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Originally Posted by BuffaloBoxster
the idea of a fuel economy gear in a Porsche is offensive  |
LOL I have the same perspective. It's not my area but as far as I know Porsches are subject to the CAFE standards in the US and pay a penalty for each tenth of a mile they miss the average by for their fleet. That's how I think it works anyway. I know an "overdrive" gear in some cars like the TransAms in the '90s was specifically put in to increase the mileage even though it was totally useless. I think Porsche also can claim a higher top speed with the 6th gear?
As I've said I really prefer the 5th gear in the Boxster S. I'm only in 6th when I've lost all common sense until I slow down again.
Interestingly if you look at the "hybrid" cars like the Prius that were specifically designed to get a claimed higher mpg by taking advantage of the deficiencies in the EPA test protocols their mpg will dropping by as much as a third under the new test. The entire area of mpg averages for their fleets has a significant enough impact on the bottom line of the car companies that they'll do some pretty useless things from a real world perspective to their cars.
All of that being said I love my 6 speed and can think of no other gear than 6th that I'd rather be in when the road is open, straight, empty and I'm going way too fast.