Is there an advantage to the short first gear?

Well, since nobody else has responded...

I'm guessing its so the car jumps off the line much faster. Gearing, along with horsepower can help to increase the perceived performance of a car. The tC is a pretty heavy car, and to post competing numbers with the Base RSX, Civic Si, and the rest of the popular 'Tuner' cars, they gave it a shorter first gear.

What I'm wondering is why they didn't make 5th gear a bit taller to improve the gas mileage on the 5 speeds.

I know this is off the subject but do u know if there is an ECU chip availble for this car because i havent heard of one yet??

Welcome to the site and no there is no chip available for the car.

The short first gear can get a bit annoying. I find myself starting in second on occasion. Just easier that way.

This will also be my first manual car...
What is the advantage in starting in second gear? Just less work because you dont have to shift right away?
Is there any downside to that? Other than slower acceleration im assuming.

Originally posted by SPattle@Mar 7 2005, 06:19 PM
This will also be my first manual car...
What is the advantage in starting in second gear? Just less work because you dont have to shift right away?
Is there any downside to that? Other than slower acceleration im assuming.

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well, i guess in wet conditions or something like that you'll start in second because you probably won't spin off the line. i don't know of any other benefits at the moment. well, the first gear can't be that short to where it's a bother, right? what's the max speed you can go in first

perhaps the short first gear is used to drive slowly through a parking lot etc.

You will have crazy whiplash trying to drive around the parking lot in 1st, especially if you won't try to balance it out with the clutch.

I love how tC is geared - won't want it any other way. Either that or a 6-speed, but I will have a hard time driving a plain jane 5-speed now - with gears that short it is much quicker than would have been. Well worth 1 mpg that would have been saved on the highway.

Originally posted by zoltiz@Mar 7 2005, 07:31 PM
You will have crazy whiplash trying to drive around the parking lot in 1st, especially if you won't try to balance it out with the clutch.

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all i am saying is there is a time and place for first gear.

Originally posted by zoltiz@Mar 7 2005, 07:31 PM
I love how tC is geared - won't want it any other way. Either that or a 6-speed, but I will have a hard time driving a plain jane 5-speed now - with gears that short it is much quicker than would have been. Well worth 1 mpg that would have been saved on the highway.

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You really need to drive a Supra to understand nicely spaced gears. The tC's gears are not nicely spaced at all, and no, it doesn't need a 6th gear, it just needs more balance. IMHO, all the gears are too low and a higher final drive would solve all my complaints (and work better with more power). Fourth and fifth are already overdrive gears, the last thing we need is an even higher overdrive gear.

The auto drives very nicely IMHO, I've driven them back to back a few times and while the auto does feel a little less quick, I really appreciate the lower rpm at highway speeds.

No doubt it will be a lot easier than the Supra Getrag I did in January. I'm still hoping to get that Camry final drive gear in there. FWIW, I rented a Camry in Denver last Thursday. Between the altitude, gearing, and car weight, it was a D-O-G. Step on the gas for more noise, but no acceleration worth mentioning.

It would be fun to take pictures of the Getrag 1st gear next to a tC 1st gear. I've seen trucks with smaller gears than the Supra Getrag.