[MR2] German HP vs. the others

[Ken Meyer]

I hadn't noticed it until last weekend (because Marlene covets driving the
car), but on a little road trip in her '06 Accord V6 with the manual
6-speed, in 6th gear at 2000 RPM, you are going 80 (EIGHTY) MPH.  That means
the top speed is 260 MPH (@ the 6500 red-line), right?!

Ken Meyer


-----Original Message-----

From: mr2-bounces at mr2.com [mailto:mr2-bounces at mr2.com]On Behalf Of
telek2 at att.net
Sent: Monday, October 22, 2007 10:30 AM
To: mr2 at mr2.com

Subject: Re: [MR2] German HP vs. the others


-------------- Original message ----------------------

From: Jon Oellrich <jonandshana at hotmail.com>
>
> Actually, that scenario would give all the same acceleration below 5k
(less
> total because you would have to shift sooner) and less top end speed.
Remember
> that top end speed is HP related.  Or, if you would rather think in terms
of
> torque, remember that it is related to torque X rpm, because you either
need
> taller gears to go faster (and proportionately more torque because higher
gears
> reduce axle torque proportionately) or higher rpm.  When we need a
proportionate
> increase in either torque or rpm, mathematically we need an increase in
the
> product of torque X rpm...or more power.
--- more detailed items snipped ---

I agree with everything you say.  But for what you say to apply, it means
that gears are selected so max speed occurs at max HP.  It's been a long
time since I've tried to see how fast a car can go.  But a sedan geared
for fuel economy, or low noise at cruising, etc. (like most things on the
road) won't hit that sweet spot.

It's been rumored that the MkI was geared for max top speed.  But in
doing so, 5th gear is a much lower ratio than just about anything else
on the road.

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