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Old 10-20-2006, 01:49 PM
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Originally Posted by BetterMakeWay' post='347181' date='Oct 20 2006, 02:46 PM
Confused...so that means that the steptronic is better at 1/4 runs or so?!
Haha.... Yeah, so far the evidence from Znod and grogan545i points this out. Both have Step 545s. The better gearing on the Steps are putting down more power to the wheels.
Old 10-20-2006, 01:52 PM
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Originally Posted by AlexFW' post='347162' date='Oct 20 2006, 10:15 PM
Anyway ... 545i and 645ci have the same weight but with different differential there is a difference of 0.2s .
Unsurprisingly, as the gear ratios are the same, but the 645 has a shorter final ratio AND (crucially) still hits 100/62 in 2nd.
Old 10-20-2006, 02:43 PM
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Originally Posted by EBMCS03' post='346873' date='Oct 19 2006, 09:18 PM
Ya it has to be the first and second gear ratio + rear differential which gives the Step the edge on acceleration.

Well with a higher final drive ratio you get less top end speed... maybe thats why BMW chose to give the manuals a higher final drive ratio... so they can drive faster on the autobahn...

Thats prob not the only reason... but a combination... RPM when crusing in 6th along with the avilability of a manual gear box that has the same gear ratios as a auto tranny so they changed the final gear ratio to make the crising rpms similiar?

Fuel Economy... we dont care but BMW does.. and needs to make them similiar also...

I dunno. just my guesses... thats all i can guess for now. brain is stuck and fried.
I'm sure its all about fuel economy with the Step being more efficient overall. We with the manuals were probably compromised with the gas guzzler tax where BMW had to find a happy medium.

The Steptronic cars should defineatly get the hole shot by looking at the gear ratios + they have a deeper first gear too. Once both Step and Manual/SMG shift into 2nd the Manual/SMG have the deeper transmission gears....I'd love to see a race/0-60 times with both cars in reverse!
From BMWUSA website:
Transmission
Standard gear ratios - I/II/III 4.06/2.40/1.58 :1

Standard gear ratios - IV/V/VI/R 1.19/1.00/0.87/3.68 :1

Standard gear ratios - Final drive ratio 2.93 :1

Automatic gear ratios - I/II/III 4.17/2.34/1.52 :1

Automatic gear ratios - IV/V/VI/R 1.14/0.87/0.69/3.40 :1

Automatic gear ratios - Final drive ratio 3.38 :1
Old 10-20-2006, 02:47 PM
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Originally Posted by Heloha' post='347194' date='Oct 20 2006, 11:43 PM
The Steptronic cars should defineatly get the hole shot by looking at the gear ratios + they have a deeper first gear too. Once both Step and Manual/SMG shift into 2nd the Manual/SMG have the deeper transmission gears....I'd love to see a race/0-60 times with both cars in reverse!
I don't think they'd make it to 60 in reverse. Either one. But it would be entertaining to see a "front wheel drive" BMW...
Old 10-20-2006, 02:56 PM
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Originally Posted by Heloha' post='347194' date='Oct 20 2006, 06:43 PM
I'm sure its all about fuel economy with the Step being more efficient overall. We with the manuals were probably compromised with the gas guzzler tax where BMW had to find a happy medium.
The only thing that should make the step more efficient is the gearing. Torque converters are generally less efficient than direct gears.
Old 10-20-2006, 02:59 PM
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Originally Posted by ImolaRedM' post='347202' date='Oct 20 2006, 05:56 PM
The only thing that should make the step more efficient is the gearing. Torque converters are generally less efficient than direct gears.
ImolaRedM-I agree you are correct about the torque converters, I was refering more to the computer controlled aspect of the shifting points.
Old 10-20-2006, 06:47 PM
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Originally Posted by vegastrashed' post='346864' date='Oct 19 2006, 09:42 PM
I have been wondering why the manuals and SMGs have a lower final drive ratio (2.91) than a Step (3.46)? Znod and grogan545 both agree that the final drive ratio of the Step is a contributor for their excellent timed runs. Why can't BMW just outfit the manuals and SMG with the same 3.46 as the Step?
The ratio for the step is 3.38.I believe the reason for not using this ratio for the manual and smg has to do with gas mileage and engine wear.Look at the chart below and I think you will see what I mean.
................. Manual/smg..ratio..Diff..overall ratio..steptronic..ratio..diff..overall ratio
Gear .................1..........4.06X2.93.....11.72... ...........1........4.17X3.38.....14.09
Gear..................2..........2.40X2.93.....7.0 3................2........2.34X3.38......7.91
Gear..................3..........1.58X2.93.....4.6 3................3........1.52X3.38......5.14
Gear..................4..........1.19X2.93.....3.4 9................4........1.14X3.38......3.85
Gear..................5..........1.00X2.93.....2.9 3................5........_.87X3.38......2.94
Gear..................6.......... .87X2.93.....2.55................6........_.69X3.3 8......2.33
Notice that gears 1 thru 4 the overall ratio for the step is higher than the manual/smg.A higher number means more torque multiplication,which means better acceleration.The differences for gears 1,2,and 3 are pretty significant which I believe accounts for the better times noted for the steps.Only in gear 6 does the manual/smg have an advantage,but since this is your cruising gear all it does is hurt your gas mileage.If you had the 3.38 gear in the manual/smg your mileage would suffer about 10%.You would also have many more revs/mile which causes more engine wear.I believe this is why BMW did not put the 3.38 in the manual/smg.The step has some losses due to the torque converter,but they are more than offset by the more favorable gear ratios.
Old 10-20-2006, 06:51 PM
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Alright my assumptions and logical reasoning were close.
Old 10-20-2006, 06:54 PM
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Originally Posted by EBMCS03' post='347279' date='Oct 20 2006, 10:51 PM
Alright my assumptions and logical reasoning were close.
Very close.I just went into a little more detail.
Old 10-20-2006, 09:45 PM
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Originally Posted by EBMCS03' post='347279' date='Oct 20 2006, 07:51 PM
Alright my assumptions and logical reasoning were close.
Made sense only to you and a select few that could interpret it...


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