How do drivers use the 6th gear in a manual?

In article
>,
TCS > wrote:

> On Fri, 17 Dec 2004 16:15:13 GMT, Ulf > wrote:
> >Don Bruder wrote:
> >> In article
> >> >,
> >> TCS > wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >>>On Fri, 17 Dec 2004 03:30:23 GMT, Don Bruder > wrote:
> >>>
> >>>>In article >,
> >>>>Anthony > wrote:
> >>>
> >>>>>TCS > wrote in
> :
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>>>On Thu, 16 Dec 2004 19:12:39 GMT, Richard > wrote:
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>>Do you have to shift sooner in the lower gears?
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>It's the same as a five speed versus a four speed.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>The top gear might have a higher ratio or it might not. It's entirely
> >>>>>>up to the particular implementation.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>>The Tremec (formerly Borg-Warner) T56 six speed generally has a 0.74 5th
> >>>>>and a 0.50 6th ratio, so both are overdrive.
> >>>
> >>>>Wheeeee!
> >>>
> >>>>Will it bolt up to the 2.0 liter inline 4 engine in an '82 Mazda 626?
> >>>
> >>>With that engine, you'd only be able to use 6th gear on a 10% decline.
> >>>Otherwise, it'd be like using 4th gear at 10mph.
> >>
> >>
> >> Awww, shaddup and quit spoiling a perfectly good fantasy!
> >>
> >> (What? You actually think even if it WOULD bolt in, I didn't already
> >> know it'd be just about as useful as tits on a boar hog?)
>
> >Considering I have no problems accelerating up inclines in 6th gear in
> >my Camaro it can't be that bad. Besides, you can always change the rear
> >end ratio, at least in a RWD car...
>
> Take your camero, pull the spark plugs off two cylinders and retard the
> timing 20 degrees and you might have a power/weight ratio like the mazda.

ROTFL!

Ain't that the truth! The book claims it cranked 74.3 HP when new. Not
certain what current "Real life" numbers are, with close enough to 23
years and AT LEAST a quarter of a million miles behind it. (odo from the
wreck I transplanted it out of says it did 187K, I drove it with a
broken speedo cable (no idea how long it was broke before I got the car)
on a 200+ mile per night newspaper route for most of a year before
getting around to fixing the cable, then, once the front end got creamed
by a PT Cruiser, transplanted the engine into a new body, and for the
last 2.5 or so years, have driven it about 150-200 miles per shift
delivering pizza 5 nights a week.)

Tough? Sweet jesus on a pinstriped donkey but is it ever! It's like the
freakin' Energizer bunny, I tell ya! - It just keeps going, and going,
and going...

More amazingly, it's using practically nothing for oil - Based on what
goes back into the empty jugs from the previous change, MAYBE a pint of
oil is missing every two weeks, and I'd be willing to bet that most of
what's AWOL is hiding in the filter.

Needless to say, I'm pretty impressed with Mazda engines - They may not
be "dragster power", but boy are they reliable! This car may not be much
in the "glamor" department, but I guarantee you this: If I go out and
bump the key (2 seconds of crank, absolute max), it starts. *EVERY*
time. Wet, dry, hot, cold, doesn't matter - It starts, gets me and my
payload from point A to point B and back again, does it on just a few
sips of gas, and never complains.

Now if I could just figure out why it is that *EVERY SINGLE ONE* of the
"MA" (Mazda's notation for this motor) engines I've ever encountered has
a lifter tick on the #4 cylinder that can be heard easily from 20 feet
away...

--
Don Bruder - - New Email policy in effect as of Feb. 21, 2004.
Short form: I'm trashing EVERY E-mail that doesn't contain a password in the
subject unless it comes from a "whitelisted" (pre-approved by me) address.
See <http://www.sonic.net/~dakidd/main/contact.html> for full details.

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