The OD ratios in the newer 6, 8 and 10 speeds are not much higher than what was offered in the 80s.
I'm not here to argue but turning 3k at 70 is far from useless and is acceptable.
You’re correct on top gear OD ratios, and useless was a strong word. I’ll revise to undesirable, to me, and apparently the entire automotive industry and general public buying every kind of light duty vehicle…
Or we’d still have 1:1 transmissions in front of steep gears.
One BIG difference that the 6+ speed transmissions provide even though final trans OD ratios are similar to early OD transmissions is the ability to have super deep 1st/2nd gear and very manageable gear splits through the entire range, allowing for higher final drive ratios that effectively create even higher OD ratios without sacrificing pulling power out of the hole and the full range of speed from 1 mph to terminal velocity.
Not here to argue either but again, if 1960s and 70s automotive technology was better or desired, we’d still be using it.
And anyone who says they’d rather be screaming at 3-4k rpm’s all day long across the flyover states vs 2k or less is kidding themselves, living in the past for posterities sake or just instigating a typical antagonistic Facebook type discussion.
Now if that’s what ya got and what ya can afford, I’m not knocking it, but even that is a skewed argument as non OD equipped vehicles are all classic cars/trucks by now and apples to apples, frankly more expensive than older OD equipped vehicles.
It’s not wrong to be ok with driving old iron, I love to as well. But if I’m eyeing up my 10 speed pickup, 5 or 8 speed cars or 6 speed auto diesel or my C10, K20 or CJ5 for a road trip or frankly anything that involves freeway/highway speeds for even commuting guess which ones get left at home?
