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Bill, I'll confirm your suspicions. A B234F with the AW72L auto tranny is really not the best combination for in-town driving despite the lowered 1st/2nd gear ratios.
You're bang on, nothing impressive happens below 2500 rpm, in fact it's a bit of a slug. In city driving you simply don't get it wound up above 2500 very often unless you're a total lead foot driver or like to play with the shifter. On the highway it's another story. The power curve and gear ratios are well matched except for that damned lock-up torque converter. When driving uphill, it has a tendency to hunt up and down when you're at the shift point which is speed related (~50 mph) rather than torque related. Also, if you use the gas pedal to force a downshift from 5th gear (actually lock-up 4th) it's like hitting the overdrive switch, you'll bypass 4th altogether and drop down to 3rd which is likely way more torque and rpm than you wanted. So you back off the pedal and it goes back into 5th and so on with the tach really dancing around.
Tom, if you're on the highway a lot then go ahead and get a B234F with the auto trans, it's great. Otherwise, if you want a B234F then go for a manual trans, if you can find one (they weren't common).
-Dave '89 B234F/AW72L
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