5 Speed swap

MopaR&D said

I'm not trying to disagree with you and am seriously considering swapping in the AX-15 I have sitting on my garage floor out of my old Jeep XJ, but... the key factor I think you're missing is the torque converter. Even a stock converter allows for 1000 RPM or more of slippage when the engine is at WOT during a gear change. So the actual RPM drop from a 904 with those gear ratios is quite a bit less than a manual transmission with those ratios.

Click to expand...

While I don't completely disagree, remember that above stall the TC isn't going to slip. It might allow for a 1000 RPM "flair" when gently rolling through an intersection, but it isn't going to do that when it shifts at WOT. Unless I am ignorant of something, at best a TC is only going to slip maybe 5% above stall, if it a loose TC.

And a clutch can be slipped, too. If anything, I would expect a clutch to have more of an RPM flair at WOT that a TC will unless the stall is really high.

I've got to add that for most people how an AX15 with a tall gear might drive is an opinion based on theory (myself included), but for @75slant6 it is an opinion based on experience. Doesn't mean that for someone else it might be less than they hoped, but he has at least done it and can say how it feels to him rather than what he thinks it might feel like.