Hello. I wanted to pay attention to gear ratios and max rpm in these cars. Something is wrong. First of all, many of american cars from these years has max hp about 5000-6000 rpm and for example corvete 1968 427cid on 6400 rpm, so rev limiter set up on 5000 rpm in BeamNG is to low. Based on "Standard Catalog of V-8 Engines, John Gunnell" Secondly, Barstow is too slow. I mean gear ratios or problem with rpm limit. Second gear is ridiculously short. I'm driving Oldsmobile 98 1972 and in owner's manual is written: transmission will only downshift (from 2 to 1)when car speed is under approximately 40mph (automatic gearbox th400) and im sure that's with safety margin. Second gear shouldn't be used at speeds above 75 mph (next safety margin). It is said max speed of my car is about 120mph, but in fact it will be 135mph (3rd gear). In these years it's normal that cars rotate speedometer. Barstow with 423 should have max speed about 135-155mph on manual. On automatic it should be slower looking at converter losses, about 140mph. Referring to automatic transmission. PRND21 2- uses first two gears without 3 and higher. 1- uses only first gear. And two less important things. Engines should faster lose rpm and most of cars with bigger engines are able to do burnout on 3rd (last gear) on automatic gearbox with pressed brake, what is impossible in BeamNG. If something is unclear i can explain it more precisely. If it will be helpfull i can send some more information.
The drivetrains are getting a massive overhaul soon, maybe some of your issues will be resolved with that update.
Torque converter losses are next update, the PRND21 is flawed cos 2nd gear uses only 2nd gear not the 1st as a usual transmission
To start, very few V8 engines from that era had rev limits past 5000 RPM. The very vast majority reached peak HP below 5000 RPM. Typically, only high performance engines had a later peak HP due to more aggressive cams. I agree with your transmission analysis, although it all equates to no torque converter simulation. With proper TC simulation, you'll notice much more accurate top speeds.
That's true. Many cars from 60s and 70s have peak at 4400rpm (about 60% of cars) but usually cars like Barstow have higher than 5000. For example some information about max hp (not rev limit): Chevelle 1970 454cid 5600rpm, Camaro 70 396 5600, Challenger 70 426 5000, Ford 70 SOHC 427 7500!, Ford Super Cobra Jet 428 5400, Cyclone 70 429 5400, Olds 4-4-2 455 5200, GTO 70 400 5500. These cars are similar to Barstow.
I actually agree with the RPM/gearing thing as most of the muscle cars from the era were running 3.92, 4.10 or even 4.30 rear gears. The performance engines don't rev high enough in the Barstow compared to the real muscle cars of the era. 4.10s with the current Barstow rev limits would give it a top speed of like 90mph. The base model 1970 Ford 302 and 351 2bbl revved to 5300rpm. The Ford 351 4bbl and 429 Cobra Jet revved to 6000rpm Even the Chevrolet 454 revved up to 6000rpm. I think the non-performance engines are okay. Most of those were paired up with 2.73-3.50 gears.
Thanks for informations about rev limits. In catalog i dont have this information. Where did you find it?
http://www.automobile-catalog.com/ It shows the redlines for most of these engines as I don't believe many had actual rev limiters. I think most just stopped revving once the valves were floating in the upper atmosphere.
I'd like to add that (most) old carbureted cars didn't have rev limiters as well. They just kept revving until they couldn't suck enough air or fuel to sustain a proper stoichimetric ratio. The redline is/was just there for the safety of the motor. Automatics still had/have other means for keeping the engine below a specific rpm, but it wasn't what we would call a rev limiter.
Also, the EPA forcing reduced emissions at the time (early 70s) was solved by reducing performance... that also may have had an impact on why these engines are underpowered.
Barstow is a pushrod engine, and everyone knows that they cant rev high, moonhawk idk, but its rev limiter should be higher, since it cuts in before the needle is all the way into the redline
That don't explain. It's true. These engines have OHV and redline on 5000-5500 is okay for cars like Cadillac, Lincoln, and other boats. But real muscle have redline higher. Maybe that's not healthy to rev these engines so high, but it's possible. And look at my previous comment. I wrote there about brake hp of some engines (rev limit is higher). That's are informations from Standard catalog of V8 engines 1906-2002. In 60's, cars was underrated and in this catalog are official informations (underrated), not real. What's a difference? You can read about that here: http://gearheads.org/the-true-hp-of-the-10-most-powerful-classic-era-muscle-cars/
