Car Gears - Explained 

It's nice to see how far this channel has come

“Teaching is the highest form of understanding.” Good job!

Thanks for watching! (This is my 18,000th comment)

Even years later with the lower production value, I’ve never come across a channel with more/better laid out info. I diagnosed a transmission error in my Jetta thanks to these videos 🙌 (thought I needed a whole new torque converter, thankfully just needed a flush and refill of the fluid 👍)

Jan 3rd 2024 checking in. This video is amazing ,and to see where it all started to where you are now (just saw your video with Camissa in the 911 ST) is an amazing journey! keep up the good work!

Wow you put a lot of work into this one. Glad to know you're getting paid for it.

Eco driving seems to be "use the highest gear that comfortably does the job" where as racing driving is "use the lowest gear that does not exceed the red line (apart from on a long bend where you may as well change up)"

Yep it's great stuff to apply to Gran Turismo and Forza, for those of us who can't afford to build supercars in our garage. :)

that amazing feeling when, as someone who isnt strong in math, i can understand the relationships and concepts being explained. massive props to EE for always explaining things so clearly. ive been watching almost every video about how cars work and it is fascinating!

This is how math class should have been!!! i could have actually learned something and passed the damn class!

My goodness this video is magical. It is like a whole world of understanding just unfolded. Thank you so much. I have watched many of your videos with a vague understanding so I decided to start at video #1 and work up my knowledge from there instead of starting in the middle. Great job.

It's time to remake this video. You have gotten soooo much better since then.

This is the best explanation of how gears work I have ever seen or heard! Thank you so much!

Engineering Explained, I love you. (In a completely straight way).

Brilliantly explained. That goes for all your videos. Thanks for helping me rediscover my love of engineering and cars, something that I lost along the way. Keep up the great work and I look forward to more.

Excellent video! To see how far you have come with your videos is amazing! Keep up the good work

The three sets are for (likely) 6 gears. Each set I believe has 2 different ratios, allowing you to have multiple gears depending on how many planetary gear sets you have. Yes, this is something I need to eventually make a video on. Kinda like differentials, it's just super difficult to draw/explain. But I did differentials, and I shall eventually get to automatic gears.

@davidle24 Yes, 6000 was an arbitrary number that I picked for the redline. It will be different for every vehicle. This is the speed at which the engine will no longer be able to handle the forces and heat created, and is determined based on the strength of the components in use, the valvetrain, the size of the cylinders, and many other factors.

Great to hear, thanks for watching!

This has been the best explanation of this I've seen and I believe your illustration may be key. Excellent!

@jy0408 Yes, this applies to rotaries. And the shaft of the rotary rotates 3 times for every one rotation of the rotor. Regardless, this shaft will have a certain rpm, and will manipulate the wheel speed through gearing in the same manner. The "transmission" I've shown is very simplified, but its principles apply to all transmissions.

You're welcome! I've got plenty of videos so feel free to take your time and learn as much as you desire!

I am seriously understanding cars so much better thanks to your videos. Great job man.

You're welcome! I have a whole playlist on transmissions if you're not yet satisfied. Thanks for watching!

Great channel. Lots of great info , right to the point and explained really nice. Keep up the great work.

You make the material so easy to digest man. Greatly appreciate the lesson!

Larger tires have greater rotational inertia (I have a few videos, if you're interested), and they also alter your gear ratio thus making it more difficult to accelerate (this can be compensated for by altering the gearing).

this video is exactly what i've been looking for as far as wanting to change my transmission and rearend gear. i now know what to expect before i even do the swap. much appreciated !!!

Great work there!!! I appreciate your precise and to the point explanation of the topic which has sorted all my doubts regarding the subject.

Thanks, glad you enjoy them!

Correct, I've got a video on CVTs if you haven't yet watched!

absolutely INSANE video even all these years later, thank you so much for this!

The video is almost 2 years old. I've since started filming with a new camera and better lighting. Thanks for the tips!

I'm studying heavy machinery mechanics in school (Not mechanical engineer. Here in Canada, they call it "professional school") and your videos are really helping me out. Thanks a lot and keep up the good work!

haha its great to hear back from you! im personally not old enough to drive yet but i love learning about cars because of their amazing engineering. i must say that you are very underrated for your very helpful explanations and keep doing what youre doing!

you are great at explaining this. I had never understood the gear system. all I hear was you have to change gears. Thanks

I was looking for a video like this, and I'm glad it was you!

The tires are essentially part of the gearing, as the video demonstrates. The gear ratio of the driveline (diff and trans) does not change, but you go a further distance with the same rotation. This does affect the torque delivered to the ground. I have multiple videos explaining rotational inertia if you're curious about it. Simply search my channel. :)

I love how you slam all the math on the table, very well explained [although I already knew all about this I enjoy your explanations]. You should do a follow-up on this, regarding the last 30 seconds of the video, addressing "why lower RPM gives you better gas mileage" ....... but also explaining the "sweet spots" in the RPM that get peak MPG. On a 4L 1991/2 dodge minivan, I was able to get 42 MPG once overdrive fully kicked in / no longer "clutching it" at 38 mph @ 1200 RPM. On my paper delivery route, I have an OBD2 app I always use, and I've constantly seen that my MPG is better from 2500 - 3000 RPM than 2000 - 2500 at the same engine load and/or throttle [testing back and forth] so I'm interested in how these "sweet spots" in the RPM band give MPG boosts. I've confirmed these boosts by the car's alleged MPG, the app, and the pump, in identical conditions / temps / same pump every time etc

Wow he has been doing this for almost 10 years now, got to give him credit! That's a hard gig making videos for that long & still have a large following. He knows & puts out alot of accurate information, unlike many others. Probably why he is still relevant!

