This is a great chart. You can see the notch at 4K where the 6-ports open, and the notch at 5.8K where the VDI opens. Cool.. That's the way a healthy N/A should look.

 

If I remember corectly, torque is force x distance (=work)
and HP is the rate at which work is done (work/time=power).

Think of it this way, you have 2 bags of *****, golf ***** (low torque) and baseballs (high torque). Drop on or the other type ball onto a scale one at a time and let them bounce away. The rate at which you drop the ***** determines the power (weight on the scale). You can get the same power at a lower rate (rpm) with the baseballs than you could with the golfballs.

Torque is instantaneous, power is the rate of torque. Power is what you feel when you accelerate. Power drops off at high rpm because the engine generates less and less torque (each combustion stroke becomes weaker, even though the rate of combustion is higher).

To accelerate the quickest, you want the highest average POWER at the wheels. I think the tire chirping is mostly due to transfering flywheel energy rapidly to the tires when you drop the clutch. Shifting at a lower rpm means you're moving slower, and thus it's easier to break the tires free.

 

With all that said, just exactly what RPM do we shift at....

 

LOL that's MY question .

Yeah, i'll start shifting at just past 7k. Because RETed said there is like a -/+ .6%/6.5% on the stock tach @ 7000RPMs. So, at 7k, you could actually be at 69xx or 75xx RPMs... And if you shift at 7.8k and that % error is there... can you say 8500+

I would still like more input on this "rotaries can take all the revs you throw at them" stuff. I know I take mine up to 7k daily to clear out the carbon and keep the 6-ports healthy. Can this acutually shorten engine life?

 

Let me put it this way, I raced my car since i got it at 78K. It now has 165k. Car still runs great, but now it has a small puff when i shift at high rpm. I think all the tortures i put her through is wearing the motor out

 

the higher u rev teh faster u wear out the parts that rub....like apex seals and the few bearigns that we have in there. shifting down low is not good either cause u are still putting that strees on the tranny and those bearings as well... daily driving on the NA u shoudl shift at around 3.5k if u are goign for the fastest 1/4 tiem then bring it all the way to 8 on NA. on the t2 u can do the same at a lower rpm and forcign all that air in there at a high rpm wears out the engine much faster... rotaries can rev "higher" because there are no ounstrous forces that accelerate things back and forth liek in a piston engine but this doesnt mean that we can spin teh **** out of our motors. there is a limit and to stay safe dont go past the red line. u will also NOT make any power if u rev higher WITHOUT modifying your engine, which woudl be porting and such sort...basicly u can rev higher if u get lighter internals to be easier on the parts that are exposed to friction...eventhough it feels liek tehcar doesnt pull as hard a the top end its still better to stay there because u are makign a lot more power to teh wheels then u will be in the next gear...that formula thing that "RICE RACIGN " was talkign about almost never works in REAL life...so go ou tand see what u do on a 1/4 mile track...i will aslo say this that driver matters most...

 

Rice Racing formula hahah. Is like those guys who drive around town in 1st gear in their civic. I've learn some fun stuff. If I leave the car in 2nd gear, at about 3500 RPM. All i ahve to do is tab the gas, the car will backfire everytime. It's fun to see these people's reaction when they jump out :P

 

wow, great thread