How many gears

[Ben73]

Originally Posted by cheap

There is some parallels to bicycles

Remember the 3 speed hub
Then 10 speed (2 x 5)
Then 12 speed (2 x 6)
Then 16 speed (2 x 8)
Then 20 speed (2 x 10)
Now it is at least 22 speed (2 x 11)

Remember the 2 speed Fordomatic
Then 3 speed
Then 4 speed
Then 5 speed
Then 6 speed
Now 7 speed and 8 speed and more

Each to their own, but sometimes too many gears is just too many gears

But don't despair, in the not too distant future there will be CVT (Constant Velocity Transmission) which will render all the geared transmissions obsolete, it is happening in bicycles

Bike gears are ridiculous. I have about 18 gears on my bike and probably use 5 of them.

As for CVT, I am not a fan and I used to own one. Never again, unless it was majorly improved.

[Stefan]

Originally Posted by XR6 Martin

Porsche said years ago that 17" wheels was the sweet spot for ride and handling...

I think this still true, probablty explains why new cars handle great and have a crap ride and suffer from horrible road noise.

[BradEL]

Originally Posted by Stefan

I think this still true, probablty explains why new cars handle great and have a crap ride and suffer from horrible road noise.

Yeah your right with that, all the high end cars these days have huge wheels, 19,20,21". Even the "luxury" cars such as Mercedes and Audi. They compensate for the worse ride quality with sophisticated suspension systems etc. But really all of this mainly seeme to be for appearances sake and just leads to more costs for the owners.
Same sort of thing happens in the transmissions, car makers add in all this stuff to try and appeal to buyers like paddle operated shifters, hill start assist etc. Adding more gears is just another thing to tell potential customers, even though everyone knows that the average driver won't notice if they have a 6 or 7 speed, especially with an auto.

[castellan]

Originally Posted by EF_6

I still think its overkill these new 8-10 speed boxes.....Whats wrong with the ZF 6 Speeder?

The holden and ford 6 sp autos are rubbish as they need 7 sp as 2ed to 3rd is way to far apart for much better perfomance. they fall into a hole in overtaking from around 100 110 km/h up to 140 say just gutless ! but the 6sp manual is fine as the ratios are great.

You could do away with the v8 if you had a 7 sp auto.
8 gears would be better as in hilly drives gets on my goat jumping back to 5th and then at time 4th, so i would say it yould not be as noticable with 8

I thought 6sp autos would be good untill i drove them, but i can't stand them as even the old 3sp and 4sp was a better auto for overtaking on the highway as 2ed would have you up to about 130 km/h in a good power range and i will say the most important performance you want is in the 100 to 140km/h range for good performance overtaking times.

The only good auto i have ever driven was a C4 Tbar auto with just a std 351 V8, loved that combernation and it had a 3.00 diff ratio and i could not point out one thing wrong with it as it was magic to drive. 'XB magic'

[madmelon]

Originally Posted by castellan

The holden and ford 6 sp autos are rubbish as they need 7 sp as 2ed to 3rd is way to far apart for much better perfomance. they fall into a hole in overtaking from around 100 110 km/h up to 140 say just gutless ! but the 6sp manual is fine as the ratios are great.

You could do away with the v8 if you had a 7 sp auto.
8 gears would be better as in hilly drives gets on my goat jumping back to 5th and then at time 4th, so i would say it yould not be as noticable with 8

I thought 6sp autos would be good untill i drove them, but i can't stand them as even the old 3sp and 4sp was a better auto for overtaking on the highway as 2ed would have you up to about 130 km/h in a good power range and i will say the most important performance you want is in the 100 to 140km/h range for good performance overtaking times.

The only good auto i have ever driven was a C4 Tbar auto with just a std 351 V8, loved that combernation and it had a 3.00 diff ratio and i could not point out one thing wrong with it as it was magic to drive. 'XB magic'

Not sure what you've been smoking but I drive a BF XR6 with the ZF 6 speed as a daily and going back to the 4 speed in my mums BFIII wagon is terrible. It's gutless in 1st in comparison, because 1st runs to almost 90km/h, in order to get the revs as low as possible in 4th gear. This might have worked on the EL and AU cars but performance really suffers in the B series onwards cars due the the massive weight increase. The shift quality is also pretty crap when compared to the ZF.

[castellan]

Originally Posted by madmelon

Not sure what you've been smoking but I drive a BF XR6 with the ZF 6 speed as a daily and going back to the 4 speed in my mums BFIII wagon is terrible. It's gutless in 1st in comparison, because 1st runs to almost 90km/h, in order to get the revs as low as possible in 4th gear. This might have worked on the EL and AU cars but performance really suffers in the B series onwards cars due the the massive weight increase. The shift quality is also pretty crap when compared to the ZF.

I agree with you, not the smoking and i have never smoked.
I was on about overtaking times at 100 km/h
The auto 6 speed box is great in 1st gear for taking off and yep the shifts are better.

[2011G6E]

I noticed that too...9 speeds, and I think Audi has a ten speed auto.

Jeez, how long before they say "Let's just fit a CVT and be done with it"...?

[p250f6]

I guess that explains why the F6 with ZF is the overtaking king. That crappy 6 speed box again..........

[Charliewool]

I've got 7 Auto in the Nissan... Brilliant box.. seamless when dawdling, crisp snappy changes when booting it, even blips on downshifts... I do get a bit lost when driving it manually with the paddles unless fully concentrating (but I'm OLD!)