Like I said, the best thing to do in that situation is stay in 2nd and keep going instead of dipping the clutch and coast between gears. Besides the multiplication you get in 2nd is likely higher than the peak torque you’d get in 3rd
maybe you should practice shifting till you get it right.
I think we need to go to two stroke engines. A friend had a DKW in the early 1960s. It had a three cylinder two stroke engine. The DKW insignia on the hood read 3=6. The implication was that with two strokes on a cylinder, the two stroke cylinder did twice the work of a cylinder in a four stroke engine.
Earlier, the DKW used a 2 cylinder, two stroke engine, and the first Saabs (the model 92??)–which were essentially just more highly-developed DKWs–also used that engine. Later, DKW enlarged that engine to a 3 cylinder design, and in 1955, Saab did likewise.
Interesting bit of trivia:
DKW originally stood for Damp Kraft Wagen, because their first cars were powered by steam engines. After they quickly switched-over to 2 cycle gas engines, consumers were told that the initials stood for Das Kleine Wunder (the little wonder).
DKW, along with Horch, Audi, and Wanderer, banded together during the economic crisis of the '30s to form Auto Union, and the symbol for the joining-together of these 4 makes was 4 interlocking circles. Now, Horch, DKW, and Wanderer are gone, but the 4 interlocking circles remain as the symbol for Audi.
@VDCdriver. Thank you for the information about DKW and what the letters mean. I share rides every week to a band rehearsal with a tuba playing retired German Professor who also is a car.fanatic. I can’t wait to spring this tidbit of knowledge on him next Thursday as we head to a band rehearsal.
Just as one should hold onto the wooden nickels because the South will rise again, it is wise to hold onto your cans of non-detergent oil to mix with gasoline because the two stroke engines will rise again.
I am confident that he knew DKW as Das Kleine Wunder.
I am much less confident that he knew of its earlier meaning as Damp Kraft Wagen.
Staying on the theme of German car history from the 1920s, you should ask him if he is familiar with the Hanomag Kommisbrot (literally, “Quartermaster’s Loaf”), which was an ultra-cheap, incredibly boxy car from that era. Those who were critical of the flimsy Kommisbrot used to say that, “As only tin and paint is used, this car is quickly produced”.
This car had a single cylinder, rear-mounted engine, and little else, so the forum members who yearn for an extremely basic car with no creature comforts might want to try to resurrect a Hanomag Kommisbrot from the 1920s.
Clearly, the absence of modern features, power assists, and electronic systems MUST mean that it would be extremely reliable!
When I worked at a Citgo station in the late '60s, I used to wonder why we had a pretty large stock of non-detergent oil (as well as a stock of spark plugs for Ford flathead V-8s). One day, a guy driving a Rolls Royce from the late '50s drove in and asked me to check his oil.
When I announced that the dipstick showed him to be very low on oil, he asked if we had non-detergent oil, as that was all that he used in his car. Yes sir, we do have it, I responded!
I was able to sell him 3 qts of our “finest” non-detergent oil, thereby depleting our stock to some extent. Unless someone cleaned out the storage area after I departed, I suspect that the spark plugs for Ford flathead V-8s are still sitting on the shelf.
@VDCdriver. My dad bought a new Studebaker Lark in 1963 with the 259 cubic inch V-8 engine. The owner’s manual specified non-detergent oil for the engine and also specified that a can of STP be added at each oil change. These specifications were also on the oil cap. I suppose detergent oil wasn’t necessary because the Studebaker had solid tappets as opposed to hydraulic valve lifters.
My dad had a 1949 Dodge back in the early 1950s. His mechanic persuaded him to put detergent oil in the crankcase and the oil consumption shot way up. Also, the oil pressure dropped when the engine was under load. The theory was that the detergent oil attacked the engine bearings. There may be some truth to that. Tom McCahill, who wrote automotive articles and did road tests for Mechanix Illustrated did not like detergent oils. In his book “What You Should Know About Cars” stated that he preferred detergent in his bath tub, but not in his crankcase. He said he didn’t want the particles held in suspension by the detergent oil whipped through his engine hearings hundreds of times a second.
On another subject, I’m glad you worked for Citgo. It was my favorite oil company when it was Cities Service before the name change. At 9:00 p.m. Central Standard Time on Monday evenings, Cities Service sponsored the radio broadcast of the Cities Service Band of America. It was on NBC radio from 1948 to 1956. I was allowed to stay up and listen to the band. I always thought as a kid that when I owned a car, I would use Cities Service gasoline and oil in my car.
