At least that's the theory; even so, it takes all the steel you can muster to
select fifth gear and keep your right foot planted beyond 110 mph for the first few laps (OK, the entire first day), the car weaving and dancing around alarmingly.
Not exact matches
However, Roger recommends checking
gear selection: «The selector forks on
fifth and sixth
gear can wear or fail, making it impossible to
select these
gears.
For example, if the driver flicks the lever back three times when travelling in
fifth gear, the gearbox will automatically
select second
gear.
• Gearboxes are robust and a pleasure to use, but the early cars do however have some issues
selecting first, third and
fifth gears.
The manual transmission allows the driver to
select their chosen
gear, for example, down from
fifth to third when approaching a corner.
A sequential shift lock minimizes the possibility of
selecting the incorrect
gear; the seventh
gear, for example, can only be engaged after activating the
fifth or sixth
gear.
The ratio spread from first to the
fifth gear was
selected to minimize fuel consumption and reduce powertrain noise during cruising.