You all experts,<p>I know *that* it's a fact, but I forgot why: when taking say an off-ramp at 50mph in 3rd, I am good and safe. If I were to try to do the same in 5th, I'd be SOL, most likely.<p>What's the reason? "More torque" well yeah but how does that have anything to do with lateral forces?<p>Thanks,<br>- Stan<br>

Being in third at 50mph should give you better throttle control, allowing you to effect weight transfer in either direction without using the brakes. This is even more true in a quattro (you didn't say, and I can't remember). A quattro appreciates being under power in a turn and you have no power at 50 in 5th.<p>Just MHO<p>Todd W

Your problem has more than a little to do with the dynamics of energy through those little black patches of tyre that are actually in contact with the road.<p>Strictly speaking at 50 through a curve, the G force is the same regardless of the gear you are in.<p>However in a lower gear with more torque on tap, you can readily change the G force equation with acceleration, which negates to a large extent the sideways G force. Provided your tyres grip (and especially if all 4 tyres are gripping!) you will get both a negative G force action under acceleration and the car will more likely remain balanced, giving better grip opportunities.<p>Thank God & AUDI for Quattro and high torque Turbo's.!!<p>Rgds

I'm not sure I totally understand the question. Are you saying you're "safer" going through the corner at 50 MPH in 3rd gear than you are at 50 MPH in 5th gear? If that's the comparative situation you're talking about, there's no difference according to gear, as long as you're just coasting at a steady speed through the corner. If you're going through at a steady speed and there's no adverse traction conditions (i.e. snow, ice, rain, etc....), there's also basically no difference. If it's slippery at all, and you're accelerating, you're actually "safer" in 5th gear than you are in 3rd, since it's harder for the car to break the wheels lose in 5th than in 3rd. The lateral forces are the same regardless of gear. But under power, it's easier for the wheels to spin in a lower gear, and spinning the wheels will then mean the tires are sliding relative to the road, and the friction between the tires and road decrease, hence the "unsafeness".<p>OR, alternatively, are you asking why it's "safer" at 50 MPH than at some other, arbitrary, higher speed? If that's the question being asked, then it's simply an issue of centripetal acceleration and the friction limits of the car. Assuming a car can only corner at up to a certain "g" loading, say 1.0 g, then how fast you can go around the corner depends upon the radius of the corner. Another way of looking at it is that for a corner of any given radius, and with a car with a certain cornering limit, then there's a maximum speed at which the corner can be taken. Or, in physics geek terms, the centripetal acceleration required ("g" loading) for a car to be able to make it around a corner of a particular radius is pretty much proportional to the square of the speed, divided by the radius of the corner. Since the g loading required is proportional to the SQUARE of the speed, it means that to go around the corner just a little bit faster takes a lot more grip.

I guess English as a 4th language and engineering result in ambiguous messages :-)<p>When I take my favorite exit in 3rd, I can just make it around 50mph. Initially it's engine braking, then steady thru the corner, then accelerate to an exit speed of 54mph (Sand Hill Road off I-280-South). When I am in 4th, other than it being stupid, I feel really "unsafe" even at lower speeds because the car feels like it's gonna drift away.<p>Other example: turning into my neighborhood. Depending on traffic, I do it in 2nd or 3rd, roughly at the same speed. However, when I turn in 3rd the tires (225 SO2) definitely squeal, while in 2nd you can hear a happy gripping rubber sound. <p>So it's all about why it *feels* much more under control in lower gear. My physics knowledge tells me that it should *be* equal, but it doesn't feel like it. I understand btw the whole square speed thing, which is why you have about double braking distance from 60 than from 50, etc.<p>Thanks,<br>- Stan<br>

Hmmmm...... I guess I don't really know why it would feel that way. My gut instinct tells me that everything should be smoother and more stable in the higher gear, but maybe it's just that feeling of control that you get in a lower gear where the engine responds more readily to every little input.