Thoughts on a 7 speed manual?

[serialk11r]

Originally Posted by Rampage

Adding gears is not necessarily a good thing for performance. Shifting takes time with a manual. Now maybe with dual clutch paddle shifters it would not be a detriment but if you have to row it yourself then going through 7 gears is going to cost time. There is a reason most race cars only have a 5 speeds or sometimes even less. You only use those five and anymore than that is simply more weight and rotating mass.

Shifting takes time true, but most race cars having 5 gears? 6 performance gears seems like the standard to me, at least for road going performance cars it has been for the last 15 years (Porsche, NSX, F20/K20, Lotus C64, the Italians, etc.). My argument is that since it seems like no one outside of F1 is bothering with more than 6 performance gears, why not keep the 6 (which by consensus people seem to think is a good number) and add a 7th for the highway, which many cars desperately could use. You wouldn't be rowing through 7 to go fast, you'd be rowing through approximately the same number of gears as before but in some circumstances you'd have an extra shift or a skip shift if you're accelerating quickly on public roads. Think C64 with an extra gear, you'd use the same gears as before except you'd go to 7th instead of 6th for cruising most of the time. 6th wouldn't be useless as it has decent passing power on the highway since it'd be shorter than my current 5th. To speed up a little you would downshift to 6th instead of mashing the throttle in 7, to pass you'd skip down but now you have the choice of 2, 3, 4 or 5

Of course, when you throw in hybrid/forced induction then the story changes. Large engines would still benefit from a 7th but the smaller engines could be fine with 6 since the BMEP to FMEP ratio is smaller.

[Rampage]

You could probably get better gas mileage and make cruising quieter with a 7th gear. However, using my Spyder as an example, it would not pull the mountains in West Virginia without downshifting. It will pull them with the 6 speed.

My opinion is that the 7th and 8th gear are more marketing hype than real world beneficial. They add weight. They add complexity. I like minimalist cars. Therefore, I own a MR-S and convinced my son to buy a FR-S. 6 forward gears is perfect for lightweight sports cars like these.

If someone gave me a 7 speed gearbox that would fit in my Spyder for free I would not make the effort to pull the 6 speed and put in the 7. But then I like simple so maybe I am simple!

[Bonburner]

tbh i really want a 7th gear for Highway cruising and a better 6th haha
could make it like how our reverse needs to be lifted but to the upper right :P
that way no misshifts going to 7 instead of 5 haha

[M-17]

I saw that either Hyundai, Volkswagen, or maybe Nissan is adding a 9th gear to one of their cars. Most likely automatic though.

Soon all those Fast and Furious memes that make fun of the amount shifts will become a reality.

[Burrcold]

I'll be granny shifting into 12th gear in 20 years.

[Kelbyat07]

7 is ok depending on what car. The Lexus ISF is 8 speed automatic, which I still think is crazy and awesome at the same time. My hand would be sore from shifting 7 all the time though.

[Frost]

I have never owned a six speed manny tranny so I really can't speak for how a 7th gear with the extra row would feel like.

But I agree with other peeps in the sense that the 7th gear is really for highway cruising.

[IronSean]

Maybe I'm crazy, but I actually prefer the Automatic in the twins because the 6th is a taller gear for highway use. I'd definitely be for a 7th in the manual that was about the same as the auto 6th.

I didn't think you got much past 4th on a track anyway, and because it's an overdrive you might not even have the power to go faster in 6th than you could in fifth, so by the time you're at 6 and 7 it's only for low rpm cruising in my mind.

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by M-17

I saw that either Hyundai, Volkswagen, or maybe Nissan is adding a 9th gear to one of their cars. Most likely automatic though.

Soon all those Fast and Furious memes that make fun of the amount shifts will become a reality.

http://www.freep.com/article/2013092.../jeep-cherokee