it's all about gears!

[Cobb]

I think disconnecting the battery once you have the radio code waiting 15 minutes, then reconnecting it and letting the car idle for 15 minutes does worlds of wonders for your car. I do it everytime I add or change the intake, exhaust,

Yeah, the car could of "learned" some bad habits as a rental car from the previous operator. I know of quite a few cars that spend several months at the body shop learn bad habits that can only be changed by disconnecting the battery.

Sounds like my altima had both of your cars traits. Very light acceleration the rpms dropped below idle speed,more acceleration asked and the engine went to red line.

Yes, it did have the pause between rpms and movement. For a 2.5 l engine it felt very sluggish. I wouldnt of suspected any more than a 1.8 under the hood with no noticeable power band due to how the cvt runs the engine all over the rpm range.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

With the manual transmissions currently getting tuned more towards either the EPA test or the ricers' taste for higher-revving at the expense of fuel-efficiency, few options remain. Well, I honestly would like to get a decently-geared 4-speed manual instead of the 6-speed if I were on the market for a brand-new Corolla...
workaround ideas to discuss among friends: Is a 4-speed manual transmission really that bad?

[renault_megane_dci]

We, ecomodders, would like specially designed vehicle with only FE in mind.

Are we enough to make a niche market ?

No we're not.
One would be more hardcore than the others and wish a low Cda à la XL1 even if it's a 2 seater.
The other would require a 7 seater.
This one would want a flatland only car and the other one a highway special ...
What car manufacturers do is cars that will sell.
The average Joe is not an ecomodder.

So please stop daydreaming with way too much seriousness about the perfect car from the factory and keep up the good work modding and optimising.

[mcrews]

Originally Posted by renault_megane_dci

We, ecomodders, would like specially designed vehicle with only FE in mind.

Are we enough to make a niche market ?

No we're not.
One would be more hardcore than the others and wish a low Cda à la XL1 even if it's a 2 seater.
The other would require a 7 seater.
This one would want a flatland only car and the other one a highway special ...
What car manufacturers do is cars that will sell.
The average Joe is not an ecomodder.

So please stop daydreaming with way too much seriousness about the perfect car from the factory and keep up the good work modding and optimising.

Thank you!
Have said this several times.
Plus, as a group, we tend to be cheap and wouldn't buy new.

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by mcrews

Drove my gf 2011 Lexus RX 350 for several days this week.It has an 8 speed automatic transmission.

I really thing 6-8 speed auto trannies are the secret to improving mpg.

The wonderful ZF 8-speed ?
Best auto transmission on the market today.

In its latest guises in BMWs, it'll even coast in neutral when you let go of the throttle.
It's one of the auto trannies that will get many users closer to the NEDC/EPA figures than they'd be with a manual.

Can't even remotely compare that box to a traditional US slush box.

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

Why would a 7 speed be better than a 6 speed with a proper top gear?

More gears give it more options to select what is the best option for the speed / power required.

It also allows the top gear to be a rather long overdrive.

On the VAG's 7 speed DSG, the gearing is quite a bit better than on comparable (same engine) manuals.
Because they can ...

[Frank Lee]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee View Post
Why would a 7 speed be better than a 6 speed with a proper top gear?

[euromodder]

The ZF's transmission ratios are

4.696 3.130 2.104 1.667 1.285 1.000 0.839 0.667

Of course, it all depends on the final drive, but 0.667 is a fair bit of overdrive
(Yes, some 'Vettes have a longer top gear ...)

For the BMW X3, the final drive ratios with 8 speed are :
3.077 for the 2L diesel
3.385 for the 335i

The manual 2L diesel by comparison has 0.659 in 6th, but a 3.727 final drive


You can do like 47mpg in a Beemer X3 3L diesel automatic with some 260HP if you go easy on it.
Most folks buying that kind of car with that kind of engine simply don't have the resolve to do so ...


But as a wacky comparison, my up! has 0.796 top gear with a 4.167 final drive - it's got to make up for that measly 68 HP somehow

[serialk11r]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

I feel like this argument is never going to end lol. Adding a gear to the gearbox adds maybe like 5-10 pounds, the extra gears have negligible parasitic loss due to churning oil, but the acceleration is better, the fuel economy is better. The only people who don't want more gears are people who don't want to shift more, but thank god I'm not one of them. Well, actually my car only has 5 gears, so it sucks wanting more gears I guess, but thank god most cars have more than 5.

Just because the gear ratios don't have a 40% spread all around doesn't mean it's for "ricers" that rev their engines too high. Shifting gears is not as smooth on wide ratio gearboxes, and it takes a lot of the fun out of driving stick. If you want to get from A to B on public roads yea, you only "need" 3 or 4 gears, but I'd much rather have 7.

[Thenorm]

i think for a manual. the key thing is a short 1st gear and a v.tall overdrive.
5 gears is probably ideal. 6 is ok, but on my 6 speed, because its close ratio i tend to skip shift. I wouldnt want a 7+ spd manual.

actually if my current 5spd on my other car, if it have an extra super overdrive above the existing 5 ratios, that'd be ok

[Cobb]

The insight and geo metro get the best mpg and both are 5 speeds.