I always liked sports cars that have a lot of on-demand power and torque, but when cruising, the engine RPM is just above idling. An engine with a big displacement will have that by default. I have a '98 Grand Prix GTP 3.8 liters with a lot of power but when cruising at 70mph the RPM is at 2000, so when I step on it, I have a lot of room to rev it up, which gets me a lot of torque and pulling-power. My previous Acura TL-S with a 3.2 liter-engine had the same characteristics (not as fast as the GTP) but at 70mph I had 1900-2000 RPM.

My new G35 has 2400-2500 RPM at 70 mph, although the engine is a good size 3.5 liters. I used to have the same RPM-speed ratio in my '82 Honda Civic 4-cylinders, years ago, so in a sense, I'm a little dissapointed that my G35 is not as engine-smooth at cruising speeds as other cars.

Is it because our engine is not as refined as other engines (some reviews indicate the Honda/Acura engines to be more refined than our Nissan/Infiniti engine) ? I'm waiting for some positive answers (objective though !) to cast my doubt about this high-rev RPM engine.

 

I dont see the point of your post. So the G35 revs 400 rpms more then your GTP did. I really can't see where this is going to affect anything.

Besides the GTP is a lot slower then the G35. If the price of having a faster car is having it rev 400 rpms higher in its overdrive gear, then i'm more then happy to live with that

That said, I don't beleive the Nissan V-6 is quite as refined as Acura's engine. Honda has a way of creating smooth engines and manual transmissions. But the Nissan's V-6 is definatly better then most.

Also, If i'm not mistaking, does not the gear ratio determine the RPM? If the RPM is higher in 6th gear then Acura's 6th gear, wouldn't that mean the G35 6th gear is more powerful then Acura's?

Maybe i'm wrong... have to think about it

 

It just means the ratios in the tranny and rear end are favouring acceleration and performance rather than economy.
So it's a trade off: getting better performance but sacrificing with higher rpms and noise and less fuel economy.
The G-coupe is pure performance, no 2 ways dude, but what is needed for the A/T is a 6th gear which would be even more overdriven for high speed cruizing.
This would be much more expensive. Who really wants to pay more for that? [img]/w3timages/icons/smile.gif[/img]
My $.02.

<font color=red>Gsedanman</font color=red>

 

Hi,

My thinking is the 6th gear is a overdrive, just like most of the fifth gears. Please correct me if I am wrong. I just put it in 5th to do the dirty work.