Eli5: How do standard transmissions work, specifically downshifting?
In: Engineering
Your engine can only supply a limited amount of torque and can only spin to a limited rpm speed. The transmission uses 1st gear to get you moving from stopped, until you hit high rpms, then the 2nd gear takes low rpm to high rpm again and so on.
It’s just like a bike, your legs can only move so fast and you can only pedal so hard, so as you go faster, you change gears when your legs cant move fast enough, then you pedal slow to fast as you move through the gear.
For down shifting.
When you start moving slower and need to go to a lower gear, your engine is at its slowest rpm at the bottom of the gear, and you need to shift to the top of the next gear, so you need to shift out of the gear then speed the engine up, then shift into the lower gear.
1st (low rpm) –> (high rpm) /shift
2nd (low rpm) –> (high rpm) / shift
3rd (low rpm) –> (high rpm)
So for down shifting, you have to follow the same flow but in reverse, and you rev match to the high rpm of the top of the gear you are down shifting into.
Latest Answers