Why do manual transmission autos get better gas mileage than automatic?
Automatic transmissions use what is called a ‘torque convertor” between the transmission input and the engine output. A torque convertor is like two fans facing eachother. The ‘fan’ connected to the engine ‘blows’ oil to the fan connected to the transmission. Needless to say, there is some ‘slippage’ between the two — but the torque convertor can create more ‘torque’, or twisting power than a standard ‘stick’ clutch can. A manual transmission has a 1-to-1 ratio (no slippage), so 1 turn of the engine gives one turn on the transmission input shaft. A torque convertor, on the other hand, gives less than a 1-to-1 ratio, which means the engine runs a bit faster to maintain the same speed than you would have in a manual transmission. Faster engine rpm’s means more gas is consumed. In some vehicles they use what is called an Overdrive which isn’t truly an overdrive (overdrive being more than 1 turn of the output shaft for 1 turn of the input shaft). Instead these ‘mock’ overdrives simply ‘lo
