to get an upgraded tranny from him to ....tell him exactly what your aim is!

obviously the same tranny isnt gonna work for all of us. I told shep what my aim was, what was my est trap speed and what wheel/tire combo I'd be using.

Using this info he worked out the gearing and designed a gearbox based on my goals.

Just slightly off topic...My gearbox came back looking more new..well..more new than a ******* new one! I could've eaten off of it!

 

and to translate that into ratios that means:

EVO8: 2.928, 1.950, 1.407, 1.031, 0.72

EVO9: 2.785, 1.950, 1.444, 1.096, 0.761

Shep: 2.785, 1.950, 1.407, 1.031, 0.761

 

so whats the ideal setup for the twisty track? oem final drive seems somewhat reasonable with this ultimate tranny setup, maybe 4:11. i think the IX 4th would be more appropriate for any kind of road racing events like time attack, or big auto-x courses because you dont need to worry about shifting in to 5th at the end of a 1/4.

on second thought, ill just go test it on my Evo on GT4