do certain gears of a car have a set range of speed

Question

I’m mainly asking because i can’t wrap my head around the concept of stick shift.

ex: would 1st gear be good from “X” mph until “Y” mph and then you need to switch to 2nd gear?

In: Engineering

Answer 1

Yes and no.

For a given setup, yes. First gear can work from, say, 10 to 30mph. Second from 20 to 60. Third 30 to 90. So on. If you got a different car or transmission, then it could/would be different.

In general, you don’t want to run it all the way to the max. You’d run first gear until shortly after you could switch to second, and second until shortly after you could switch to third. This keeps the engine rpm’s lower, improving efficiency and making for a smoother/quieter ride.