Star/Delta configuration originally is intended for 3 phase electrical motors in the heavy industry, a motor will start in "Star" configuration, to keep the current in Amps to a lower level without blowing the fuses, once the motor reaches a certain RPM (mostly after a few seconds) the motor will be switched into "delta" configuration, which really looks like it's shifting into 2nd gear....

I really believe that some day, we will see the same in our RC scene, and we will have a car "shifting" to 2nd gear, and I'm not talking turbo, that will be the 3rd gear!....