1st Generation Specific (1979-1985) 1979-1985 Discussion including performance modifications and technical support sections

When to shift for best gas milage

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 04-10-06, 01:09 PM
  #1  
Stolz

Thread Starter
 
Rob Stolz's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Humboldt Sask.
Posts: 144
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
When to shift for best gas milage

When driving in a city/town what rpm would you want to shift at for better gas milage.
Old 04-10-06, 01:26 PM
  #2  
ROTISSERIE ENGINE POWER!

 
EonBlue's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Winterpeg, Canada
Posts: 245
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Around 3K is when I shift when driving normally.
Old 04-10-06, 01:34 PM
  #3  
My wife bought me 2 RX-7s

 
MosesX605's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
Posts: 2,328
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes on 2 Posts
Hrm. I shift at 4k but I'm a bit of a leadfoot. Maybe that's why I get 16-17 MPG in the city.

Naw!
Old 04-10-06, 01:38 PM
  #4  
mods,mods,mods

 
paulied3's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Pennsylvania
Posts: 132
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
ur kidding right
if ur not - the lower the better
Old 04-10-06, 07:27 PM
  #5  
Grey-Bruce Rotorhead

 
Bass's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Chesley, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 1,484
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
The best shift is in neutral at the top of a huge hill.
Old 04-10-06, 07:43 PM
  #6  
sellout

iTrader: (4)
 
Midwest 7's's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Lawrence KS
Posts: 3,078
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
i shift at redline, actually i like to hear the buzzer for a few second, then i shift.
drive your car hard or your motor will be a bitch.
Old 04-10-06, 07:51 PM
  #7  
Old Fart Young at Heart

iTrader: (6)
 
trochoid's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: St Joe MO
Posts: 15,145
Likes: 0
Received 7 Likes on 7 Posts
2500-3000 rpm should net you decent mileage. Don't granny drive all of the time, they need to be opened up on a regular basis to keep the internal carbon build up down.
Old 04-10-06, 07:55 PM
  #8  
Right near Malloy

iTrader: (28)
 
Pele's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 1999
Location: Behind a workbench, repairing FC Electronics.
Posts: 7,840
Received 505 Likes on 342 Posts
Get a vacuum gauge... The higher the vacuum the better.
Old 04-11-06, 01:30 AM
  #9  
Stolz

Thread Starter
 
Rob Stolz's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Humboldt Sask.
Posts: 144
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
i usually shift around 2 grand however ive heard of lack of low end torque could cause worse gas milage so i was thinking possibly higher then that could result better, that is why i am asking paulied 3

[QUOTE]ur kidding right
if ur not - the lower the better
Old 04-11-06, 01:32 AM
  #10  
Stolz

Thread Starter
 
Rob Stolz's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Humboldt Sask.
Posts: 144
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
what gear would you be in if cruisen at 40-50
Old 04-11-06, 01:32 AM
  #11  
Stolz

Thread Starter
 
Rob Stolz's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Humboldt Sask.
Posts: 144
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
i usually use 4th?
Old 04-11-06, 02:02 AM
  #12  
Keep Your Stinky Pistons

 
SuperRotorMan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Posts: 437
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
for gas mileage, i usually rip through first up to 6K... rip up to 3.5K in second, then shift to 3rd... that lets me sit at 60 to 65km/h at bout 2000rpm... great as milage... lol
Old 04-11-06, 03:15 AM
  #13  
Senior Member

 
chedda_j's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Canada
Posts: 634
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I shift where ever my auto lets me. Meaning: 4 k in first to 40 k, 5 k in second to 80, 5 k in drive 110, overdrive sits at 3k and 100km
Old 04-11-06, 04:05 AM
  #14  
GSL-SE YA!!!

iTrader: (13)
 
lx_machado's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Atlanta, GA
Posts: 1,647
Likes: 0
Received 5 Likes on 5 Posts
3k
Old 04-11-06, 06:10 AM
  #15  
A Work In Progress

 
Tazzman69's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Oregon
Posts: 43
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
In nearly all of the vehicles I have driven in the last 16 years, one thing was pretty much a constant. My best milage was obtained by:

1. Not being a lead foot
2. Shifting at or around 3000 RPM's
3. Maintaining the vehicle to proper standards, I.E. Oil changes, following Manufaturers guidelines for proper maintainance every 3000, 10k, 30k, 60k, 100k, Etc...
4. Not Being a lead foot!

I have owned a 79 Corrolla, 89 RX-7, Indeterminite year Ford Tempo, 86 Celica, 86 Ford Thunderbird, 92 Pontiac Sunbird, 92 Ford Tuarus, 96 Ford Problem, err Probe, 80 RX-7, 92 Ford Exploder - errr Explorer just to name a few.

