I have a manual transmission and was under the impression that a certain RPM on a particular gear will always generate the same MPH. The other day I noticed I sit at 2,800 RPM in 6th gear @ 80 MPH, and other times it’ll be at 3,200 RPM – Could some explain?
In: Engineering
If it is indeed a standard manual transmission, the engine is directly connected with the wheels and will always turn the same RPM at a given speed. The two things that would potentially change that is wheel/tire diameter and clutch wear.
If the wheel/tire diameter increases the RPM required to reach the same speed decreases.
If the clutch is worn the engine is no longer directly connected and the RPM could be arbitrary. Only a portion of the power is being transferred to the wheels while the rest is being converted to heat and clutch bits.
It is possible that this is a “manual” automatic transmission. You may be able to select gears, with the difference in RPM explained by the torque converted being locked or not.
Latest Answers