Glossary / General

fourth gear

10 Episode Mentions

Too Afraid to Ask

fourth gear is a term you might hear when people talk about cars.

Technical Definition

Mentioning “fourth gear” is a clue about how the car is being driven through the corner/section—gear choice affects engine speed, acceleration, and stability. In racing, staying in a higher gear can indicate the driver is prioritizing smoothness and traction rather than downshifting for extra acceleration.

Hear It Discussed

"And so for Tommy's, it was almost impossible to run in fourth gear, but you were in like kind of the mid stages"
Our Race Recap w/ Tommy Kendall and Mateo Siderman The Smoking Tire 18:21

"And by the time your foot got to the bottom of the floor on the squeeze, that needle had gone to 105 before you needed to shift into fourth gear. [3424.0s] It was fun, such an exhilarating rush..."
🏎️ 🏁 Brad Phillips on The Great Race, Cross-Country Ferraris, and Vintage Porsches To All The Cars I've Loved Before: Classic Car Restoration, JDM, and Automotive History 56:56

"The problem with it of course was fourth gear. [3841.8s] And the only way I could actually keep fourth gear alive was to pull all of the boost out of it"
163: ZF 8HP: The Automatic Everyone Wants? Tuned In 03:59