12:1 vs 8:1 or 6:1 pros and cons??

[CutlerBaysFinesT]

I currently have a 2007 yamaha gas g29 "the drive" golf cart. It has original stock gears which I believe are 12:1. I want to increase the speed and go with either 8:1 or 6:1 . i know the 6:1 would be faster than the 8:1 but would my torque be affected big time or what. Thanks! Also what are the cons other than losing torque?

[worqhors]

A 6:1 will double the rotation of the rear wheels vs. a 12:1. But it will not double your speed.

[SandbaggerYDRA]

A few considerations:

Are you planning on lifting the cart and putting on larger tires? If so then you might want to pass on the aftermarket gear set. Larger tires have the same effect as changing the drive ratio and with both larger tires AND the 8:1 or 6:1 gears you won't have any low end torque, and you will probably load the engine down to the point where it won't make enough RPM to give you max top end.

On the other hand, if you plan on sticking with the stock size tires, the 8:1 gear set will definitely boost your top end speed, without sacrificing too much off of the low end. Combine this with governor mods, and you can see speeds around 30 MPH or so. I would not go with 6:1 gears unless you live in a totally flat area, as you will lose a lot of low-end grunt. The bottom line is that there is only so much you can get out of an 11-ish HP engine. Now if you were also planning on a "big block" engine swap, the 6:1 gears would be fine.