Why are 80-120 always in 4th gear ?

[Melissa007]

And why not 2/3 where possible? Some even in 5th..
is it becasue the testers want to be fair and some car's gear are too short (that mean, doesnt run up to 120?) ?

ooor?

I always wondered about this, becasue i - if overtaking - use 3rd on 80kmh, mostly due to
1. fun
2. its faster

i use 4th only avobe 100-110 when overtaking (coz my 3rd goes only to 130) but its quite easy to change from 3 to 4, much much easier than from 2 to 3 ..

and how do you do overtaking at 80<x<100 kmh ?

 

[DeDe]

Most of the european magazines measures 80-120 km/h in 4th, 5th and 6th gear (and -if available- in 7th and 8th). These times shows the true potential of the engines at low and middle revs.

Personally I always use 3rd and 4th gear in our 1.3-litre Swift, because it's brutally weak at low revs. But in the C200 5th gear is good from 70 km/h most of the time.

 

[Melissa007]

oh i see.. thanks
kösz

 

[Giannis]

Also, in most cars the gear ration of the 4th gear is 1:1, so the acceleration in that gear shows the true potential of an engine.