I wonder what percentage of the 7-speed's theoretical fuel efficiency...

still with three pedals.

Minus 40 degrees... Is that Fahrenheit or Celsius?

Too much shifting, too little benefit. The fun in a manual is the first 4 gears, after that it's just overdrive. You can already accelerate to 60 or 70 using 3 gears at most. With a 7 speed manual, you will either get slower acceleration due to time lost in shifting a whole bunch of tiny gears, or more likely you will get a normal acceleration through the first 4 speeds plus 3 super-over-overdrive gears for "efficiency." Before I bought my 5-speed base Cayman, I drove a 6-speed 370Z and absolutely hated it. On the highway it was a constant back-and-forth between 6th and 5th. Adding even more OD gears will make this even worse, plus will add confusion as well. I can see the efficiency advantage to 7 gears, but people don't buy Porsches with manual transmissions because they are "efficient."

Consider BMW's i-Whatchyamacallit, and the original CD sonic quality: "Perfect Sound Forever" my a__. Also, I'm not sure, but I think Robert Pirsig addressed the issue in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. (Probably my "desert island" book.)

Minus 40 degrees... Is that Fahrenheit or Celsius?

economy certification testing drive cycles. They are required to shift at certain points and the 7-speed makes the jump from gear to gear smaller and keeps teh engine at a rpm load point where it is most efficient. Additionally the higher number of gears provides even more overdrive so in a higher gear the engine is turning fewer rpms to improve engine emissions and fuel economy during the steady speed cruise part of the drive cycle. (The higher number of gears in the automatics is driven by this too along with how quickly and how at such low rpms the transmission gets into its highest gear. Better emissions (CO2) numbers and better fuel economy.)

If I ever end up with a 7-speed (and transmissions with even more speeds are in the works) I'll probably develop a skip shift style of driving that has me shifting from 1st to 3rd to 5th to 7th.

I shifted my 06 GTO this way, going from 1st to 3rd to 5th and then to 6th on the highway. Around town I usually stayed in a gear that matched the tens digit of the posted speed limit. If the limit was say 15mph or less I kept the car in 1st. If the limit was 25mph or less in 2nd. Under 40mph 3rd, and so on. (I generally follow this even now.)

Often times the Turbo gets shifted from 1st to 3rd to 5th, only getting into 6th gear on the freeway.

Only my Boxster has me visiting gears 1st to 4th and then 5th not skipping any.

Sincerely,

MarcW.

From a driving experience 6 gears is already overkill in my opinion. I have 4 cars, two have 5 speeds and two have 6 speeds. Any kind of spirited driving only involves the first 4 gears with any of them. I also do some skip shifting with all of them but mostly with the 6 speeds. I prefer the 5 speeds over the 6 speeds and I wouldn't be excited about having to buy a car with 7 speeds.

Minus 40 degrees... Is that Fahrenheit or Celsius?

Quote
Wayne K
From a driving experience 6 gears is already overkill in my opinion. I have 4 cars, two have 5 speeds and two have 6 speeds. Any kind of spirited driving only involves the first 4 gears with any of them. I also do some skip shifting with all of them but mostly with the 6 speeds. I prefer the 5 speeds over the 6 speeds and I wouldn't be excited about having to buy a car with 7 speeds.

rules and regulations are playing an ever bigger role in car features and design.

The number of gears a car's tranmission has is driven by this.

A '06 Ford station wagon my mom and dad had had a 3-speed on column. It was replaced with a '67 or '68 Chevy Bel-Air with a 2 speed automatic.

4-speed transmissions were 'exotic'. I got a ride in a split window Corvette back in the late 60's and it had a 4-speed and I thought was the coolest thing I had ever seen.

Then of course 5-speeds become the hot thing. Then 6-speeds. I read somewhere where all transmissions above 6 speeds would be autos cause drivers couldn't handle more than 6 speeds.

The PDK comes with 7 forward gears. M-B has offered 7-speed transmissions for a while.

While you may not be excited about buying a car with 7 speeds (or more) after a while you may not have a choice. Right now the majority of new Porsches (I forget the percentage but it is high, over a super majority) come with PDK with 7 speeds.

In a few more years you may be lucky to find a new car with a 6-speed manual transmission.

Sincerely,

MarcW.

That would be a shame. For me a manual transmission is part of the pleasure of the driving experience.

...could be achieved for the most part with a 6-speed utilizing an even taller 6th gear ratio. As has been pointed out, most "spirited" driving occurs in NOT the top gear; thus, if the pattern basically went from 5th to "7th" in one step, then aside from the tiny bit of lugging as we settle into the top gear, the long-haul highway efficiency would be basically the same as with the full-blown 7-speed...wouldn't it?

the engine doesn't have to be revved as high before shifting to the next gear. Shifting to a next higher gear at a lower rpm cuts fuel consumption/emissions.

For cars made to be sold in the EU and UK, my info is more and more the transmission design (PDK, or at least doing away with the slush box style of transmission) and number of gears is to try to better tailoer the car to the EU emissions and fuel economy tests to get better results.

Sincerely,

MarcW.