Although several of these were ATX, most of the ATX trannys shift at about 2500 to 3000 RPM under normal diving conditions, and all of the MTX cars got the best by shifting at 3k....

Pretty simple :-)
Old 04-11-06, 06:39 AM
  #16  
Apprentice Guru

 
PaulFitzwarryne's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Cloud Nine and Peak of God
Posts: 1,425
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Originally Posted by Rob Stolz
When driving in a city/town what rpm would you want to shift at for better gas milage.
With city speed restrictions you will be driving at around 1500-1800rpm in top.
Depending on your gearbox I suggest you change gear around 2200rpm in each gear which will take you down to your maximum rpm in top. If your car is in tune that should give you minimum consumption, 20+mpg depending on how hard you accelerate. In my stock 12A with bolt-ons I could get 25mpg round a city but that was with no serious traffic congestion. Sometimes I accelerate in 1-2 up to the legal limit then change straight into top for the cruise.

However, as Trochoid said the rotary needs the occasional hard drive to keep the engine clean.
Old 04-11-06, 10:57 AM
  #17  
wheres my calculus book?

 
gmanuser's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: st. george UT
Posts: 276
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
whats gas milage?? the other night i ran my car up and down the street a couple of times until my dad yelled at me until i came in to go to bed, it was maybe a half hour, when i started i had half a tank, when i finished i was almost empty so once agian i say, "gas milage?, what gas milage?"
Old 04-11-06, 11:14 AM
  #18  
SA all the Way!

 
jutny's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Montclair, NJ
Posts: 904
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
well i'm gonna assume you're very young (as in probably not having a license yet)...

gas mileage is a measurement used to show how much fuel it takes a certian car to go a certian distance, for example if it takes my volvo 19 gallons to go 380 miles, i would be getting (380 divided by 19) = 20mpg (miles per gallon) which is your mileage.

and ovbiously in times like this where fuel is expensive as hell and only getting worse the better gas mileage (often referred to as mileage, or fuel economy) you get, the less money you spend on fuel.

i hope that clears it up.


edit: after thinking about it again, i realize that the other thing you might be is just mocking the fact that you get **** for mileage (as all of us do, my 80 12a got 9mpg city driving the way i drive, and 26mpg hwy at 75 in 5th), and in that respect i laugh at myself for bieng a moron. :P
Old 04-11-06, 12:27 PM
  #19  
standard combustion

 
WackyRotary's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Twin Cities Minnesota
Posts: 1,374
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Try to avoid roads with stop signs and stoplights - they are milage killers. Anything you can do to avoid stops will help dramatically. Reduce frequency of short trips as they are bad because cold engines use slightly more fuel as oil is thicker in engine and tranny and diff.
Old 04-11-06, 03:00 PM
  #20  
sellout

iTrader: (4)
 
Midwest 7's's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Lawrence KS
Posts: 3,078
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
sounds like you should just buy a honda.
Old 04-11-06, 03:01 PM
  #21  
RX for fun

iTrader: (13)
 
Siraniko's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Socal
Posts: 15,926
Likes: 0
Received 22 Likes on 19 Posts
Originally Posted by Midwest 7's
sounds like you should just buy a honda.

I second that.
Old 04-11-06, 03:32 PM
  #22  
Keep Your Stinky Pistons

 
SuperRotorMan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Posts: 437
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
lol if its gas mileage ur concerned bout buy a jetta or something.... omg the best gas mileage ever
Old 04-11-06, 03:59 PM
  #23  
standard combustion

 
WackyRotary's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Twin Cities Minnesota
Posts: 1,374
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Agreed, Cities and Rx-7's do not mix so well unless you hop on the freeway a lot.
Old 04-11-06, 04:18 PM
  #24  
Senior Member

 
chedda_j's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Canada
Posts: 634
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
haha ya true, i got **** for milage when i was in calgary, but i guess i was doing 160 on deerfoot the whole time. As for milage, get a honda, my crx had 110 hp at 1800 pounds with 51 mpg.
Old 04-11-06, 06:27 PM
  #25  
Apprentice Guru

 
PaulFitzwarryne's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Cloud Nine and Peak of God
Posts: 1,425
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Originally Posted by gmanuser
whats gas milage?? the other night i ran my car up and down the street a couple of times until my dad yelled at me until i came in to go to bed, it was maybe a half hour, when i started i had half a tank, when i finished i was almost empty so once agian i say, "gas milage?, what gas milage?"
Funny post! Jutney fell for the joke, from memory you are an experienced welder who rebuilt his SA. Out of interest how is your project to install a turbo going?


Quick Reply: When to shift for best gas milage



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 07:29 AM.