Probably, you have seen many movies where the hero has spun his top-speed automotive while being chased and drives in reverse as fast as the other cars around him. On the highway, this could be up to 80 mph. However, painting this speed in reverse may not be entirely accurate.
You could spend time researching how to increase top speed of a car, yet that will be going forward and not backwards. Movies are very different, so how fast can a car go in reverse? They have one gear, and this would be similar to your gearbox first gear.
In our guide, you’ll see how fast can you drive in reverse. By the end, you’ll see how gearing, transmission type (manual transmission or automatic transmission), and more affect how fast you can go once you select your reverse gear.
Also, don’t forget that one particular car could go faster than another in reverse. Also, electric cars have no reverse gears as they don’t have gears at all. Electric cars, thanks to mechanical engineering, could theoretically go in reverse as getting up to maximum speed going forward. (Read CV Joint Noise When Driving Straight)
What Determines How Fast Can A Car Go In Reverse?
There are many reasons why you can’t drive fast in a reverse direction or even at the same speed as in a forward direction.
Out of all the top reasons, what affects how fast can a car go in reverse.
Driving skills alone can be a more limiting factor in driving a car backwards at high speed than the car’s power and what happens when you hit the engine’s rev limit.
Gearbox Limitations
First of all, it’s because of how the car was built. For example, a car’s gearbox has many forward gears and one reverse gear to move forward and backward.
It’s because driving quickly in reverse is not necessary. As a result, you and those close to you may be at risk.
In addition, seeing how fast can a car go in reverse is often done on a track and away from other traffic.
Reversing at speed around other drivers can be quite a challenge for yourself, and pushing the reverse gear ratio to the absolute maximum.
The EVO 7 has a first gear with 14 driving gear teeth and 41 driven gear teeth. If you divide the driven gear number by the driving gear number, you’ll receive the first gear ratio.
The driven gear turns once for every 2.928 revolutions of the driving gear. Higher gears reduce the ratio number.
Car Suspension
The second element is the suspension of your car. The car’s suspension is designed to maintain your car speed with forward motion rather than making your car go in reverse in a straight line.
The suspension prevents the car from moving swiftly in reverse. Therefore, even if you try your best to drive in reverse at top speed, the suspension ensure you do not travel in a straight line.
Your view is also obstructed when moving in a reverse direction as you need to look over your shoulder or in your rear view mirror.
This is among the many things that get in the way of you driving straight, as would holding onto the steering wheel with one hand.
Manual and Automatic Transmission
The car’s automatic or manual transmission determines whether a car can go in reverse quickly.
In reverse, a car with an automatic transmission cannot travel any faster. Because of the established speed limit of the driving gear in the opposite direction. If you exceed the speed limit, the car will stop as you try to move in the reverse direction.
However, if your car has a manual transmission, you could go in reverse.
Most experts caution against driving in a reverse direction as you break many traffic laws.
Besides this, when in a reverse direction using the reverse gear, you lack a higher gear ratio; thus, it is like driving in first gear all the time.
Low speeds, like parking or reversing after driving forward into a dead-end road, may be acceptable. (Read Why Is My Temperature Gauge Going Up And Down)
Reverse Gear Controls
The reverse gears on a car permit less force and speed when traveling in the opposite direction.
It occurs when most car starts are made in reverse after coming to a stop.
As a result, the rear suspension will experience stress if you drive at speed in reverse for an extended period instead of driving forward.
Can A Car Speed In Reverse Gear As In A Driving ear?
How fast can a car speed in reverse gear? Already we have seen car chase scenes show us theoretically how fast a car can go in a reverse direction.
One of the most common is the “Fast and Furious” sequel see’s Paul Walker as the undercover cop. Paul Walker takes his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo and starts reversing down the highway at top speed.
Much of this shows off his driving skills while going in a reverse direction at full speed.
If you are trying to guess how fast can a car go like this, the first thing is to know that cars have a dedicated gear for reverse
This means that a car, whether it has an automatic gearbox or a manual transmission, may only go at a pace of 20 to 30 miles per car when in reverse, depending on the gears’ size. In addition, engine size won’t have much bearing as it is determined by gear ratio rather than engine power.
Another thing to consider is that besides looking over your shoulder or using a rear view mirror, many people mistakenly put their head out of the car window while reversing in regular use or to see how fast can a car go backward.
Car manufacturers know that reverse driving activates numerous blind spots; thus, it is advisable to move slowly so the driver can control all the dangers.
Why is reversing at high speeds dangerous?
- Passengers and the back seats obstruct the view.
- Most car backs don’t slope down like the front, making reversing difficult because of poor vision.
- Since humans lack back-of-the-head eyes, movement precision is decreased since all three mirrors must be employed at once.
- Because of the weight distribution of the car and the fact that drivers cannot accurately judge the bend, driving around bends in reverse gear is exceedingly challenging, especially at modest speeds.
- There are, however, some modified electric cars that can reverse at high speeds.
How fast you can go in reverse
Is there a specific type of car that can reverse quickly?
Because they don’t have a transmission, electric cars can, in fact, reverse at high speeds.
They employ single-speed electric motors. This indicates that an electric car can travel as quickly in reverse as in drive mode; however electric car manufacturers control this.
Because it is dangerous, they ensure the cars have a reverse speed limit similar to the 20–35 mph range. (Read Power Steering Fluid Is Brown – What To Do)
What cars have reversed at high speeds?
While driving a Nissan, a stunt driver clocked a mile on a racetrack at an average speed of 55 mph.
As the car was electric, the reverse speed limiter was removed to break the record.
Even supercars use direct-drive transmissions and driving gear. The reverse speed of the car is still limited to 30 mph because only the wheel shaft electric motors are used to drive the car.
