What drivers used to know - the direct gear
01/29/2017
If you read old driving reports, you will soon come across the expression "driving in direct gear". This hardly means anything to young drivers anymore, but in the past it usually referred to the top gear, which transmitted the engine rpm to the cardan shaft without any overdrive or reduction ratio, i.e. 1:1.
In the classic arrangement - engine and gearbox at the front, drive at the rear - the best efficiency was usually achieved in direct gear, as the countershaft was then not operated.
When more thought was given to saving fuel, the fourth gear was often designed as direct, while the fifth acted as a longer ratio overdrive.
Incidentally, the Panhard CD shown here is a bad example, as it had a direct third gear and a longer fourth gear ratio.
