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how come manuals always have an extra gear over autos?
- Thread starter Lifer
- Start date
KingNothing
Diamond Member
Read about how they each work on howstuffworks.com, then think about the cost (and size) difference in adding an extra gear to each.
GTaudiophile
Lifer
Has something to do with Overdrive...most times you see an auto listed as a "4-speed overdrive" transmission...meaning, there's kinda sorta a 5-th gear there for highway cruising. It's pretty much same with a 5-speed manual but you have to put the gear into "OD" yourself.
KingNothing
Diamond Member
Um...no. I thought you knew stuff about cars. 😕
An automatic transmission is already a really complex device, adding more gears to it adds more complexity and more cost. Autos had three speeds for a while because that's what the market accepted. Then the market wouldn't accept anything less than a four speed. Now five-speeds are becoming more common. I think there's a luxury car out there with a seven-speed automatic transmission.
The point is, automatics have however many speeds the market is willing to pay for. Manuals have standardized on five (although six is becoming more common) because it's a good number and the cost difference is insignificant. If you have too many ratios, you're shifting all the time.
Um...no. I thought you knew stuff about cars. 😕
An automatic transmission is already a really complex device, adding more gears to it adds more complexity and more cost. Autos had three speeds for a while because that's what the market accepted. Then the market wouldn't accept anything less than a four speed. Now five-speeds are becoming more common. I think there's a luxury car out there with a seven-speed automatic transmission.
The point is, automatics have however many speeds the market is willing to pay for. Manuals have standardized on five (although six is becoming more common) because it's a good number and the cost difference is insignificant. If you have too many ratios, you're shifting all the time.[/quote]
neon's had 3 gears for awhile :disgust:
Black88GTA
Diamond Member
GM and Ford are working together on it 🙂
GM and Ford are collaborating on development of a FWD 6spd automatic. Should be interesting to see how it turns out, as this is the first undertaking of this kind where Ford and GM are actually working together on something.
GM and Ford are collaborating on development of a FWD 6spd automatic. Should be interesting to see how it turns out, as this is the first undertaking of this kind where Ford and GM are actually working together on something.
DivideBYZero
Lifer
I've had the Golf with a 6 speed for 4 years. Terrible short ratio's matched to a 6 cyl = muchos cog swapping.
DivideBYZero
Lifer
ZF I think.
Heisenberg
Lifer
4th gear is the overdrive. Some cars come with a lock-up torque converter which, at cruising speeds, will drop the RPMS by a few hundred when it locks up. It does sorta feel like a 5th gear even though it's not.