Installed new NGK V-Power plugs yesterday. Decided to dial up a little more gear as well - I think I've HIT on something with 3.88 gears!

If you're not familiar WITH Pittsburgh, it is a city of HILLS. While most folks are familiar with the Three Rivers, where the elevation is only 686 feet above sea level (last year, one MLB player managed to hit a homerun OUT of PNC Park - home of the Pittsburgh Pirates - and into the Allegheny River. Approximately 15 regulation homers have been hit OUT of the Park since it opened in 2001). But the downtown itself is at an elevation of 802' above sea level, making Pittsburgh the third highest elevation MAJOR Metro Area in America, behind Denver and Atlanta. Moreover, Mt. Washington, just across the OH River from Heinz Field (home of the Steelers), stands 1,223' above sea level - a rise of 600' in one mile distance! That accounts for all those pictures you've seen of Pittsburgh, that look like THIS.



Go here to see it FULL SIZE. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi..._city_pano.jpg

The land drops 300 feet on the south side of Mount Washington, rising again along Brownsville Ridge to 1,200' in elevation again, where I live. Elevation falls & rises ripple outward through the city, and 200 - 300' differences in less than a half mile are NOT uncommon. Keep in mind, Pittsburgh celebrated its 250th Anniversary in 2008 - it is the oldest city west of the Alleghenies, and most of the roads are merely paved over horsepaths from centuries gone by!

Throw down some wet leaves, narrow, pot-holed streets, and poorly parked vehicles for a challenge, and even the factory 3.73 gearing can be pretty weak around here (to say nothing of the snow yet to fly!). I'm not confident enough to play with shift points just yet, but 3.88 gearing definitely keeps me in second longer for pulling inclines, and third is a smoother shift - once you're in third, it's because you're SUPPOSED to be there - and not by some arbitrary RPM accident!

I want to play with it a bit more, and get more adept at it, but 3.88 was DEFINITELY workin' for me today, hopping around the South Hills as I was! This is where I live and work every day; LOTTA stop 'n' go driving on these inclines in short hops (I actually walk to work!), and it will tax a vehicle like VERY few other cities will. Me, my Jeep, and Superchips are hittin' it off so far.