Two strokes might be used again if the manufacturers are willing to put the money into reliably solving the pollution problems and longevity problems. I suppose they could be water cooled, and that would increase engine life. Pollution certification may be in the pipeline now, but it would require good fuel economy as well. Another problem is fuel mixing. Would that be done at the pump, would the user have to mix it, or would the vehicle mix it Ina pre-combustion chamber? The extra work in a user mixed system or extra cost and complexity of a different system might make 2-strokes undesirable.
Maybe I’m wrong, but I think the Saab and DKW 2 stroke engines were water cooled. I know that outboard 2 stroke boat motors are water cooled.
[quote="Cavell, post:62, topic:105139, full:true"]
maybe you should practice shifting till you get it right.
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I took my CDL driving test in a vehicle that had an unsynchronized manual transmission. I think that’s enough shifting skills for my car.
Back to the topic, what’s wrong with asking for an 8000rpm redline for a car such as the TYPE R? In fact, what’s wrong with having a car that will go past 60 without requiring a shift to 3rd?]
If the south is going to rise again, what the heck are they waiting for? It’s been 152 years already! Wasn’t getting beat by Yankees on the battlefield once humiliating enough?
…and there is a reason to hold onto non-detergent oil already: ND-30 is used in four-stroke lawn mowers.
Oh, and they’re still selling two-stroke motor oil at the hardware store for use in chain saws and two-stroke lawn trimmers.
Two stroke engines produce much better power-to-weight ratios, and they can operate one cylinder more smoothly and reliably because they have twice the power pulses per crankshaft revolution, which are the reasons they’re ideal for engines that need to be handheld such as chain saws and lawn trimmers, but the problems of lubrication and emissions prevent their use in cars. They need to introduce oil with the fuel. Thus, their emissions are unacceptable.
Honestly, even if that problem could be solved I doubt if they’d have any advantages over modern four-stroke motors. Even a four cylinder engine of modern design has plenty of power for the average car, its emissions are very low, its reliability is high, its maintenance costs are relatively low, and its longevity is now excellent in most cases. I attribute much of those attributes to the marriage of microchips to fuel injection, and much of it to modern design and manufacturing technologies, but I see no reason to attempt to design a clean two-stroke engine when a modern four-stroke engine is so darned good. The resources are IMHO better invested in the transition to electric motor powertrains, be they plug-ins, hybrids, or hydrogen.
That specification regarding the addition of STP was undoubtedly the result of Studebaker’s ownership of STP! Originally, those letters stood for Studebaker Test Products, and after the demise of Studebaker and the sale of that division, it was said to stand for Scientifically Tested Products.
Yes, they were water-cooled.
You don’t need the V6 Accord…plenty of power with the 4 cylinder…I drove both.
@Whitey I was joking about the rise of the two stroke engine. For several years, I fought my 2 stroke rototiller. Last year, I replaced the carburetor and it did better for the rest of the season. This year, I worked and worked to get it started. It finally started, ran 30 seconds and quit. I couldn’t get it to fire again. I gave up and bought a new 4 stroke tiller so I could get my garden in.
Battery operated equipment may be the wave of the future. Mrs. Triedaq bought me a battery operated string trimmer. For me, it’s better than a two stroke gasoline powered trimmer.
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Sure, as we’ve already discussed, nobody “needs” an Accord V6, but there are still some people out there who simply want to own a midsized V6 sedan
What I don’t like is eliminating the option
But there’s probably economic reasoning behind it. It’s probably not worth it to develop and produce a V6 Accord, when the 4 banger version will satisfy most of the potential buyers
That reminds me of a person I worked with that was raving about how much power her new V-8 car had. She did not know that her car only had a V-6.
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My 2 stroke Mantis has bit the dust, even a new carburetor didn’t fix it. I have e-mailed both Mantis and Echo (Echo is the manufacturer of the Mantis tiller) to put the battery and motor from the 58V chainsaw on the tiller, but both have declined. I also e-mailed Ryobi about making a Mantis style tiller with their 40V brushless DC motor on it. They have declined too. Maybe they just need a few more e-mails. BTW, my Mantis is so old that even Mantis has lost the records on its serial number.
I dismissed your comment initially, and then started reading about 2-strokes on line. Apparently some folks are trying to revive them for automotive uses. It appears that fuel injection and variable timing can reduce emissions by 90%. Many diesels use urea injection, and I suppose oil injection could be done in a similar manner. I don’t know if the added cost will be offset by increased power/better economy, but it would not surprise me if someone is testing it now.