Why no 6 gears??

[Challo]

This may sound a stupid question...but I was driving back home on the motorway last night, and started thinking why my 2005 Astra doesn't have 6th gears. I felt that a 6th gear would have meant a nicer drive, less rev's and better MPG.

Does anybody know why some cars have 6spd boxes and some 5?

I remember years ago driving a Nova with 4gears, and a Volvo with over drive so things have definatly moved on.

[kambites]

Cost.

[hornetrider]

kambites said:

Cost.

/thread

[tim2100]

Most cars now have 6 gears don't they?

[kambites]

tim2100 said:

Most cars now have 6 gears don't they?

I think most cheap cars are still available with five - the new Focus certainly seems to be.

[anonymous-user]

My 2.5 has 6 gears, and at 70mph it's doing 3k rpm. 6th gear is the same (or very similar) "speed" as 5th (in 5sp models), it's just that you have more intermediate gears.

And, for the record, I had a 1.3 (yes, 1.3) cdti Astra estate as a works car for a little while. 5th and 6th were useless for anything. 6th would barely even maintain speed on the motorway. And hint of a hill and it was down to 4th.

[The Wookie]

Strangely enough, many cars with 6 speed boxes could actually make do with five. Almost all of the non sporting mass manufactured cars with 6 speeders I've simulated will reach Vmax in 4th gear, with 5th and 6th being overdrives, effectively making 5th superfluous beyond bridging the gap between 4th and 6th.

You can thank the NEDC and ratios by committee for that one