Quote Originally Posted by jayjay View Post
high duration cams dont necessarily correlate with high top end power. nor does having a higher final driver equate to having better acceleration.

with your tdi 5th you'll be able to cruise at sane RPMs but the difference between 4th and 5th will be maaasssivve.

if you plan on going FI or big power, you should keep old ring and pinion because you'll want the taller gears to wind out. (as tim said!)

to make total use of the 288s.a... you'll need a lot more than better gear ratios..
now having a higher duration like a 288 cam makes peak power at much higher rpm than say a 264.pretty much you will have minimal torque before the engine rpm is high enough to maximise lift.this is why 288 are for race and 264 are for street applications. i hear this in numerous NA builds and it sounds pretty much common sense.

as for gearing 3,94 does create better acceleration compared to stock gearing besides head work done however you are sacificing top speed in that gear for acceleration another reason "i think were are pretty much saying the same thing"

as for 288 application major head would need to be done to increase cfm (air flow) to see get the best out of these cams.