Miata Mailing List: June 1999, Message #210

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--- Jon Etkins <eccles@mira.net> wrote:
> On Tue, 1 Jun 1999 17:32:18 -0700 (PDT), Paul Lu
> wrote:
> 
> >It was sweet to see the rest of the traffic lagged
> >behind. By loosing the black Prelude, I looked down
> to
> >read 7,500 RPM @ 65 mph in 2nd gear.
> 
> Hmm, my old RX-3 would pull 50mph in 1st.  That was
> at ten grand with a
> 3.7:1 diff.  Never bothered to find out what it'd do
> in 2nd. :)

Guess you never had to. :-)

> 
> >If I were to achieve 60+mph in a miata on 2nd gear,
> it
> >has to be shifted out of 2nd and let the momemtum
> do
> >the trick of going over 60mph before engage the car
> >into 3rd. I don't like that fuel cut off "feature"!
> 
> Sorry to burst your bubble, but acceleration
> requires force.  There is
> no way that a car can continue to accelerate once
> you depress the
> clutch, unless you're being towed or pushed!  (Or
> going downhill, but
> it would need to be a pretty steep hill for the
> force of gravity to
> overcome the mechanical and wind resistance at
> 60mph.)  Granted, the
> speedo needle may continue to rise, but that would
> only be indicative
> of needle lag, not continuing acceleration. 

The fuel cut-off definitely slows the car because the
engine was playing brake. It was like some evil from
hell punched your car headon. OTOH, if you disengage
the clutch, it's like a baseball left the pitcher's
hand. I have practiced several times to find that
speedometer actually continue going up at 62mph when I
put the roadster into 3rd.
 
> 
> (As an aside, it always amuses me to listen to race
> car drivers who
> spin off in the wet and insist that their car
> accelerated on the wet
> grass while their wheels were locked up.  Sorry,
> folks, it just can't
> happen; it may not slow done any, but it sure can't
> accelerate unless
> you're spinning downhill!)
> 
> Cheers,
> Jon Etkins
> '85 RX-7 GSL-SE (190,000 miles and still going
> strong!)

It will. I had to say goodbye to one @ 200K, it was
original engine, tranny and going still strong.
===
On the Cyber Space, we might have a peek to the future.
For the better or the worse, it's all in our hands.

mYata


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