In your STi at 75 mph, in sixth gear, what is the tach reading?

Thanks!

 

Heh. Good question. My wife drives a Toyota Matrix XRS, 180hp 1.8l with a six-speed manual. I figured the sixth gear would make the engine noise from highway cruising less noisy, but it really doesn't. I was curious to know what another six-speed (albeit with a completely different drivetrain and output) would be churning at-if there was a marked dropoff in revs from fifth gear to sixth on the highway, or was it marginal, as in the Toyota.

 

Of course this is true but would it be so out of whack to have a car maker who chose to include a sixth gear to set it so that cruising at 80 would have the engine loafing around at 2500-3000? Let's face it, this car wasn't made to do 55, why is it geared as if that's where it'll spend most of its time? It would certainly make any long trips you had much less noisy and wouldn't necessarily detract from the sportiness of the car. You want passing power? Drop it into 5th or 4th. To me that would be getting the best of both worlds, plus the fuel economy saving.

That said, I'm obviously no mechanic so perhaps this would be impossible to do with manuals these days. Can the ratios only be so far apart? I don't know.

 

Yeah, I wish the Matrix had a sixth gear that actually took care of the noise level at highway cruising speed. It's pretty bad. My RS Coupe is like a Lexus in comparison.

 

About 3k RPM.

-Ollie