Hmm…I’ll have to pay attention the next time I’m doing 50…
As I recall, the acceleration is ok, but when I hit a hill, even flooring it won’t necessarily keep my speed constant…
And if there are no objections, I’ll re-tool my thread and ask this:
Is it more fuel-efficient to use 5th gear at 50? At this point I’m fairly satisified that 5th gear is appropriate for 50mph under some conditions, so the fuel-efficiency is that which remains.
On a sidenote, that’s something I take pleasure in…especially with gas prices being what they are these days - and I don’t even have it as bad as some parts of the country. Anyway, I can usually get about 30-33mpg in city and I haven’t really driven enough on the highway to get a good feel for what the mileage is under those conditoins.
I use the tach all the time to determine when to shift until I get used to the car enough to do it by sound. Depending on what I am driving what rpm I shift at my porsche I run near redline before shifting until I get up to speed then may shift up another gear to keep rpms below 4000. Driving my brothers diesel pickup I run to redline in 2nd and 3rd and use engine noise after that 1st isn’t used, my dad’s nissan pickup I normally shift around 4000 rpm but will run it up to redline at times. At work driving semis around the lot I shift using the tach since I clutchless shift them and have to rev match the shifts so I don’t grind gears and I try to keep the rpms around 2000 they redline at 2900. I hate manuals that don’t have a tach and will run them rather high in the rpms before shifting to avoid lugging the engine. I have yet to figure out why cars with autos have a tach and ones with manuals don’t.
Who said “R”? Is this a trick question? if not, then I’ll agree with put it in reverse.
Other than that, it has to do with power. B&I will go from 50 to 75 in OD in just about three seconds. If you bog down go to a lower gear - really makes no difference what your RPM’s are
I guess some people here didn’t see the little guy behind the three question marks and the quotation mark.
I also use engine sound as an indicator when to change gears. But no matter if the engine still sounds okay or not when I reach my cruising speed I will change into 5th. Only if cruising speed is fast enough for 5th, of course. I found 50 kph to be fast enough for 5th on most cars.
But, more serious, it depends on both car and driver. I like cars with high torque at the low end of the tacho - I have both an auto and a manual like that. I seldom look at the tacho, although both my cars have one, I listen to the engine & look at the prevailing conditions (uphill/downhill/flat/fast or slow traffic) You can usually go very slow in top (OD or 5th) if you are prepared to have no or very little acceleration. I guess one has to develop a “mechanical ear” and “feeling” for the particular car.
Small engined cars generally develop their peak torque at the higher end of the spectrum, which translates to using lower gears more often, and esp for crawling.
I do sometimes look at the tacho when deciding on which gear to use for heavy 4x4 work or towing, or where to engage the cruise control - my reasoning being that the nearer I stay to maximum torque RPM (or within a specific band) the better my engine can cope with a given load, which translates to less wear & tear & better fuel economy.
Nope. I have a tach in my turbo and I never really look at it. I shift by feel. Basically, if it feels like I’ve “topped out” and stepping harder on the gas produces more noise, but no significant acceleration, I shift upwards.
Well, heck, I know that the few times I drove my dad’s '93 Civic hatch (I miss that car) that I was in third gear by 25 mph, and probably in 5th by 40-45 mph. I never had any trouble with climbing a hill in 4th at about 35 and a little less, either. Still, you probably couldn’t get great acceleration out of it at 50. I don’t think you’re doing anything wrong.