Why is 6th gear so low (2006 Sport)

I feel like my car is getting undue engine wear and wasting gas on the highway because in 6th gear,
going 60 mph it's doing almost 3,000 rpm.

Does anyone know why they made 6th gear so low?

Thanks.

Mark

Well that is just the way it goes. My 2003 LS turns 2,800 RPM at 60 MPH.
(in 6th gear) That is 400 RPM less that my '91 turned at the same speed
in 5th gear You may just need to chalk it up to "Sport". :-) Oh. and
you are not going to wear that engine out much faster just because of
that. You will however, burn more gas over the life of the car!

Bruce Bing '03 LS

In article >,
Mark in KC > wrote:

> I feel like my car is getting undue engine wear and wasting gas on the
> highway because in 6th gear,
> going 60 mph it's doing almost 3,000 rpm.

Since an engine's efficiency is highest at about its peak torque RPM,
lower gearing will only take it further away from 5000 RPM and *less*
efficient.

A properly designed engine isn't going to be experiencing undue wear
operating at less than half its redline RPM.

>
> Does anyone know why they made 6th gear so low?
>
> Thanks.
>
> Mark

--
"The iPhone doesn't have a speaker phone" -- "I checked very carefully" --
"I checked Apple's web pages" -- Edwin on the iPhone and how he missed
the demo of the iPhone speakerphone.

In article >,
Mark in KC > wrote:

> Does anyone know why they made 6th gear so low?

So you wouldn't have to downshift for hills on the highway. If you
wanted a freeway cruiser or gas miser, you bought the wrong car.

Small Engine=High RPM, Large Engine = Low RPM
So a Corvette loafs along at 60 mph with a low RPM, and an MX-5 at 3000RPM
or so.
MX-5s are tuned for preformance, not gas mileage. (Sports car, not Econo
Car, remember?)
Now if you have some spare change, the rear axle ratio can be changed to 3.6
with a resulting improvement in gas mileage.
And the 6th gear use will seem like the car has less power than it does now.
Or perhaps a larger tire size?

"Mark in KC" > wrote in message
...
> I feel like my car is getting undue engine wear and wasting gas on the
highway because in 6th gear,
> going 60 mph it's doing almost 3,000 rpm.
>
> Does anyone know why they made 6th gear so low?
>
> Thanks.
>
> Mark
>

On Fri, 6 Apr 2007 01:21:50 -0400, "Chuck" >
wrote:

>Small Engine=High RPM, Large Engine = Low RPM
>So a Corvette loafs along at 60 mph with a low RPM, and an MX-5 at 3000RPM
>or so.
>MX-5s are tuned for preformance, not gas mileage. (Sports car, not Econo
>Car, remember?)
>Now if you have some spare change, the rear axle ratio can be changed to 3.6
>with a resulting improvement in gas mileage.
>And the 6th gear use will seem like the car has less power than it does now.
>Or perhaps a larger tire size?
>
>"Mark in KC" > wrote in message
...
>> I feel like my car is getting undue engine wear and wasting gas on the
>highway because in 6th gear,
>> going 60 mph it's doing almost 3,000 rpm.
>>
>> Does anyone know why they made 6th gear so low?
>>
>> Thanks.
>>
>> Mark
>>
>
Then why buy a Miata? I consider 3,000 to be low revs in a Miata.

Tom

Chuck wrote:
> Small Engine=High RPM, Large Engine = Low RPM
> So a Corvette loafs along at 60 mph with a low RPM, and an MX-5 at 3000RPM
> or so.

A Corvette is naturally a low-revving, lazy engine, assuming they're
still using the traditional American crossplane V8. These have a huge
inertial mass, although they're perfectly balanced. A Ferrari V8 will
rev much higher, but that's a flatplane V8 - poorer balance, but no need
for big counterweights.

Mark in KC wrote:
> I feel like my car is getting undue engine wear and wasting gas on the highway because in 6th gear,
> going 60 mph it's doing almost 3,000 rpm.
>
> Does anyone know why they made 6th gear so low?
>
> Thanks.
>
> Mark
>
We didn't get a MX5 Sport because the ratios are so close. We find the 5
speed quite enough changes.
We live near London and enjoy visiting a daughter and taking in the
scenic roads and the beautiful scenery in Scotland. Snag is it is a 400
mile drive up motorways to get there and in the UK most people cruise at
over 80mph. Our other car is a Mazda 3 Sport which also has low ratios.
With Mazda you get the zoom zoom but pay for it in fuel and noise if you
are covering long distances at speed.
At least with the coupé it is a lot quieter doing the high speed bits to
get to the nice top down bits.
Is there still a 50mph limit in most states in the US? In the UK it is
70mph but not very strongly enforced.

The Invisible Man > wrote:

> Is there still a 50mph limit in most states in the US?

Usually 75mph on the interstates but if you do cruise at 75mph you'll
be blocking traffic and really irritating everyone who is going 85-
95mph.

The Invisible Man > wrote in news:46160007$0$78517
:

> Is there still a 50mph limit in most states in the US?

Depends on the area/state and even time. Illinois is 65 (average speed of
traffic: 75-80), Missouri is 70 (average speed of traffic: 70-75), Texas is
75 during the day and 65 at night (what's up with that??)..

Usually around cities the limit drops to 55 or 60.

-Scott