Pick up the latest "Truck Trend" mag. In it they talk about gear ratios. Breifly; they said from 3:42 to 4:10's the gas mileage difference is .04 mpg.

 

I find that hard to believe---seeing how 4.10/3.42=1.1988

That means the engine has to turn nearly 20% more revolutions to go the same distance. I'll check it out, but they must have been running that test on one of those phantom Chevrolet pick-ups that get 24mpg....I haven't seen one of those either, but the owners claim they exist!

Sidewinder

 

20% difference in gearing will make a significant difference in fuel usage for most vehicles. I have all kinds of questions about that conclusion.

 

I don't buy into that claim at all. Otherwise, why would auto manufacturers have developed overdrive transmissions?

 

Part of the misconception might be that with lower gears, you are dumping alot of gas to get going and not going anywhere, ie the engine is under a pull. With the taller gearing the power goes to the rear wheels quicker with less loss of power in the tranny. Lower gears=driving with the choke closed, taller gears=choke open. This makes sense to me so don't confuse me with facts.

 

Flip that around. Taller gears (ie 3.42, 3.08) takes more throttle to get moving while deeper gears (3.73, 4.10) have more low end power. The smaller the number the higher the ratio is, the higher the number the deeper the ratio.