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Originally Posted by v1p3r Well, not had the pleasure of driving an S10, but I really wish Fiat would give the GTX better gearing. Do the 1.2 and the 1.6 share gearing? Because the GTX also seems to top out at 80 in 2nd, like the 1.2 and the Santro. This really affects 0-100s and quarter-mile bursts.
I always thought shorter ratios were more of a pain in town. More fun to thrash, but a pain in traffic. |
Well here is some more info on that.This is gonna be a long one.
GEAR RATIOS & TOP SPEEDS :- GTX -
in 1st 3.909 40 km/h
in 2nd 2.158 73 km/h
in 3rd 1.345
117 km/h
in 4th 0.974
161 km/h
in 5th 0.766 185 km/h
S10 -
in 1st 3.909 40 km/h
in 2nd 2.158 73 km/h
in 3rd 1.480
106km/h
in 4th 1.121
140 km/h
in 5th 0.829 185 km/h
So the 1st and 2nd are identical.But from then on, its a different story for each of these cars.When I bought the S10, I thought about the exact same thing - Is this car going to be a pain in traffic?
Having understood the car's characteristics pretty well,I can tell you that this car is much better than you'd think it should be in the city.So much so, that I enjoy being in the shorter 3rd & 4th ratios for most of my drives.
Alright,lets imagine the two,GTX and S10 starting off together,side by side.
* Speeds and rpm readings are just a figment of my imagination,they might differ in reality *
Both cars are running at identical speeds and rpm in 2nd, ie
GTX- 30 @ 2000 rpm
S10 - 30 @ 2000 rpm
Time for a shift to third- Now this is where things change.When you shift to 3rd in the GTX, the rpm would fall somewhere around 1200 rpm, but in the S10, because of the shorter ratios, the rpm needle would rest at around 1500 rpm. The result, when you press the gas pedal at this point, the S10 will put its nose ahead and will enter the meat of the rev band quicker than the GTX.The same thing repeats whith another upshift.
So what I'm tring to imply here, is that because of the shorter ratios, the car always stays around the perfect city-operating rev band,ie. around 1500 - 3000 rpm.Its a boon to have all that torque ready to surge you forward with the slightest push on the pedal.
Here's the best bit- (back to the GTX and S10)- Both cars are in 3rd gear in the city.Both have to simultaneously slow down to almost a standstill- say at 10 km/h.Now at this speed, the tacho on the GTX would fall below 800 rpm in 3rd, the engine would shudder and you would have to downshift to 2nd.Thats pretty normal for any car I guess. But in the S10, the shorter 3rd bails you out of the situation,even at 10 km/h, the tacho would be above 1000 rpm and the car will pull cleanly from that speed.So you see, more driveability and fewer gear changes in the city.
Now for the -ves of the shorter ratios.
1) On the faster expressways, you cannot stay in a gear for a long time.You have to upshift at relatively lower speeds - see the table.
Even downshifting has to be calculative.If at speeds above 150-160 km/h, I downshift to 4th, I'll end up over cooking the engine and it will end in the far end of the rev band.So the GTX would probably be a bit more relaxed at these speeds.
2) If I stay in the 4th for long, it would affect my FE. So I have to be in 5th most of the times on the highways.
But I think these ratios suit the car's sporty character though and should have been provided on the GTX as well.