Okay, before you say anything, I do not know anything about cars. I play Gran Turismo 3 daily. A friend of mine and I have a contest going to see who can build the fastest car. All I know is that tweaking the gear ratio can change the acceleration of a car and also change the overall top speed. Here is what I am working with (this might not even make any sense and I don’t mind if I get no responses if it doesn’t, just pleasedon’t rip me, I said before, I know nothing about cars)
Here is my current gear ratio (game standard on this car)
Is there anything I can do to give it a higher top speed (currently running 266.8mph)
Agian, sorry if this is just stupid fantasy stuff, but what can I ay, it is as close to realism as I can get)
Assuming you have a VERY long staight and an unlimited amount of time to do this, I’d lower 6th gear a little bit at a time until your car can’t overcome the wind resistence(assuming again that that is factored into the game).
The top speed key is getting the top gear to allow your engine to rev as far towards the redline as possible, when the car is floored (throttle pressed all the way).
For example, in many cars, top speed does not take place at redline in the last gear. Let’s say top speed for a Pontiac Grand Am is 115 MPH with a four speed automatic. The car might reach this speed in third with the engine screaming at redline, but it might make it in fourth with the engine around 3/4 of redline. The engine might not have the power to overcome friction from the road and wind in the highest gear…since the highest gear is a greater load - more or less - than the next lowest gear.
You need to test the car ultimately. If the car can’t redline in top gear, shorten the gear (higher number). It might make sense to then shorten (higher number) all the lower gears as well, to make the car accelerate better.
So, iin 6th,at top speed, is the car at redline? If yes…then for 6th gear reduce the gear number/ratio for 6th (called making it longer). At some point, you reduce the number to the point that the engine can’t push to redline anymore and it’s right around there that you are at the limit.
Or, if the car isn’t at redline in 6th, then increase the gear number/ratio for 6th ( called making in shorter).
All of your gears are underdriven. This means your engine speed is faster than your driveline speed. If you look at the gear ratios of modern manual transmission, high gear is generally 1:1, engine and driveline speed are the same. Add overdrive to the transmission and you can get the driveline speed faster than the engine speed.
If you were to look at a car designed for nothing but top end speed, such as a car to be raced at the Bonneville Salt Flats, you would find almost rediculously high gear ratios, many start out at 1:1 for first and go to .35:1 for the top gear. Combine this with rear end gearing in the 1:1 range, those cars are capable of speeds in the 350 to 400 mph range. You also need an engine with tons of torque to overcome the gearing, that is why diesel engines are sometimes used. These cars are also pushed up to 100 mph by to get started too, 2000 foot pounds of torque can’t get a car with overdrive gearing to move.
For your purposes, make 6th gears as high a gear ratio as possible, less than 1 is ideal. 5th gear in my Toyota pickup is .86:1. If you can adjust the rear end gearing, go for a higher ratio (lower number). You will have to play with the ratios to keep the engine in an optimal power band.
racer72, in case you didn’t notice, he was running at 266 MPH, and trying to wring out a few more MPH. He has minor tweaking to do, which means the last gear might have some room for adjustment, higher or lower.
It’s not like his ratios are way outta whack, and he ain’t driving a pick up that tops out at 100. To overcome the ridiculous forces at 266 MPH, overdrive or anything approaching it is not practical. The gear reduction will have to help get over the forces of the wind and the road at those speeds.
His issue is to see if he is redlining in 6th. If so, he needs to make 6th a longer gear (lower numerically) until he starts to fall off redline, at which point he can say he is at top speed, give or take a tenth of MPH.
He might be topping out at 266 and not be at redline, which means he needs to find a short 6th gear ration (higher numerically).
And GT3 doesn’t get into Final Drive Ratios, which changes the whole thing anyway.
First off, thank you for the replys, I am looking forward to testing them out.
Philster - I am redlining in 6th gear, the main reason for this post, I just know that car has more in it. And when i put overall, I did mean the final drive ratio.
Liquid, take the ratio for 6th gear and lower it numerically, in which case you’ll be making it a ‘longer’ gear. Keep doing this until the car stops redlining in 6th and/or the top MPH drops off…it’s right around here that the max speed is obtained.
1.236 for 6th now, and lower it down towards 1.0 and below 1.0 if the car keeps redlining. At some point, the car should stop redlining, although at that point you will see the top speed has increased from the top speed you got out of the 1.236 ratio.
GT shouldn’t let the top speed go up indefinitely. Unless this is some sort of hidden trick that has been activated. At some piont, you really should have a 6th gear ratio that prevents the engine from redlining, at which point you are right near the max speed for that car.
Are you and your friend counting the speed the car is acutually going, or just the speed the speed reads?
If it’s the latter, and if it’s the car I think it is (Pike’s Peak Escudo with stage 4 turbo upgrade, about 1700HP), then here’s a little trick:
Turn the traction control off, hold the brakes, hold the accel for a few secs, then release the brakes. The wheels will continue to skid even when it reaches 6th gear, and the speedo will top out at about 300MPH. Of course, the speedo measures the tires, not the speed the car is actually going.
that escudo is a serious car… i think my bro got it up to 272. tweak around with the height of the car, front and back. make sure you got all the other variables working for you… it’s more than just gear ratios.
we also got it into the low 8’s in the qtr mile. (we were peeling out a little too much, you could probably get it down to the 7’s) and it only has a 2.7 if i’m not mistaken… just sick. it’s all about all wheel drive baby, and the 4 turbos of course. and i think my gixxer is fast…
If you are able to get wheelspin in first gear, you might be able to make the car faster by making first gear a bit taller, so the remaining gears are bunched closer together. Then you might be able to make the top gear slightly taller as well.
