Quote:
Originally Posted by Daox
That is what 5th gear is supposed to be, overdrive.
A taller final gear ratio will most certainly increase mileage. If you look at almost any BSFC map you will see this. Many newer vehicles gear their automatic transmissions drastically lower than their manuals. This helps keep their mileage up when traveling on the highway. My guess is they don't do it on manuals because it may cause the operator to have to manually shift on hills like you mention.
IMO loose a few mph on the hill and get better mileage. I wish we had that choice.
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Torque isn't as much an issue in larger engines, (I'm sure my father's Bravada could be geared significantly taller, 2K @ 60 is probably not necessary, and same with my mother's Eldorado), but his 2.2 S-10 can't go much lower. The engine starts to lug in the upper gears as high as 1,800 and turns in reduced FE when short shifted.
Similar issue with the Ninja 250 I had, I re-geared from 14/45 to 15/41, and while the take-off was actually better, and the first 5 gears more usable, I had to forgo using 6th altogether as the engine would not hold speed if it was under 7K.