5-speed vs. 6-speed?
- Thread starter azroadie
- Start date
mattholecko said:
As the proud owner of a 6-speed...yep, you're missing out :roundel:
6th gear is great for the autobahn! 8)
... and as some others state ... you can cruise along in 6th at highway speed and hope you conserve some fuel
(OT: The 116 has a nice feature - a real time mpg measurement allowing you to fine tune your gears vs speeds to conserve more fuel)
... and as some others state ... you can cruise along in 6th at highway speed and hope you conserve some fuel
(OT: The 116 has a nice feature - a real time mpg measurement allowing you to fine tune your gears vs speeds to conserve more fuel)
6sp = tighter ratios, which enable you to keep the engine in the sweet spot when pushing it.
5sp = wider ratios & a broader RPM range between shifts
BUT... the most important thing is how the gear set matches the output curves of the engine.
For daily driving, as long as you aren't dropping below the torque band... a 5sp is just fine.
5sp = wider ratios & a broader RPM range between shifts
BUT... the most important thing is how the gear set matches the output curves of the engine.
For daily driving, as long as you aren't dropping below the torque band... a 5sp is just fine.
I'm still trying to chirp my wheels on 6th :wink:
You need to get yourself an SLK - 7 speeds and 2 reverse gearsenfield said:I want a 7-speed.... My next car will have 7-gears (& Rick - reverse does not count at one of the 7 gears)
(although...quite what we do with 2 reverse is not clear to me )5th is fine. The fun is getting to the 100-130 mph range. After that... :yawn: , it's just cruising.
More noticeable difference for automatic than manual trannies, but shorter gear ratios make for quicker acceleration without adding more power. the more gears you have, the gears don't have to cover as-wide spectrum of performance. If the car only went to 100 mph and you only had a 1st and 2nd gear each could cover 50mph, but neither would do it effiecently because they cover such a broad spectrum of performance, now add 2 more gears and now each gear could just cover 25 mph, and the car could be made to accelerate quicker since you could tailor the gear ratio to a smaller performance spectrum. Its a crude example, but should get you in the ball park... 
But once you get beyond a certain number of gears the shift time starts to form a large proportion of the overall time between 2 speeds. So in your case, if each gear could do 25 mph but you needed 3 half-second shifts to get to 100, that would add 1.5 seconds to the 0-100 time.
carl said:
1.5 seconds? Man your slow (just kidding) Yep, thats why i said auto trannies benefit the most, some are up to 8 speeds now and can down shift 4 gears at a time, and an automatic can out shift a person driving a manual (except me of course). 6 speeds is my limit, if they add 1 more gear i'll switch to an auto tranny.
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