[jcp123]

Originally Posted by serialk11r

Well, reading more responses to this thread, I think I know where the differing viewpoints are coming from.

I live in the SF Bay Area, where traffic moves slowly, and we have lots of lower speed limit roads that are similarly clogged. Having more gears is extremely useful for not getting stuck at a relatively high rpm at a crawl because the next gear is too tall. I've only been in cars with 7 speed automatics so far, but even with 7 gears some of the gaps between the gears feel too big (although usually that is because 2-3-4 are closely spaced for track performance or something...).

On the other hand if you live in the middle of the country where the roads are open and you use the top gear more than you use 1st gear, then I can see why you would find all those gears to be useless.

Kinda. I grew up I the Bay Area, that is where my Pa had his Passat with 5-speed auto. It seemed wonderfully flexible to me at the time. Though maybe this was a matter of perspective: my parents were coming out of a pair of 3-speed Caravans and I was also comparing it to the four-speed auto my Ma was replacing her Caravan with as well. Still I do not recall wishing for more gear as I did in some cars. Though I had barely acquired my own license at the time, I had fairly good instincts for a 16ish year old. The Passat felt good and right, in some ways it is still a personal benchmark.

I think I come at it more from the Luddite side. 8- and 9-speed trannies really seem like excess, a really expensive marketing tool which in the end means nothing more than a 10hp bump on paper to keep things "competitive". The more is better trope is pretty tired, and cars are no exception.