What does it mean when a gear is tall?

“Tall” gears and “short” gears are referring to the gear ratios. Tall (high) gears have LOWER numerical numbers such as 2.79, 2.90, 3.00, 3.25. Short (low) gears have HIGHER numerical numbers, such as 4.11, 4.30, 4.56, 4.88, 5.13, 5.36, etc. That’s a low gear ratio.

What’s better short or long gears?

Short gearing improves acceleration at the expense of speed (up to a limit). Tall gearing improves speed at the expense of acceleration (up to a limit ). Too short gears and you can have a vehicle that’s very quick in the 0-60 , 0-80 acceleration runs, but then loses out in 0-100.

Do more gears make a car faster?

The simple answer is yes. More aggressive gearing creates a quicker car but not a faster car. A gearing change will have a noticeable affect on your car. If you swap in taller rear gears, you can gain some top-end speed, making your car faster, but you’re going to be a bit slower leaving from a stop.

Is driving in high gears bad?

To answer your question, no it isn’t bad for your car to keep it in as high a gear as you can while still maintaining speed. As long as you are above idle in RPM and your engine isn’t lugging, you aren’t doing any damage.

Are taller gears better?

The gear ratio of the highest gear on a car is very important. It determines what RPM the car will cruise at, which in turn determines fuel efficiency on the highway and the noise level. In general, a taller gear ratio means better fuel mileage and less noise, although you’ll have to shift down if you need to overtake.

What does shorter gear ratio mean?

A lower (taller) gear ratio provides a higher top speed, and a higher (shorter) gear ratio provides faster acceleration. . Besides the gears in the transmission, there is also a gear in the rear differential.

Are longer gears better?

Taller gears allow for a higher top speed and better fuel economy, while shorter gears give you rip snorting acceleration. And by fitting a shorter final drive you can achieve better acceleration, since you can increase the amount of torque to the wheels, or you can fit a taller one and increase your top speed.

Is more gears in a transmission better?

The extra gears provide better acceleration and with high gear often an overdrive ratio to slow engine speed, fuel economy was improved. Today, eight-, nine- and 10-speed automatic transmissions are popular. As a general rule, the more torque an engine has, the less gears the transmission needs to provide performance.

Is it good to floor your car?

Flooring your car is fine. It’s the best way to accelerate, after all. If your car has an automatic transmission, you can put your foot all the way to the floor and hold it there until you are well past legal speed limits. Your engine will be fine.

What does a shorter final drive do?

The final drive ratio is the last bit of gearing between your transmission and the driven wheels. By changing it, you can affect the performance of your car, rather dramatically in some cases. In general, a lower final drive ratio will lead to less torque at the wheels but a higher top speed.

What is long gearing and why does it matter?

Long gearing refers to having the gear ratios spread further apart, with the final drive (usually an overdrive) allowing for a higher top speed with less engine RPM. This gives you better fuel mileage in the long run at the trade off of usually having a slower take-off speed.

What is short gearing and how does it work?

Short gearing refers to having the gear ratios closer together so as to have faster shifts and get to speed quicker while using a minimal amount of torque to get you there. The trade-off is you have a slower top speed.

What are the signs of a bad transmission?

If your engine revs up as you press down on the accelerator but your vehicle doesn’t accelerate as per usual or as you would expect, it’s a troublesome sign that can lead to a full-blown transmission failure. Transmission slipping, or gears slipping, is one of the most common transmission problems on both manual and automatic transmissions.

Why does my transmission shake when I change gears?

If you’re experiencing this when you or your vehicle changes gears, not only is it an indication transmission failure is on the horizon, it’s also a real safety risk to you when you’re on the road.