ok, im not sure that this is in the right section but my question is... for example: when people say the b16 tranny has closer gears than an ls tranny, are they saying that the gear ratios are shorter? if not then what exactly does "closer gears" mean? thanks fellas.

 

Exactly, shorter gears. just an example...1st gear in an ls goes to 35mph...a b16 might go to 25mph.

You sacrifice gas mileage for a mechanical advantage. HOWEVER, AT $3.00 A GALLON.........maybe DC4>b16.

 

Gear ratios describe the number of times the input shaft of the transmission has to rotate to turn the output shaft once. for example first gear on a 94+ integra requires the engine to turn the input shaft of the transmission 3.230 times to turn the output shaft, which connects to your driveaxles which connect to your wheels, once.

http://www.allmotorhonda.com/t...s.htm
hope this helps.