How critical is axle ratio?
In the modern day of 10 speed automatics, how necessary are 'towing' gears? By 'towing' I mean anything over 4.xx. These new transmissions have such low first gears compared to just a decade ago, is ...
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It's like what happened in the 80's when 4 speed overdrive automatic transmissions came out. Before that, you needed a 2.56-3.08 rear to cruise on the highway because of no overdrive, but then automakers started using deeper axle ratios as overdrives became more popular. You could accomplish the same thing with a 2.73 rear and wide ratio 4-speed, but saying 'it's got a 4.10 rear' sounds like it must be much faster. The new automatics have such ungodly low first gears I can't imagine needing a 4.xx anything axle ratio. You must be in first gear for all of half a second (especially when unloaded). I suppose it's all about perspective. Twenty years ago having 500 ft lbs was king, nowadays minivans have 300 horsepower.
