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theholycow
Master Standardshifter
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Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2008 1:36 pm
Cars: '80 Buick LeSabre 4.1 5MT
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Re: Hi there!

Post by theholycow »

Oddly, VW made the final gear taller in the 2009 model (presumably because of folks like me complaining) but still quotes exactly the same 0-60. A gear calculator says 6200 rpm for 60, and redline is 6300, so it SHOULD work but I may have a small error in there somewhere. Also, I'm surprised to see that the EPA city rating went down one mpg, but not surprised that the highway rating went up.
Rope-Pusher wrote:Ratio closeness conflicts with overall transmission ratio spread. If you choose to have all the gear ratios closely spread, you will have to compromise either launch ratio or top gear ratio.
Actually, IMO it is possible to almost do everything for everyone there. Racers never use 5th or 6th gear (not that my car has a 6th anyway). There could be the existing close 1-4 ratios for racers, and a highway cruising gear (or two in a 6 speed). The problem with that would be people complaining about the big jump from 4th to 5th.
If you want to have the perfect gear ratio for every situation, think of bicycles.
Bicycle gear choosers, and wannabe bicycle racers, suffer from the same close ratio infatuation as in cars...but need wide ratios even more. The powerband is very narrow, especially if you ask those who enjoy close ratios; they say that they need the close ratios, and I am forced to wonder if they only ride in a very small range of speeds and only on level land.

As a heavy guy, having the narrow powerband but being affected a lot more by hills (up AND down), wider range is far more effective for me on a bicycle. I can't get up a steep hill fast no matter what gear you give me, but I can get up it slowly and not be excessively tired at the top with a low crawl gear. In the meantime, I can make up the speed downhill; with my extra weight but similar frontal area, I can use gravity assist a lot better than a lightweight guy acting as a sail -- so I can actually make use of really tall gears. Someone else might run out of torque going downhill, but I run out of gear while passing all the folks who flew by me uphill.

I like to run 11-34 in the rear and a decently wide triple on the front, even on road bikes. My road bike is an abomination...
If you stay with one stick, the shift pattern will run from door panel to door panel. Maybe what you need is a splitter, like the front chainwheel on a bike, with 2 gear ranges and 4 gear ranges in the transmission. Oh wait, that's been done already. Mitsubishi Twin-Stick, circa 1982(?).
Don't big rigs use multiple ranges in that configuration?
The powertrain is a system. It is optimized based on dollars and sense.
In the Rabbit's case, more dollars than sense - I'm pretty sure it uses off-the-shelf transmission that was made for the previous generation GTI.
1980 Buick LeSabre 4.1L 5MT

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watkins wrote:Humans have rear-biased AWD. Cows have 4WD
Rope-Pusher
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Joined: Mon Mar 16, 2009 3:44 pm
Cars: '08 Jeep Liberty
Location: Greater Detroit Area

Re: Hi there!

Post by Rope-Pusher »

^ I used to have a tach on my bike (well, they called it pedal cadence) and I rode at nearly constant cadence, once I got warmed up after the first mile or so, and picked gears that I could pull at that cadence. My road speed went up and down with the terrain and wind effects, but I stuck to 90 +- 2 rpm.
Car diesels have decent rpm ranges now, but the big trucks still have relatively small rpm ranges to work with, so they need lots of gear ratio options to be able to keep it in the sweet spot for power and fuel economy.
'08 Jeep Liberty 6-Speed MT - "Last of the Mohicans"
BIgBoss
Junior Standardshifter
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat May 23, 2009 12:40 am

Re: Hi there!

Post by BIgBoss »

well i guess i could get some pics of the car tonight, nothing that special but its my first car and i luvz it
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wannabe
Master Standardshifter
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Joined: Tue May 15, 2007 11:48 am
Cars: NONE - take the bus
Location: Grand Rapids, MI
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Re: Hi there!

Post by wannabe »

BIgBoss wrote:well i guess i could get some pics of the car tonight, nothing that special but its my first car and i luvz it
please do. pretty much the majority of the cars here aren't much special....but we love them anyway...
2003 Chrysler town and country

Crafting and stuff
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