Why are cars geared so low?

[darxus]

For a given speed, the higher the gear you're in, the less gas you burn.

I can drive 30mph in my Accord in fifth gear comfortably on a level road.

I'm sure the relationship isn't entirely linear, but that should mean I'm burning roughly twice as much gas as necessary at 65mph only because of how low the top gear is.

Why?

Comments

[zzbottom.livejournal.com]

I have often wondered the same thing. My guess is that there is a space consideration for the transmission, but that's only a guess. Also, there is the idea that they want to make it a bit more difficult to speed. If you had a logical sixth and seventh gears, you would likely be more prone to speeding.