| Vehicle manufacturers increase the gearing to improve driveability, as it becomes more difficult to control a powerful vehicle with shorter gearing. Traction does become an issue, and it takes a more skilled driver and better tires to harness the improved acceleration made possible by the more aggressive gearing. As power increases, car manufacturers make the gears longer and not shorter as leader gears do (look at Z06, ZTT vs ZNA, etc.). With leader gears and even a mildly modified TT, you'll be spinning tires in first and second, and will not be using the lower gears completely because you'll have to short-shift. That's assuming you're full-on the throttle and blazing through the first couple gears. This is where you need to learn that the best acceleration technique isn't always ramming the pedal on the right to the floor. Additionally suspension modifications and proper tire selection will compliment more aggressive gearing and assist in putting the power to the pavement. To further clarify, consider the first gear (or even the second). If you're at 400RWHP+, you'll be limited by the tire traction not the torque so leader gears or not you'll have the same acceleration. Sure, so you smoke first gear. Second still has improved acceleration, as does third, etc. Leader gears, on the other hand, will require you to shift at lower speeds and the cruising RPM will increase by 10% which can be an issue. So the obvious disadvantage is lower mileage. 10% rpm differential in cruising is not an issue unless you're sporting a tampon 1 week a month. Lower mileage is not strictly accurate either - given that the engine accelerates the vehicle more easily, you burn less gas getting up to speed. Your argument is only valid in non-variable speed scenarios. This has been confirmed in a few thousand real-world scenarios, I've seen it in person multiple times. Also, if you're trapping between 96mph and 107mph in the quarter mile, leader gears would require an additional (time consuming) shift from the third to fourth that is not required by stock gearing. They make up for that in the first 1400 feet. The car would feel snappier with leader gears but it would not be any faster. Theoretically, that's untrue, as it is in the real world. Look who is disagreeing with you. These are the guys who have driven both, some are racers, some are engineers, and some are car-guys who know what they're talking.
Recursively Yours,
Kenny...
PETZ Member #5
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Computer Science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes.
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