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What are you saying there Scotty.

If you change to 3rd and then finally reach 4700rpm (3rd gear @60mph) it is not full power and adding an extra gear change is going to make a huge difference to the 0-60 time.

Using 1st & 2nd gears will get you your quickest 0-60time. If you want to carry on accelerating past 60 then yes 3rd gear will be necessary, as will 4th and 5th.

Oh, and peak power is @ 6000rpm.

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Just because you have got near the peak power of the rev range doesn't mean that you should grab another gear, the power curve doesn't fall off a cliff once you've passed the peak.

The ST will make more power at 7000rpm than at 3500rpm so it is not a waste to take it past the 6000 peak near to the limiter, then when you do change gear you are going faster so you are higher up the power curve when in the next gear so you don't have to battle through the c. 50bhp @3000rpm stage.

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Hugh, want a fight m8

Seriously tho i think we are both right in what were saying and could argue this out all night but since we are both utterly briliant i will accept ur answer and also think mines better

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Hmm, just wanted to check really, i've had ago in a 1.8zetec focus, and at stock will also do 60mph in second! So with reading all the press release and everything, i want the ST even more
It certainly is gonna be a great car! Ford tend to get this things right though, as soon as they release a new car it tends to become a class leader, and im sure the ST will in the small hot hatch market

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LOL!!! Caught me on a nerve I think!

Anyway, I have just had it properly explained to me by my Forumla 1 chum, so will say he's right instead (especially as he agrees with me! ).

It all comes down to what's called tractive effort. This is the force applied to the road by the wheel to cause movement.

It is caculated by by multiplying the torque by the total ratio of power train and dividing this sum by the rolling radius of the driving tyres.

As you can guess, if you reduce the total power train ratio (say moving from 1st to 2nd) it reduces the over TE figure meaning you are reducing the overall force applied to the road.

It is infinitly more technical way of looking at it than I was, but the result is the same. To get the best accelerating time you would need to calculate the optimum gearchange based on a vehicles power/torque/gear ratio/differential/tyre radius.

Personally, I think I'll just go and have a brew instead as it feels like I'm back at school!

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Lesson number 1 - never argue with something Steve says about cars...

Hugh and I learned that one a lonnng time ago!

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I would rather have a close ratio box anyway. Hitting 60 in 2nd is a bad thing IMO when you only have 150bhp. The only thing it does is reduce the 0-60 time which is itself a meaningless measure.

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