I have few question about gear shifting..

1) Form the stop... if you want the car to move quickly on the straight line should i stay in low gear as long as possible like 4k 5k (close to red line) then switch to one gear up and so on.. or should i shift quickly around 3k than to the high gear as fast as possible up to 6th gear?

2) For daily driving in local 30 mph zones should i stay in 4th gear or should i go up all the way to 6 ... in order to save gas..

3) For high way driving i don't really need to use the 6th gear and sometimes i forgot to shift to 6th gear... always stay in 5th ... is it bad?


How do you shift it in those conditions....

Thanks

 

1) if your looking for fast acceleration, go through each gear at higher rpms.

2) local street driving, stay in whichever gear you feel is safest and smoothest. you don't wanna be in 6th gear going like 20mph incase you might need to accelerate quickly to avoid accidents and such.

3) highway driving, 6th gear.

 

You may want to check your User Manual, as there are maximum speed suggestions for low gears.

 

i would say learn how to properly drive an manual before attempting to do all that.

 

I usually cruise @ 3-3500

I remember hearing a story of a guy who let his wife drive his car and she stayed in 1st gear on the highway & blew the motor.

 

If I wanted to leave it in a gear I'd be driving an auto.

It depends on the roads. If I'm going to be going up an incline I will not be approaching it in 5th gear...likely third.

I find myself in 5th gear a lot though since a lot of roads are 45 MPH.

 

Myself, a 21 year stick driver, and prob what most stick shift drivers would say.. "drive and shift by sound and feel of the engine, not the rpms." The whole idea of a manual is that you, the driver, are in control of the engines gear output.

Im guessing you've never really driven a stick.. cause your questions dont make any sense from a shifting perspective..Thou, im bored so i will attempt to just answer the way a real manual driver would answer.

1. if you want to go fast, accelerate and shift at high rpms..hence, going fast.
2. who goes to 6th gear in a 30 mile zone?? I will usually be in 3rd, and poss shift to 4th, and the down shift back to 3rd..well, because that's what stick shift drivers do...Shift.
3. Yes, it is bad to stay in 5th 'all the time' on the hwy. Thats why there is a 6th gear...to SHIFT to..

again, my .02 cents..Drive by the sound and feel of the car, not the rpms.

 

Unless my memory serves me incorrect: isn't there a minimum speed for each gear as well?

I mean, the highest my auto will let me shift is 4th at 30mph, and the RPMs get LOOOOOOW (not to mention you get annoying ricer drone if you accelerate without downshifting). Wouldn't you stall if you shift to too high of a gear too soon?

 

The manual actually suggests shifting into 6th at 33MPH... If your not accelerating anymore i see no reason one couldn't be in 5th or even 6th in a 30...

 

I get worse gas mileage in 6th when going 30 MPH. I usually use 4th or 5th. I only use the top gear when I'm on the interstate.

I usually drive it like I stole it in the city nowadays since it's getting closer to winter and my days of driving fun are winding down. So I regularly go with 4-4500 RPM shifts, maybe more, depending on where I am.

 

Ouch.. WTF?........


I couldnt have said it better myself.

 

I believe for max acceleration, you'd want to shift so that the next gear is engaged at the RPM for max torque. With practice, you don't need the tach to determine shift points. TIme for some dyno pulls!

 

That's what the rev limiter is for. Unless she's in a vette, she won't hit that speed in 1st.

You won't stall, but you'll lug if you try to accelerate.

Any gear is okay as long as the engine isn't lugging, but that doesn't mean the gear is necessarily ideal for MPG or power/acceleration.

For max acceleration, the total thrust applied by the car to the ground in the current gear would have to be less than that of the next gear for the higher gear to be faster. In the case of the G37, you want to shift at redline in every gear for best acceleration.