Reverse Gear

[Beswad]

How fast can you speed up to when your in reverse gear - i.e. a 1.6 honda civic (or any other car)?

[spaced]

also, doing 30 mph in reverse would be like doing 30mph in first gear, therefore it would screw you gearbox up

[c00ky83]

Just a thought - would the speedo even register in reverse?

[furrycheeky]

In the majority of modern cars the gear ratio of reverse is very similar to 1st. So as said, you would get to around 30 if you were mad enough to try.

[kempie]

I must take issue with the statement "...the slightest twitch and the car would be over."

If this was the case then it would be impossible to execute a J-turn (reverse handbrake turn).

It would also be very difficult to keep rear-wheel steered forklift trucks upright (although I will concede that it is possible to flip a FLT at lower speeds than 30mph but they do have high centres of gravity).

And don't forget that the Thrust SSC had a rear-wheel steering system...

[Toureman]

I once achieved 50mph driving in reverse on a private road!

I drove an Austin Champ, (similar vehicle to a Landrover) This vehicle had five forward gears and to drive backwards you had another gear lever which you moved backwards, this gave you the same five gears you used when going forwards and also the same speed!

Very unusual and hairy, one twitch of the steering wheel and you would be rolling down the road.

[kempie]

I do not need to take the issue anywhere mdoo98.

I am not a "professional" driver but can indeed execute a J-turn. It may or may not have helped that I have decades of experience driving rear-wheel steer FLTs but, as with anything in life, the key to any endeavour is practice.

In all that time I applied more than the "slightest twitch", even during my first attempts, and sensationally failed to flip a car.

[kempie]

Funnily enough you need to be travelling rapidly in reverse to properly execute the manouvre; it is used by security agencies as a means of escape from frontal assault where speed is of the essence.

[kempie]

...and mdoo98, you seem to have not grasped that I am questioning the use of the term "slightest twitch".

[kempie]

NO !

So, considering that there are over 30 million cars in the UK, why isn't the media littered with reports of cars flipping over whilst travelling at high speed in reverse?

[kempie]

But what about that element of society which possess windscreen washer jets incorporating blue LEDs?