~4000rpm at 80mph?

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d00f
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~4000rpm at 80mph?

Post by d00f »

Is that normal for this car?

I have a '04 Civic Ex that I've been learning on for the past couple of months. My day-to-day life doesn't usually take me on highways, but a few days ago I got to see how this car feels at 80mph. I was sorta surprised that to maintain 80mph the rpms were about 4000 or 4100 which, to me, seemed a bit excessive. Let alone, a bunch more engine noise. To compare, my girlfriends automatic Toyota Matrix is quieter at those speeds and my old car, an automatic Honda del Sol, did that speed at about 3500 rpms.

Since then I wondered why I don't have a sixth gear. Just seems logical to me. An extra gear and the rpms would be lowered. What I finally found out is that the top gear in cars with either 6 gears or 5 gears typically have the same ratio. With 6 gear cars, the 1-5 is simply spaced closer.

So, is 4000 rpms normal to maintain 80mph? Are manuals normally a bit more noisy and run at higher rpms than their automatic counterparts in "crusing gear"?

thanks..

sean
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Post by Johnf514 »

I'm not sure what gear you are in at 4000 RPMs at 80 MPH, but if its 5th, for a Civic, that seems normal. Those little engines have to really roar in order to keep it up in 5th. And the Matrix has a slightly larger engine and different gearing. Also, your girlfriend's Matrix is an automatic, which may aid in the lower RPMs.

To end this, do 70 MPH. You'll get there a minute later and avoid a lot of tickets. And its much better on gas! :D
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Sypher
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Post by Sypher »

4000 seems normal for a civic. In my 01' civic Si, US model Ex, going 120km/h, about 75mph, it revs at around 3.7-3.8K. Thats on 5th of course. Automatics seem to have longer gear ratios, thats why your gf's matrix goes at a lower rpm. The reason behind that is because auto's are trying to match teh fuel efficency of a manual car. And in order to do that, they need a longer gear. By lengthening the gear, the rpms can stay low.

Does your civic have a modded/aftermarket exhaust, mine does and at 75mph, in a lightly soundproofed cabin, its not fun...

btw, it's not one of those annoying buzzing exhaust fart-cans if your thinking about it... I'm not a ricer...
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4000rpm at 80mph?

Post by CorollaDRvr »

Hello there, I am new to this forum.
Now, for rpms at 4000 when going 80mph, I wouldn't know. That all has to depend on the engine of the car. In my corolla, at 75mph, the rmps are at 2900-3000RPM. Mind you it is a manual transmission. See, every car drives differently. My mazda mx6 (1990) was different to my accord ex (1992), especially on uphills, the accord seemed to lag, compared to my mazda. Now tha was confusing, since i was used to one car, and then I had to remember, which car drove a certain way..Anyhow, do not worry.........go at a lower speed, and you will save on mpg.
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Post by Nasir »

I was about to say that I think 4k rpm's at 80 mph is a bit low,but it seems pretty normal
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Post by Sypher »

d00f, our cars, the US EX and CDN Si, are sport trims of our models (asiding of course the Si/SiR) and therefore, we have the close range gearbox. Lower models like the Lx will have a longer gear because it is "less" sporty.
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Post by IMBoring25 »

As the popularity of the manual transmission as a cost-saving measure has declined, the pool of manual-transmission buyers has become dominated by enthusiasts. As such, manufacturers have progressed from offering manuals using their natural advantages for benefits in both acceleration and fuel economy to offering manuals using their natural advantages almost exclusively to better performance, which entails more aggressive gear ratios that result in higher cruising RPM's and comparatively poorer mileage.

It's not the nature of the beast. It's the nature of the business.
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Post by coolguy »

Man...recently I have been thinking: IF manual is at least $10000 cheaper than automatic, instead of now manual is only on average about $1000 cheaper than automatic, I bet more people will reconsider buying manual and/or at least reconsider learning how to drive manual!
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Post by Peterbilt »

coolguy, I noticed that lots of new cars with smaller engines <2L come with the manual as a standard. Almost all 2.0L Foci are manual, New Beetles are mostly manual, Golfs, Jettas, not to mention Civics. Also, these days it is not rare to see a girl's car eqiped with the manual tranny. On the other hand, look at a 1.5L manual Chevy Aveo (the only US-made car that comes with side repeaters 8) ) I really doubt that this car designed solely for driving enthusiasts. Yet, almost all Aveos that are sold in the US are manual. I really hope that more and more usual people will buy manuals and finally we will become like Europe :lol:
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Post by potownrob »

Haha, wishful thinking, Peterbilt :lol:

As for the low and aggressive gearing of the Civic EX, I used to regularly achieve 30 to 35 mpg in mixed driving. Once I really got good at driving stick (we're talking a couple years back now) I stopped getting above 30 mpg :twisted: , but my mileage never fell below 30, even when I revved the bejesus out of that engine :P

I've gotta say, though, that the higher and wider gearing of the lower economy models is a bit pathetic, and they don't get that much better gas mileage, maybe 35-40 :?
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Post by littleman09z »

civics.. manuals! psshhh
i wanted to see the new civics after all the commotion here about them. went to the honda dealer.. out of all 10 new civics. none were manuals.. and out of the new accords, 8 of them. one was a manual..

i think manuals dont sell anymore
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Post by coolguy »

:lol: Good thinking Peter.

Yeah, once again, I think IF manual is at least U.S. $10000 cheaper than automatic, then we will see some boosts in manual purchases, BUT at the same time we may see some money losses in car dealerships as well :roll:.

Now I wonder on average how much cheaper does it cost for buying manual compare with buying automatic in Europe.
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Post by Bboy_Burst »

My 1996 Honda Civic EX Revs At 4K At 90 MPH.....I Wish I Had A 6th Gear So I Could Saved More Gas.....
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Post by Sypher »

Actually, as discussed on another thread, a 6th gear wouldn't save you much more gas than a 5th gear would since both 5th and 6th gear have roughly the same ratios
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