I noticed shortly after getting the car (I back in to almost all parking spaces) that the reverse gear is sounds really whiny, like loud whiny. It also seems a little jumpy...now to note this is my first manual trans vehicle, so this might be all normal, but I have no idea.
My CR-Z is a 2013 for reference, any input is much appreciated!
A lot of manual trans cars make a whining sound in reverse... pretty sure all hondas do. Ive had quite a few manual hondas, from a 1990 integra up to the newest one, my 2011 crz, they all make a similar sound.
I think the jumpiness you describe is due to the shortness of the gearing in reverse, similar to first gear. I think if you drive some other manual cars you will see how normal it is.
It makes that sound because reverse gear uses a straight cut gear while the forward gears are helical cut gears. Straight cut gears are much noisier than helical.
There is a guy in my neighborhood who is forgetful, and drives a fairly new (2011-2012) Civic. He gets to the stop sign, remembers something, and reverses about 500 feet back to his house. He goes pretty quickly, and the whine is audible for quite a distance.
We were joking that Honda does it to make sure you know when you are in reverse.
Other cars I have had make a small amount of noise, but every manual Honda I have had does it.
ITEM9's explanation makes sense, though. I had never seriously wondered why before. (It is like whether penguins have knees. I had never wondered, until I saw the question. Then I had to know. Spoiler: they do.)
The reverse gear has a higher ratio than first gear; consumption is always high at very low speeds because of the amount of fuel needed to maintain idle vs. distance traveled is so disproportionate. Unless you spend large amounts of time driving in reverse, I wouldn't worry about it.
edit: also, the L/km meter is dividing by zero when you are idling but not moving, giving you an "infinite" full meter. The same thing happens to people in the US when we let off the throttle while in gear, because the amount of gallons the car is consuming is zero. In miles per gallon mode, the US meter just shows "0" at idle.
The load carrying capacity of the standard reduction gearbox is limited by mechanical strength and heat balance allowable horsepower. Therefore, the selection of the reduction gear box must be carried through two power meter
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