What's the deal with the gear ratios anyway

General Discussion
#1

If my car will reach it’s governor limited top speed at the top of 5th gear, why isn’t 6th a way deeper overdrive?

#2

No clue, but I’d guess something like balancing fuel efficiency and still having power on tap without having to downshift? If I ever need a tranny rebuild the diesel 6th gear is on the list of stuff to put in.

#3

It’s an overdrive gear. It’s there to give you better fuel economy when on the highway.

#4

+1. Cruising at 3k rpm on the autoroute sucks donkey’s balls and means the Avant and it’s storage space will get left behind for the GTI and a roof box. (And the fuel econ I suppose)

#5

Yup I hate it. Sixth is retarded.

Great if you’re driving a supercharged rs4 and like trying to hit 200 mph or so, but otherwise useless.

Wish it would highway cruise (70 mph) at 2000 rpms

#6

There should be 7 gears for the 2k rpm hw cruising imo.

  1. Better fuel e f f i c i e n c y

  2. Less drone. between 2500-3500 gets brutal overtime with a non-res exhaust

#7

This.

My A6 with the O1E is the same way. It is stupid but I end up going into sixth at 35 mph because sixth gear is too low.

#8

Yeah 6th isn’t much of an overdrive. It kind of weird because 6th gear in corvettes and new mustangs is extremely tall which is here in the states where most speed limits are no more than 65. But then the German made S4 has a 6th gear that really only optimal below 65. You would think they would design cars in Germany to be able to cruise at 80-90 in more the 1800rpm range. Not 3750 or whatever it is.

#9

This is probably it but I don’t buy into it. Any time I want to get going while on the highway I’m down to 3rd and I have fun with it. Turns my wife on.

Back in the day my dad had a '92 Corvette. 6th gear 130km/h = 1300rpm. It would theoretically redline at 440km/h. That’s more like it. Mind you if you were going 100km/h in 6th and you floored it, the car would just shudder, not accelerate lol.

But as Saki put it, how often are we looking for max acceleration in the 200mph range? Not often. How often are we looking to get fuel mileage while asleep on the highway? Much more often.