When I worked for the family home construction business back in the 70s, we had a 1968 International pick up with a 304 4 speed. Had to start it out in 2nd gear most of the time because 1st was a granny gear. I swear that old truck could pull a house off it's foundation if you locked the 4wd and cranked it up in first gear!
Just a moment...
From the page you linked:That's ass-backwards. A granny gear is a very low gear ratio. Using the writer's numbers from the article, 2.00:1 is a high ratio compared to 6.32:1, which is a low ratio. Anything over 1:1, e.g. 0.89:1, is overdrive."Put most basically, a granny gear is a gear with a really high gear ratio."
You have to pass your driver’s test on a stick. An automatic transmission is usually a paid extra, unless we are talking about the top tier models. But like, we drive cars in Europe that most Americans would not even consider cars. I drive a VW Golf, the most popular car in Europe, which would at best be considered a lawnmower in the States.
My daily driver is a 1984 BMW 318I (E30 with M10 engine) with a 5 speed tranny. I bought it new in 1984 and as a third car and have driven it regularly ever since. Currently it travels about 250-400 miles a month slowly adding to the roughly 150,000 miles on the odometer.
Bullet proof car, both my sons drove it in high school so eventually I had to replace the clutch. Otherwise maintenance has been minimal. Originally promoted as 0-60 in 8 seconds (it ain't a Tesla) we are down to 0-60 in 12 seconds on the original engine.
I love shifting thru the gears!
Truth. And in many respects, we Americans are poorer for it.
I do miss our Ford Mondeo Diesel Wagons (standard, of course) that would cruise at 200kph comfortably while sipping fuel. Forget trying to find something similar here in the US. But then again, Ford US < Ford Europe.
I bought a Ford F250 with the diesel. Have about 30k miles on it now and am having all kinds of trouble with the emissions system. Truck is currently in limp mode as there is a problem with the DEF system despite the tank being full. It's been into the dealer 3 times and each appointment takes a month wait because the dealer is so busy with not enough mechanics.
I have decided to do a full emissions delete and get a retuned programmer to bypass all the factory emissions issues and warning lights. I can get from 0-150 horsepower extra by just a click of the dial. Apparently gains of up to 5mpg are also possible due to more efficient running and no diesel injection in the the particulate filter to burn off soot.
Other than emissions it is a great truck with a ton of power.
Audi’s DSG was the doom of the standard transmission. All previous clutchless manuals (e.g. BMW’s SMG and Ferrari’s “F1”) had performance drawbacks. Since then, it hasn’t been possible to take satisfaction in one’s control over the vehicle, and by extension, driving overall. Cars haven’t been cool for about 20 years.