[jcp123]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

To be fair, there are stretches of highway where you really need to spend a lot of time in 3rd. In the Bay Area, going north on I680 from San Jose to the I580 junction, for instance. Just can't climb some of those hills in 5th, and seemed to get better mpg in 3rd than 4th.

The irony of this left me a bit slack jawed. When we were still in the Bay Area, one of my Dad's co-workers was an amateur racer. Hid DD was a Saleen S281 convertible, and he took me for a ride from the IBM campus on Cottle Rd., where they worked. We ended up on 680, turned around in Sunol, and came back. The entire freeway portion was basically accomplished in 3rd, some fourth, and zero 5th. Since the statute of limitations is long past, the speeds averaged around 90. Being right seat for high-speed showoff driving should be scary, but he was incredibly smooth, calm, and deliberate. I know that's not something which plays well here, but it's a highlight of a life memory for me, and seeing "3rd gear on 680" is too ironic for me not to mention it.