W113 Pagoda SL Group > Drive train, fuel, suspension, steering & brakes

Why do these cars start in 2nd Gear?

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Paul99:
I have always wondered why these cars start off in 2nd gear, (unless you select 1st). Seems a strange thing, just of cars of this era i guess, but cant see the logic of it.   We also have an old American car of the same era (1955) and that has a 3 speed Auto box, and again always starts in 2nd gear unless you select 1st.

That is even stranger as it effectively has only 2 forward gears (slow and not so slow!)

Just wondered if anyone knows the logic of why a few manufactures thought missing first gear was a good idea.

thelews:
because 1st gear is used for pulling stumps

Mike Hughes:
Starting out in 2nd is not just limited to M-B vehicles built in the era of fluid coupling auto-boxes.  My W124 300D also takes off normally in 2nd.  Like my Pagoda, it will take off in 1st if the accelerator pedal is floored but, face it, how often is it really necessary to floor the accelerator when pulling away from rest?  Quite apart from generating sharp looks and words from "she who must be obeyed" (who thought we were just going out for a nice leisurely ride) the full throttle shift from 1st to 2nd puts unnecessary stress on motor mounts, transmission mounts and flex discs.

Now, lets examine the real reason why the 1st gear is so low in relatively heavy vehicles with relatively small displacement engines:  It's about being able to move from rest on steep grades without rolling back or stalling.  In Britain, there has been a motor vehicle test on the books for over a century that prescribes that any vehicle registered in the UK must be capable of starting off in low gear on the steepest section of Ffordd Pen Lech in Harlech, Snowdonia, Wales without stalling or rolling back.  Ffordd Pen Lech is the lane up to Harlech Castle and is the steepest signed, public, sealed road in the UK, with a posted 40% grade.  (Another test prescribes that the handbrake alone must hold a vehicle in place on this same section of road.)

stickandrudderman:
Well you learn something new every day! ;D

Mike Hughes:
… comes from fooling about with pre and post-war M.G.s for nearly 50 years ;^)  Such vehicle performance standards may also explain the continuing popularity of British hill climbs and "mud-plugging" trials!

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