By default RealDash uses calculated value for current gear. The gear is calculated from vehicle settings of tire size and gear ratios (set in the Garage) and vehicle speed and engine RPM. Calculated gear value is stored in input 'Calculated Values->Gear (Master Speed, RPM, Gear Ratio).
If this input is tied to the text gauge, it will show gear number, and ‘N’ if speed is 0. In addition, if ‘Body Electronics->Reverse Lights’ input is not zero, value of -1 is set to gear input and ‘R’ is shown in text gauge.
If your ECU or other device sends the gear information, this calculated value can be overridden from RealDash Settings->Units & Values->Input Mapping. Set ‘Body Electronics->Gear’ to be mapped from another input.
To precisely calculate current gear, it is important to enter correct values into the Garage:
TIRES
In the garage, tap the wheel to set the tire size. If your vehicle has different sized tires on axles, use the size of the driving wheel.
GEAR RATIOS
In the garage, open vehicle door and tap the shifter to set the gear ratios. There is up to 8 ratios available and a final ratio. Set any unused gear ratios to 0 to indicate that gear is not available. Final gear ratio must not be set to 0 or gear will be always calculated as 0 (Neutral).
On typical rear wheel drive car gear values are set per transmission gear ratios and final gear is set to the rear differential ratio. On front/4-wheel drive this may be more complicated as many modern transmission have multiple ‘final’ ratios. For example VW 2.8 VR6 6-speed manual transmission has the following ratios:
1st: 3.417
2nd: 2.105
3rd: 1.429
4th: 1.088
5th: 1.097
6th: 0.912
Final drive ratio on gears 1-3: 4.200
Final drive ratio on gears 4-6: 3.316
If your transmission ratios are listed in this way, you need to enter the gear ratios into RealDash multiplied by gears final ratio and set the final ratio on RealDash to 1.0:
1st: 3.417 * 4.200 = 14.351
2nd: 2.105 * 4.200 = 8.841
3rd: 1.429 * 4.200 = 6.002
4th: 1.088 * 4.200 = 4.470
5th: 1.097 * 4.200 = 3.640
6th: 0.912 * 4.200 = 3.024
7th: 0
8th: 0
Final Ratio: 1.0
Please note that we do not have a database of different vehicles gear ratios. So please do not ask us to provide the ratios for your specific vehicle. We would just need to search the Internet for them, which you can do as well yourself.