The Need for Speed(s)

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RPN, a good way to evaluate the suitability of a cars gearing is to plot the horsepower available at the drive wheels vs speed as it runs through the gears. You can also do it with tractive effort (thrust available) at the drive wheels.

If there are big dips in output at the wheels as it winds out in each gear, the ratios are too far apart for good performance.

I suspect that the Corvette has dips that are no more pronounced that the close ratio Euro exotics because the Corvette has a flatter power band.

The Corvette manual 6 speeds still have the 1-4 skip shift feature. It's a good thing. It lets them dodge the gas guzzler tax and it can be defeated with a $15 part in under 5 minutes. Or for less than a dollar and something over 5 minutes if you want to insert a resistor in the right place.
 
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Bror is right about high gears and hills. Seems noone wants to market a car that someone feels is underpowered on a test drive. My old mazda 323 was like this. 3500 RPM or so at 70 MPH. Buzzzzzz.

Presently my gear of choice to skip is 4th. I can wind up to any legal speed in 3rd, then, when I'm there, am content to cruise in 5th.

Actually my driving style is to accellerate at half throttle, which I believe is good for minimizing pumping losses. I simply upshift when I feel I'm accellerating too quickly. It could be at 2k RPM for relaxed city driving or near redline on an onramp.
 
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