RPMs when driving

[kanine]

So I have been driving stick about 3 months now in NYC, fun and horrifying at the same time, just have a few questions about what RPMs I should keep the car at. Should I keep the car above certain RPMs while moving? Is it bad if for the engine/tranny if I let the RPMs dip low while in a higher gear.

Sometimes I let the RPM fall below 1500 and 1000 for a consistent while driving, ie. im in 6th gear and traffic decides to slow down and I'm going like 40mph in 6th and RPMs are like around 1200. What RPMs do you guys usually keep the vehicle at while at highways speeds of around 60 - 70 mph? I know I should downshift, but if you ever drive on NYC highways during rush hour, you would know their are a lot of idiots and its impossible to keep a constant speed, always go, then slow, go fast, stop, etc.

I drive an 03 maxima if that helps with anything, my 1-2 shift is still very jerky, I try to shift below 2000 rpms quickly to 2nd to avoid the jerkiness. Thanks for input.

[4onthefloor]

I don't think 1200 RPM should be a problem. If the car is lugging, then you might want to downshift into 5th.

To combat the jerkiness don't immediately release the clutch after the shift. Allow it to slip a little.

[AHTOXA]

Depends on the car. If you're not feeling shuddering associated with lugging you are fine really. I drive 40 mph in 6th at 1000 rpm.

[theholycow]

Shuddering is not associated with lugging. Explosion/banging sounds are lugging. Shuddering and grumbling are...shuddering and grumbling. They're not great but they won't destroy anything.

If it sounds ok, runs smooth, and isn't losing speed, then you're doing fine. If those conditions aren't true then you might want to shift.

As for 60-70mph...nobody can choose a gear that's too high for that. No car has a gear that's too high for 60-70. Mine doesn't even come close to high enough, I buzz along at 3000RPM at 70mph but I'm sure my engine has plenty of torque to keep it under 2000RPM, probably closer to 1500.

[comingbackdown]

Depends on the car. If you're not feeling shuddering associated with lugging you are fine really. I drive 40 mph in 6th at 1000 rpm.

I only have five gears, and I can cruise along in 5th gear at 600 rpm, and it just keeps right on ticking.
I wouldn't recommend that though.

[jomotopia]

really depends on the engine and gear ratios, as well as personal preference. i don't really like to run my car below 2k in anything other than 1st and 2nd (no boost = no power), but as long as you're not having trouble getting back up to speed at the rate you need to and you're not lugging the engine (you will know if this happens), then it's not really a problem.

[FDSpirit]

4th and 5th in my car below 2k don't really offer anything in terms of acceleration. 1st-3rd are the opposite. Like the other have said, its gonna depend on the car itself. My car really doesn't have a lot of power, so I can't really drive around with low RPMs.

[LHOswald]

no your car has power, just not til vtec kicks in at 5k-6k

[FDSpirit]

no your car has power, just not til vtec kicks in at 5k-6k

. Well, yeah. But I rarely bring my car over 3k during my regular driving to and from work.

[fa22raptorf22]

Case 1: Not accelerating / maintaining speed
If you want to save gas, you want to be in the highest (IE 5th or 6th) gear possible without going under idle. This scenario is inefficient to accelerate in, but is perfectly suited for maintaining speed on levelish ground.

Case 2: Accelerating
If you are in case 1 currently, you want to drop a gear at minimum, or more gears to get moving quicker or traverse a hill.
Typically you want to use all the gears to get up to speed and not just wind out 2nd for example to get to 60 mph.

Also, it is very inefficient to climb a hill in high gear at low speed (IE 6th gear at 30mph)

Case 3: Decelerating
If in a particular gear, and the amount of speed loss will put you under idle, you can drop a gear to bring you back above idle. But at any rate you are fine as long as you are at or above idle.

[kanine]

Thanks for replies, I always keep RPMs above idle, I know I need to downshift to a lower gear if I want to accelerate, get no acceleration in 6th going 40mph, but I dont really care about going fast driving on a busy highway.

I just wanted to make sure running RPMs low isn't the same as lugging the engine or would cost any harm. I get no shuddering or notice any problems when I drive that low in the RPMs.

[comingbackdown]

Case 2: Accelerating
If you are in case 1 currently, you want to drop a gear at minimum, or more gears to get moving quicker or traverse a hill.
Typically you want to use all the gears to get up to speed and not just wind out 2nd for example to get to 60 mph.
I also don't downshift unless I'm making a pass. I just get the loud pedal up to about 70% and she kind of just... goes.

Also, it is very inefficient to climb a hill in high gear at low speed (IE 6th gear at 30mph)
I disagree. There was a discussion about this in a thread a ways back. I got my best mileage in my Cavalier being in 5th at 25 mph and staying in 5th, including climbing hills, so long as it could handle them

This is personal experience, however... I wish I could remember the thread where downshift/low throttle was compared to high gear/high throttle.

[FDSpirit]

^I climb hills in gears 2nd-4th. It depends on the amount of power I need to go up without the engine actually struggling. The hill I take to avoid traffic needs to be taken in 2nd. I'm usually in 4th and I RMDS into 2nd and climb up that sucker very easily, but I will rarely shift it into 3rd because I usually keep the RPMs at 2800 and there's a sharp turn followed by another sharp one. I pretty much stay in 2nd gear until I get to the stop sign and take off again, then I shift through all the gears until I reach my house. Then there is the other hill which is usually approached in 3rd since I'm downshifting from 5th to climb. Once I get decent speed, I'll upshift to 4th, which gives good power up the hill without my car screaming. A little bit too much info there, but that's how it's done in my car. I still manage 30mpg following this procedure every week.

[fa22raptorf22]

Also, it is very inefficient to climb a hill in high gear at low speed (IE 6th gear at 30mph)
I disagree. There was a discussion about this in a thread a ways back. I got my best mileage in my Cavalier being in 5th at 25 mph and staying in 5th, including climbing hills, so long as it could handle them

This is personal experience, however... I wish I could remember the thread where downshift/low throttle was compared to high gear/high throttle.

That is because someone has...ermmm..........torque?

[comingbackdown]

Also, it is very inefficient to climb a hill in high gear at low speed (IE 6th gear at 30mph)
I disagree. There was a discussion about this in a thread a ways back. I got my best mileage in my Cavalier being in 5th at 25 mph and staying in 5th, including climbing hills, so long as it could handle them

This is personal experience, however... I wish I could remember the thread where downshift/low throttle was compared to high gear/high throttle.

That is because someone has...ermmm..........torque?

Yeah, whoopee... 100 lb./ft. of torque...