Quote:
Originally Posted by Scharbag
I hear ya regarding the change from 3 to 4 to 5. That makes sense. And a 6 speed would make sense IF 6th was a real highway gear. Regardless, 100MPH to 120MPH does not NEED more than 6 gears IMHO and here is why:
The E92 M3 is engine limited to 168MPH in 5th gear at 8300RPM with 6MT and 3.85 gears (6th really cannot go faster due to resistance anyway). Same transmission, in 6th, you are theoretically at 7221RPM. Not a great deal different.
For the US and Canadian folks who are limited to slow highways: at 70MPH in 6th, the 6MT above is pulling 3000RPM, or 3448 in 5th, or 4103 in 4th. Since 5th will get you to Vmax, 6th should be a better overdrive gear. Any more gears and you might as well buy an automatic or a CVT IMHO to make up for all the time wasted changing gears manually.
Thankfully, BMW has not swallowed the 7 speed kool-aid yet (they may just drop M manuals since so few are sold though...). Corvette and Porsche have. But at least the Porsche GT3 manual has only 6 forward speeds!!
Cheers,
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They're dropping them. Well some say an M2 is a car but the rest of us think blind people shouldn't drive.