Why don’t they keep the first gears close together but make top gear very “long”, such that the engine is just above tickover at motorway speeds and would stall if used at any lower speed?
This would have no real impacts on performance, no one really uses top gear when driving enthusiastically and I believe most cars can still achieve their top speed in the penultimate gear. But would greatly aid economy
Can anyone with more knowledge than me explain why this couldn’t be done, as I assume if it was that simple it would be widely adopted!!!