[EricH]

"If it ain't broke, it don't have enough features."--engineer's thinking

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it."--everybody else's thinking

Sometimes, non-engineers are right about engineers putting complexity into things. Make things as simple as they need to be, but not simpler. If you need extra speeds, use a shifting gearbox, not a single-speed gearbox.

For next year, try a 6WD 4 CIM shifting transmission. Bonus for building a Killer Bee 4-speed; I haven't heard of one being used in years. (Double bonus for making it better/simpler.)