Car Transmission Numbers All Over the Place
Introduction
The numbers on a car transmission can be confusing, especially if you’re not familiar with them. Here’s a quick guide to help you decipher the numbers on your transmission:
The First Number
The first number on a transmission is the number of gears. The most common transmissions have 4, 5, or 6 gears, but there are also some transmissions with 7 or 8 gears.
The Second Number
The second number on a transmission is the gear ratio. The gear ratio is the number of times the input shaft spins for every time the output shaft spins. The lower the gear ratio, the more torque the transmission can produce.
The Third Number
The third number on a transmission is the overdrive ratio. The overdrive ratio is the gear ratio of the highest gear in the transmission. The higher the overdrive ratio, the better the fuel economy of the car will be.
Example
Let’s say you have a car with a 4-speed transmission. The transmission numbers would be something like this:
- 4
- 1.00:1
- 0.75:1
The first number tells us that the transmission has 4 gears. The second number tells us that the gear ratio of the first gear is 1.00:1. The third number tells us that the overdrive ratio is 0.75:1.
Conclusion
The numbers on a car transmission can be confusing, but they’re not impossible to understand. By following the tips in this guide, you can learn how to decipher the numbers on your transmission and understand how it works.
