On gears, and their utilisation

"Cé hé sin" (michael-m-mouse)
05/05/2020 at 15:11 • Filed to: Fourth gear, Fifth gear, Ford Focus

In these difficult and restricted times I’ve been using my father’s Focus on my rare trips out. It’s got six manual gears as opposed to my accustomed six automated ones.

That’s too many most of the time. The electronic nag on the dash tells me to engage sixth by about 70 kmh so I’m forever changing gear.

I’ve found a better way.

On level ground it’s simpler to just go 1-2-3-6. Bonus: the dogleg change from third to sixth is easier than that from fourth to fifth.

DISCUSSION (24)

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > Cé hé sin
05/05/2020 at 15:23

A m anual 4 speed isn’t such a bad idea after all.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Cé hé sin
05/05/2020 at 15:23

He won’t be pleased when you return it and sees the red marker on the gear shift*

*I know

My X-type is too a real Jaguar > Cé hé sin
05/05/2020 at 15:26

In my BMW I usually skip 5th. 4th to 6th is normal for me.

MiniGTI - now with XJ6 > Cé hé sin
05/05/2020 at 15:29

Blasphemy my MINI (and GTI when I had it) have 6 and I use all 6. 5th is great for cruising at 35.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Cé hé sin
05/05/2020 at 15:31

I can live without 5th most of the time, but not 4th.

DasWauto > My X-type is too a real Jaguar
05/05/2020 at 15:32

I do the same in both of my cars. I’m only ever in 5th if I’m cruising around 80km/h, which is rare. I’m usually at ~100km/h in 6th or 40-60 in town where I’ll be using 3rd or 4th.

ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability > MiniGTI - now with XJ6
05/05/2020 at 15:33

R53 gearing is perfect, ever gear syncs up with a speed limit

ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability > Cé hé sin
05/05/2020 at 15:35

I personally use all the gears since its just so much fun to row them around and I hate waiting for the engine to drop rpms to skip gears.

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > Cé hé sin
05/05/2020 at 15:38

Agree. I think I can go like... 90 in 2nd? M aybe 3rd it has been a minute since I’ve done a commute that requires it. Not sure what the other gears are for haha.

dogisbadob > Cé hé sin
05/05/2020 at 15:48

And people complain about the Tre mec 1-4 shift! :p

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > Cé hé sin
05/05/2020 at 15:49

I don’t skip gears in this car, as there are no extraneous gears. Occasionally a 1-3 shift if starting going down a hill.

Kinja'd!!!

Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen > Cé hé sin
05/05/2020 at 15:51

I usually go 1-2-4-6. I find the U shaped 2-4 and 4-6 ones more natural than a dogleg for some reason

404 - User No Longer Available > My X-type is too a real Jaguar
05/05/2020 at 15:54

I actually just treat my F30 like a 5-speed, 5 is the last gear in c ity and 6 is the last gear on the highway.

In the Solstice, almost same thing . Except 4th isn’t an overdrive.

My bird IS the word > Cé hé sin
05/05/2020 at 15:55

I think the cars are just geared too short. 6 should be a massively tall OD gear. Pulling nearly 3 grand on a 6 speed at 70 is unacceptable, and a waste of clutch . Nothing inherently wrong with that many gears. I drive similarly to you though.

CompactLuxuryFan > My X-type is too a real Jaguar
05/05/2020 at 15:57

My E90 had a strangely short 6th compared to 5th. They were really close together, or at least the gap between those two is much smaller than the other gaps. Skipping 5th was totally fine, but I didn’t really do it much.

Come to think of it, my E46 had the same between 4th and 5th. I guess BMW’s strategy is space n-1 gears for driving enjoyment and then optimize the last one for top speed given the power of the car? Then again, my non-S Mini Cooper had ridiculously long gears. I think I just prefer consistent spacing between gears, and BMW begs to differ.

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > Cé hé sin
05/05/2020 at 16:29

This is how I shifted my FieSTa most of the time. 1-2-4-6 was pretty common if traffic was moving slower.

3point8isgreat > My bird IS the word
05/05/2020 at 16:49

Yeah I never quite got while so many performance cars have such silly ratios for their top gears. I get the whole close ratio thing. But I really don’t expect that I’d use 6th gear on a track very much anyway. Maybe I’m wrong about that though? I kind of like the way Corvettes used to have 5th gear as their top speed and 6th as their highway cruise. That makes sense to me.

My bird IS the word > 3point8isgreat
05/05/2020 at 17:00

Yeah, b ut a mini cooper and a focus st are both street cars. They might be trackable, but they are 100% not track cars.

As far as I understand, you dont want/need an overdrive gear on a track car. That being said, most people don’t track their cars.

Poor_Sh > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
05/05/2020 at 18:15

In what? My Cayman tops out around 78-80 in 2nd. It's basically an automatic at autoX

Nauraushaun > Cé hé sin
05/05/2020 at 18:54

Just quietly a lot of people seem to take magical rules for granted with manuals and never actually think about it.

The idea of the gears is to get you up to speed without falling below or above the engine’s ideal rev range. So of course, what you’re doing is fine, it’s all gravy baby

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > Cé hé sin
05/05/2020 at 19:20

Yup. Most cars take you to 62 in second. At redline. This is to get a better 0-60 time for the magazines. So going 1-2-3-6 is not crazy. In my 326 you can do that without passing 4000rpms

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > 3point8isgreat
05/05/2020 at 20:37

good news the c7 and 991, had seven speeds.

zipfuel > Cé hé sin
05/05/2020 at 21:23

If you don’t want it I’ll take it... my ‘ 09 SportWagen is desperately lacking a 6th gear, I’m cruising at 3,000rpm+ on the highway which feels wasteful.

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > Poor_Sh
05/05/2020 at 22:08

C30. Maybe I am thinking of 3rd. One of the low gears is shockingly long.