The SEVEN SPEED Manual

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Charles421
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The SEVEN SPEED Manual

Post by Charles421 »

http://www.motorauthority.com/news/1065 ... rises-here
On the new Porsche 911:
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Hmm.... I like my 6 speed, I could see the 7th speed for highway. My concern would be having to downshift from 7 > 6 to maintain pace on slight grades where as a normal 6th gear wouldn't have issues.
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Re: The SEVEN SPEED Manual

Post by RITmusic2k »

I'm fully in support of this as a concept, but I think that to be implemented properly they'd need to incorporate a push-thru detent in the H-gate similar to what they'd have on the R position. You should be able to push the stick to the upper right hand corner and know for a fact that the transmission will slide into 5th gear, not 5th or 7th.

Design it to be more of a 6+1 speed, where you have to actively engage 'Cruise' gear, and I'm sold.
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Re: The SEVEN SPEED Manual

Post by Shadow »

I think anything more than 6 forward gears is overkill and unnecessary. A properly engineered 6-speed can have short enough ratios to keep the engine in an excellent rpm range, while still offering a low enough highway cruising rpm to return acceptable fuel economy.

I don't think we'll see many other manufacturers follow with 7-speed manuals in the future. That's my prediction/opinion.
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Re: The SEVEN SPEED Manual

Post by Rope-Pusher »

7-speeds are coming, but only for "special purpose" vehicles.

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Re: The SEVEN SPEED Manual

Post by theholycow »

Do want! After having a close ratio vehicle that really needed wide ratios and a wide ratio vehicle that could benefit from close ratios (but not at the expense of total range) I can really appreciate the way it delivers more things to more people. If you don't like shifting and can't be arsed to downshift, fine, don't use 7th... Why leave a fuel economy or acceleration (depending on how it's ratioed) improvement idea unused?
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Re: The SEVEN SPEED Manual

Post by Shadow »

theholycow wrote:Do want! After having a close ratio vehicle that really needed wide ratios and a wide ratio vehicle that could benefit from close ratios (but not at the expense of total range) I can really appreciate the way it delivers more things to more people. If you don't like shifting and can't be arsed to downshift, fine, don't use 7th... Why leave a fuel economy or acceleration (depending on how it's ratioed) improvement idea unused?
Using that logic, maybe we should all petition for a 12-speed manual trans.

At some point, too many forward gears just becomes silly. IMO, 7 speeds is borderline silly already.
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Re: The SEVEN SPEED Manual

Post by Shadow »

Here ya go...

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Re: The SEVEN SPEED Manual

Post by scionkid »

Shadow wrote:
theholycow wrote:Do want! After having a close ratio vehicle that really needed wide ratios and a wide ratio vehicle that could benefit from close ratios (but not at the expense of total range) I can really appreciate the way it delivers more things to more people. If you don't like shifting and can't be arsed to downshift, fine, don't use 7th... Why leave a fuel economy or acceleration (depending on how it's ratioed) improvement idea unused?
Using that logic, maybe we should all petition for a 12-speed manual trans.

At some point, too many forward gears just becomes silly. IMO, 7 speeds is borderline silly already.
7 speed in a Porsche is an ovekill. That car has power to spare. But when I had my box with a 1.5L engine pulling 3000lbs uphill, I wish I had a wide ratio 8 speed. With engines getting smaller to achieve fuel efficiency goals,& cars getting bigger to fit American butts, 10 speeds or more maybe necessary in the future. Chrysler has been working on a 9 speed auto.
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Re: The SEVEN SPEED Manual

Post by Shadow »

scionkid wrote:
7 speed in a Porsche is an ovekill. That car has power to spare. But when I had my box with a 1.5L engine pulling 3000lbs uphill, I wish I had a wide ratio 8 speed. With engines getting smaller to achieve fuel efficiency goals,& cars getting bigger to fit American butts, 10 speeds or more maybe necessary in the future. Chrysler has been working on a 9 speed auto.
Well, the concept of adding gears is usually two-fold: First, it allows a closer ratios, which tends to help keep the revs closer to the "sweet spot". Secondly, it allows lower revs in top gear, which is good for fuel economy. But still, I agree that it is overkill in the Porsche.

Not only am I opposed to increasing the number of gears in a manual trans (beyond the normal six), but I also don't find any enjoyment in driving an automatic with a lot of gears. I drove the automatic version of my Audi (which is an 8-speed) and it really sucked. The thing was constantly shifting and never seemed settled. Overall it seemed to work okay, but trust me when I say that it offers zero driving enjoyment. The 4-speed automatic in my 4Runner is much more satisfying to drive.
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Re: The SEVEN SPEED Manual

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Re: The SEVEN SPEED Manual

Post by six »

I think it would be pretty fun to have a 7-speed. You have the "standard" six gears for normal driving, and in the most opportune of situations, a 7th gear to lazily cruise down the interstate on a Sunday afternoon... Just think of it as another Reverse gear, except reversed, in both direction and ratio... as something you switch into when needed, but disregard at all other times.
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Re: The SEVEN SPEED Manual

Post by scionkid »

Like 6 said, I'm not looking for an 8 speed to shift every day.I just want 2 low gears for the occasional steep hill launches, when fully loaded. Also, one more gear above the usual 5th would be nice.That makes 8 gears, with 2 that I wouldn't use very often
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Re: The SEVEN SPEED Manual

Post by DKaz »

My 88 Honda Civic RT4WD had an SL (superlow) gear. It was to the left of first, redlined at like 20km/h, but good for getting out of a rut.
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Re: The SEVEN SPEED Manual

Post by Rope-Pusher »

'08 Jeep Liberty 6-Speed MT - "Last of the Mohicans"
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Re: The SEVEN SPEED Manual

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