Couldn't someone just swap the gears between trannys to get a 1-4 that are good for acceleration and a really low 5? Best of both worlds?

You're not going to see much of a gearing difference with a si 1-4 but an HF 2.95 final, :p

hm maybe that's why the fit had such short gearing? gears for the city?

makes me wonder if nissan's 6spd for the versa is more suited to my cause, i could care less for highway.

All new honda sticks have short gearing, :(