Quote:
Originally Posted by Frank Lee
I suppose more gears makes sense if one is engineering for the EPA test, or hilly or urban/suburban stop-n-go stoplight Gran Prix.
As a small-town flat lander, I still like the notion of a three-speed stick, direct drive top "gear" and tall enough final drive to negate the need for overdrive. Because as a percentage of time, accelerating = minute while steady-state highway cruise = vast majority and I don't want any energy being wasted on spinning a bunch of gear sets that aren't doing anything.
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Nope. The more gears, the more time the engine spends in its most efficient load / speed band. This allows for tuning the engine to be more efficient over a narrower band of revs, better using things like resonant tuning of inlet and exhaust. This is part of how the Toyota / Lexus hybrid piston engines are optimised.
Simon