This is the first video I've seen on your channel and I thought this was some decent guy doing some explanations with meh quality...But your recent videos shows that you've come REALLL FARR...damn well done! This video helped me today for my report so thank you. From 2021!

Dude, you are amazing at explaining things! Keep up the good work.

You are so good in simplifying this topic this way Hope you have a good day

Amazingly easy to understand video. Keep up the great work man I really love your videos :)

What a wonderful job of teaching automotive engineering you're doing! Thanks a great deal!

@HawaiiJackJr Thanks for the idea. Check out my video on automatics vs. manuals. For manuals, I explain in detail how this process works. Automatics use a system of clutches to transfer between planetary gears, which are fairly more complicated. I will add planetary gears to the pending list of videos to make!

Thank you, the best video I’ve seen so far explaining gears very clearly

So many years past this is still awesome work!

Fun to see that you've answered two drastically different questions with videos a decade apart: 1st, what is dirtfish like? and 2nd my question about gear ration as I try to understand what I'm looking for when swapping a T5 for the AOD in my 1989 Laforza. Thanks!!!

I feel proud understanding this completely. Learning manual transmission, and this just helped me out a ton

Thank you very much . The video lesson has cleared a lot of my questions. Well explained.

Absolutely love these early videos of yours

Awesome, good to hear!

Great to hear!

Fascinating - thank you! I've always wondered what gear ratios are. Please keep teaching!

Thanks a lot!! Very, very useful series of videos!! You've helped me a lot - from all the way across the globe!

You could become a good teacher because you have a gift of being able to explain things well! Thank you for your vids!

I ma looking to brush up some basics to understand long gearing and short.. Thanks to you, the basics is solid now! Great job

A differential is used to split rotational speeds between the driven tires. A CV joint is the connection between the differential and the drive shaft, which keeps the given velocity from the diff the same speed as when it reaches the wheel.

Really, I can't tell you how much this video helped me understand how gear ratios and a transmission works. Thanks so much!!

Glad to hear it, thanks!

This is possibly the best video and channel on RU-vid!

you are an amazing teacher man! you are the single smartest person I've ever come across. thank you for you're videos.

What belt are you referring to?

Excellent, thanks!

This vid is badass. you have increased the replay value of all my old racing games!

I am astonished at how clearly you explained this, thank you very much!

Yes, it can also be referred to as the final drive ratio. If you're revving higher you're going to use more fuel.

Basically you want to shift when the force your putting down at the tires is equal to the force if you were to upshift. This means either when your engine becomes too inefficient due to high revs, or a rev limit. And the latter is usually the case, so for speed shifting at late as possible is generally the quickest.

Wow, this is very interesting compared to your newer videos. Great job either way, i just randomly came across this looking for something else.

This ks so uncluttered. One segment at a time. Thanks sir 💙

dude ive been on a marathon watchng ur vids. great work bro

Really nice video. Explains lots of my queries on gear ratios and how RPM behaves with gear changes. Can you please make a video explaining torque curve with gear changes?

Great job, dude! Keep up the great work.

You're very welcome, thanks for subscribing!

Excellent video. I was totally clueless and now I 100% understand. Thank you!

Great vid bro... im teaching myself about auto mechanics and this will be a highlight of my video collection... you make clear sence...thx

@ProvokeLaughter Thanks!! If you have a specific question (or a suggestion for a video) just send me a message!

There are currently 7 speed manuals (Porsche and the 2014 Vette come to mind), and there are plenty of 8 speed autos out there. Yes, it comes down to cost, and are the extra ratios really necessary? Savings in fuel economy may be quite minimal, and at a high cost. CVTs may end this is they can make them a bit more durable.

Another great video, i like how your videos are succinct. There is just enough information to get the explanation across but not so much information that people start to lose interest.

Wow you made something complicated so simple to understand! Thank you so much!

Thank you for explaining in all your vids! are very easy to follow! Greetings from Mexico! Keep it going!

Nice work! Very straightforward.

Alright, let me know if you have any questions and I can try to elaborate for ya. Hopefully things will click on round 2!

Revolutions per minute = Revolutions divided by Minutes. Converted to hours, you would divide the minutes by 60. RPM = R/M -> RPH = R/(M/60) = 60*R/M

This is awesome! Thanks for taking the time to do this! I subscribed and I will be checking out your other vids.

Thank you!

Yes, except for the 1:1 part. Most differentials are somewhere in the range of reducing speed (and thus increasing torque) by about 3:1 to 4:1.

This video really wasn't meant to explain the workings of a transmission, but rather the importance of car gears and their function. I think by watching my video entitled "Automatic vs Manual Transmission" you will be able to visualize better how the gearbox is set up.

Your videos are perfect, well explained, love what you're doing :)

I watch these videos for fun, is there something wrong with me lol. Love the videos keep them coming

Bro singlehandedly made me understand what tens of videos couldn’t😭🙏

Depends what gear you are in. The whole transmission does not rotate, just the gears. If the gear ratio is 3:1 (like 1st, for example), then for every 3 rotation of the crankshaft, the first gear will rotate once.

Best simplified gear ratio explanation. Thank you

Great explanation. Subscribed

Great explanation, thanks for posting!

Wow you're brilliant. Now I can understand how car gears work. The way you teach is really clear. I'm at a high school and am going to go to engineering at university, it will help me a lot. Thank you there. :)

You're a great teacher man. Subscribed!

Well explained. Great work.

After you started talking about driving in 1st gear and broke it down for us, I gave up lol. I suck at math, but I got the general idea of it. I don't know how you know all of that so well. Good job