Quote:
Originally Posted by e1000
Correct. If that was the intent of the statement then I agree. However, I fear people may read it and think that peak power for a set speed can be manipulated without changing gear ratios.
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Correct, at a given speed, you can only change power by changing rpm and hence by changing gear.
Quote:
Originally Posted by e1000
I think a more accurate statement would be "Peak acceleration occurs at the point where a given powerplant produces peak power (torque) while utilizing the shortest (numerically highest) possible gear ratio"
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But that is not correct. Peak INSTANTANEOUS acceleration in any gear is at the rpm of peak engine torque (again with corrections discussed here). You are trying to combine the statements somewhat and they can not be.
Now peak OVERALL acceleration occurs simply by maximizing power at every point in time. You can do that typically by staying in any given lower gear as long as possible.
Think about it some more. When driving aggressively (i.e. for maximum OVERALL acceleration) in an M3 you are almost always above 5000 rpm. The peak INSTANTANEOUS acceleration in any gear is way down around 3000-3500 rpm! In most sporty engines you simply never "use" peak torque nor do you hit peak instantaneous acceleration. Odd but true.