[Greg Gay]

Racing usually leads the auto market in innovation. That which makes a racecar faster today makes a street car more fuel efficient tomorrow. In transmissions, however, the higher number of gears have shown up on the street first. Would more gears benefit the racecars? Is there too much friction, or too much rotating mass in these transmissions? Is the torque converter technology such that benefits of operating the engine in a small rpm band already been achieved?