Jason,
I think that it is gonna be harder to hit 175 in one mile than you think. The C/GT record (land-speed equipped) is 150-something... But that is pretty lame. My best speed at El Mirage this year was 201 mph in 1.3 miles, so in it's current form, prolly won't hit 200 on concrete....Main reason is like you, I am running a ZF 6-speed. Too much rpm drop from 4th to 5th. You can make up the time if you have the distance (like at Bonneville) But even with my HP, the last 14 seconds of one of my El Mirage runs gets me only 900 more RPM. I changed my rear gears from 3.42 to 3.73, but the meet got rained out before I could determine the gain. My computer program predicts another 5 mph. I used to tune my ORR car (Accel computer - tune with a lap-top)....find a lonely stretch of road, mark off a mile, and see for yourself
Ed