Ah, the MG. My dad’s midlifecrisismobile was an autumn gold MG-BGT, with black leather interior. To a hormone-ridden 16 year old me, it was a godsend. It’s also where I learned to love the British Leyland reverse gear noise, standard equipment on all of their cars.
My first car was a 1960 Mark II MGA, but I had a ’67 B-GT in late high school, British racing green. Last year before they crapped up the induction system with emission controls. My younger brother had a Healy 3000 that got wrecked when a woman turned left in front of us at an intersection. I got tossed out the back, and wrenched my arm, but recovered quickly. He got his face slightly rearranged.
I find the internals of transmissions mesmerizing in their operation. I came across a YouTube video of a 3d printed Toyota W56 5-speed and replayed it like 10 times in a row.
Although the concept of shifting gears is lost on my now that I own a Nissan Versa with a continuously variable transmission. I can put the peddle down and the engine will rev to 5000 rpm and hold it there for as long as I keep the peddle down. Of course it sounds like the gas peddle is connected to a stick that is poking a hamster under the hood to run faster on its wheel. But I got it because I just needed a cheap, economical car for commuting. It only makes 110 horsepower but the CVT wrings every bit of that power out of the engine so that it doesn’t accelerate like a slow dog. In normal cruising situations the CVT is very efficient and I get around 37 MPG in a lot of stop and go congested traffic. A full tank gets me about 375 miles for just $20 which frees up a good bit of funds for my beer budget.
For me it is the fond memory of mastering the down-shift into the hairpin last turn at Circuit Mont-Tremblant.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljQkJ4Qlwa0
Ah, the MG. My dad’s midlifecrisismobile was an autumn gold MG-BGT, with black leather interior. To a hormone-ridden 16 year old me, it was a godsend. It’s also where I learned to love the British Leyland reverse gear noise, standard equipment on all of their cars.
My first car was a 1960 Mark II MGA, but I had a ’67 B-GT in late high school, British racing green. Last year before they crapped up the induction system with emission controls. My younger brother had a Healy 3000 that got wrecked when a woman turned left in front of us at an intersection. I got tossed out the back, and wrenched my arm, but recovered quickly. He got his face slightly rearranged.
I find the internals of transmissions mesmerizing in their operation. I came across a YouTube video of a 3d printed Toyota W56 5-speed and replayed it like 10 times in a row.
Although the concept of shifting gears is lost on my now that I own a Nissan Versa with a continuously variable transmission. I can put the peddle down and the engine will rev to 5000 rpm and hold it there for as long as I keep the peddle down. Of course it sounds like the gas peddle is connected to a stick that is poking a hamster under the hood to run faster on its wheel. But I got it because I just needed a cheap, economical car for commuting. It only makes 110 horsepower but the CVT wrings every bit of that power out of the engine so that it doesn’t accelerate like a slow dog. In normal cruising situations the CVT is very efficient and I get around 37 MPG in a lot of stop and go congested traffic. A full tank gets me about 375 miles for just $20 which frees up a good bit of funds for my beer budget.