What is 6th gear for?

[Russ59]

It's also to reduce engine noise while cruising & engine wear by turning at slower revs. I wish my T4 Syncro had a 6th gear. While having a low first gear & evenly spaced ratios, it revs a little to high for my liking while cruising[around 2,700 rpm & 110Kph] & probably uses more fuel.

I can't honestly say that I notice a great deal of difference in the diesel as far as the noise level is concerned, not at 100 kmh anyway. Some cars really could do with the 6th gear as you say, my Father in Law has an '84 Hilux 2.2 L diesel and a 4 speed manual gearbox, now there's noise when cruising I think from memory it does about 3800 rpm @ 100 kmh, it had an engine rebuild at 300,000 k's and now has 400,000 + k's on it and it just keeps on going.


Russ

[gregozedobe]

Also 6th gear allows a TDI to have a "respectable" top speed on those unrestricted autobahns (its a matter of pride, you know ? )

If we were legally allowed to cruise at speeds in excess of 130 kmh then 6th gear would be more useful than at our current legal maximums, where the engine is only just into its comfortable working speed range.

Even with the extra torque of my 2.5 TDI engine I often find myself changing back to 4th if I have had to back off on a hill for some reason. I prefer to keep the revs above 2,000 if I am asking an engine to do some serious work (and yes, I know TDIs will pull hard at 1,800, but I'm not convinced it is necessarily good for them - JMO ).

[Russ59]

Also 6th gear allows a TDI to have a "respectable" top speed on those unrestricted autobahns (its a matter of pride, you know ? )

If we were legally allowed to cruise at speeds in excess of 130 kmh then 6th gear would be more useful than at our current legal maximums, where the engine is only just into its comfortable working speed range.

Even with the extra torque of my 2.5 TDI engine I often find myself changing back to 4th if I have had to back off on a hill for some reason. I prefer to keep the revs above 2,000 if I am asking an engine to do some serious work (and yes, I know TDIs will pull hard at 1,800, but I'm not convinced it is necessarily good for them - JMO ).

C'mon admit it you just enjoy giving the diesel a good fang don't you

Russ

[gregozedobe]

C'mon admit it you just enjoy giving the diesel a good fang don't you

No, NO ! I only do it to keep the turbo vanes freed up

The excuse before that was "I need to drive hard to increase the pressure on the rings to run the engine in properly" (In the RS I just say I bought it to enjoy driving and leave it at that - thankfully the missus enjoys giving it the odd squirt too).

I must admit I get a quiet pleasure from the look of surprise from other drivers when they realize just how well my big white box goes in 3rd and 4th gear, on hills it is capable of surprising acceleration once it is moving.

[Russ59]

No, NO ! I only do it to keep the turbo vanes freed up

The excuse before that was "I need to drive hard to increase the pressure on the rings to run the engine in properly" (In the RS I just say I bought it to enjoy driving and leave it at that - thankfully the missus enjoys giving it the odd squirt too).

I must admit I get a quiet pleasure from the look of surprise from other drivers when they realize just how well my big white box goes in 3rd and 4th gear, on hills it is capable of surprising acceleration once it is moving.

Yeah, these new diesel engines are a far cry from the old dinosaur diesel era, I have given quite a few petrol 6 and even V8 drivers a jaw drop when they have tried to keep up on the hills (without having to drop back gears and really floor it). The most incredible part is that the fuel consumption really doesn't vary all that much if you give it a good fanging on the hwy or even cruising around town in traffic, you don't get the large variables in fuel consumption that you do in a petrol car. I'm a very happy diesel camper and will hopefully stay that way for some time to come

Russ

[mikinoz]

It is there for bling factor. I have changed my gear knob on the TDI to 16 speed so I get some respect at the diesel pumps from prime movers!

[Russ59]

It is there for bling factor. I have changed my gear knob on the TDI to 16 speed so I get some respect at the diesel pumps from prime movers!

Haha LOL has it worked for you though ?

I still get funny looks from people when filling up with diesel, the first time I did a fill the guy in the servo at the counter said "you know that's diesel you've used in your car mate" I said thank Christ for that, for a minute there I thought you were going to tell me I'd used petrol

[jettapilot]

I love it when they try to sell you a chocolate for an extra 2c a litre discount and I say "No thanks. Don't need it. See you in 1000kms "

Especially when diesel's cheaper than petrol

[gregozedobe]

Especially when diesel's cheaper than petrol

Yes, I am enjoying that at the moment, but I don't expect that happy situation to last for very long. I've been running diesels for over ten years, and I think diesel has been cheaper than std unleaded for less than 10% of that time

[CatonaPC©]

It's cheaper now because the dealers need to move all those diesels in the yards. Then when they're all gone, the oil companies will jack up the price!