What's Your Favorite Gear?
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In my BMW, I'd have to say 2nd - when you shift the eta at redline in first, the ratios are so perfectly chosen that it places the engine right in the peak of its torque production and it really gets up and goes.
In my Camaro, I'd have to say 1st. Launching it hard from a stop and winding 350 cubic inches of carbureted V-8 out to 5500 rpm is like heaven, especially once I hit the cam's onslaught of torque at about 2200 rpm. Although 2nd is pretty awesome too, since the car pulls hard all the way to redline, acclerating hard the entire way - by the time you reach redline in 2nd, the car is going about 80 mph.
In my Camaro, I'd have to say 1st. Launching it hard from a stop and winding 350 cubic inches of carbureted V-8 out to 5500 rpm is like heaven, especially once I hit the cam's onslaught of torque at about 2200 rpm. Although 2nd is pretty awesome too, since the car pulls hard all the way to redline, acclerating hard the entire way - by the time you reach redline in 2nd, the car is going about 80 mph.
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Nobody has been able to keep up with me yet.
As much as I like downshifting to 2nd at 60mph and blasting to 81 mph, I enjoy dropping it into 3rd at 80 and rocketing to 117 just a little bit more.
Even if you have a slightly faster car, your 3-4 shift will cost you .5 seconds and that is more than most can give up and still hang. There are many cars that can leave me dirty from the hole that I run away and hide from at speed.
3rd gear in the NA1 NSX will suck the windshield out of most anything on the road . . .
(Not so much anymore, but I just love saying that, which originates, BTW, from Car and Driver's 1990 review of the E34 M5).
Even if you have a slightly faster car, your 3-4 shift will cost you .5 seconds and that is more than most can give up and still hang. There are many cars that can leave me dirty from the hole that I run away and hide from at speed.
3rd gear in the NA1 NSX will suck the windshield out of most anything on the road . . .
(Not so much anymore, but I just love saying that, which originates, BTW, from Car and Driver's 1990 review of the E34 M5).
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God damn you guys have good gear ratios. How fast in mph, is the M3 at redline in 1st gear? My car is 1st - 35, 2nd - 60, 3rd - 85. Second gear is fine and I don't mind that 3rd only goes to 85, it makes the 3rd gear acceleration very furious. 1st gear is also devastating but for normal driving, I hate the shortness of 1st. It would make the car a lot more drivable if it had a longer 1st gear, but oh well...whenever I take it to redline, it's awesome.
If you were referring to my Camaro as part of this statement, keep in mind that it only has 3 forward gears. 3rd is 1:1 and there is no overdrive. At 75 mph, I'm running something like 3k RPM (on an engine that redlines somewhere around 5500), so it gets elcrappo gas mileage on the interstate and is damn loud inside the car.
The big reason the gears are long is because the car has 2.73:1 rear end gears. I've been wanting to swap the rear end with a rare 12 bolt 3.23:1 limited slip unit my dad has (if you don't know anything about old Chevy rear ends, just know that this is a very strong, very hard to come by rear end nowadays), but the lack of an overdrive has been holding me back. The car currently only gets like 9mpg in town and about 12 mpg or so on the interstate, so it would really need an overdrive tranny in it to make it driveable on the interstate with the shorter rear end. Someday, I plan on solving that problem with a T-56 6 speed manual swap (the 6-speed they used in the previous generation Vipers and late model Camaros/Firebirds). Gotta love GM - the drivetrain parts from modern cars still are largely interchangeable with cars from the 60s.
Wow, I'm rambling and![[offtopic]](/images/smilies/icon_smile_offtopic.gif "Off Topic [offtopic]")
Wow, I'm rambling and
Forums are all about expressing yourself.
I think that would be a cool idea. The 6-speed manual will also allow you to keep engine revs where all the power is, aside from the obvious gas mileage improvement. My knowledge regarding old muscle cars is nothing short of pathetic, but I find it really entertaining that a late model year Viper transmission can be used in a car like yours!
I think that would be a cool idea. The 6-speed manual will also allow you to keep engine revs where all the power is, aside from the obvious gas mileage improvement. My knowledge regarding old muscle cars is nothing short of pathetic, but I find it really entertaining that a late model year Viper transmission can be used in a car like yours!
jrt67ss350 said:
The big reason the gears are long is because the car has 2.73:1 rear end gears. I've been wanting to swap the rear end with a rare 12 bolt 3.23:1 limited slip unit my dad has (if you don't know anything about old Chevy rear ends, just know that this is a very strong, very hard to come by rear end nowadays), but the lack of an overdrive has been holding me back. The car currently only gets like 9mpg in town and about 12 mpg or so on the interstate, so it would really need an overdrive tranny in it to make it driveable on the interstate with the shorter rear end. Someday, I plan on solving that problem with a T-56 6 speed manual swap (the 6-speed they used in the previous generation Vipers and late model Camaros/Firebirds). Gotta love GM - the drivetrain parts from modern cars still are largely interchangeable with cars from the 60s.
Wow, I'm rambling and
Wow, I'm rambling and
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