quesswhatidrive

ive recently got my a manual tranny in my mustang. i can drive stick moderatly well and am still getting the hang of the new clutch (i learned on a satty). now my friend is a great driver (with a huge ego) and tought me. now i was under the impression u only take ur enigne up to 2-3 grand on normal driving and try to keep it around 1.5. this is about 40 in 5th. now i take my dad out b/c everything is running and what not and hes freaking out about my shifitng. hes saying you shouldnt leave 3rd even in a 35. he wants me to keep my car around 3-3.5! now since i was tought anouther way this seems totally out of the question and i kept arguing wiht him. he says keep it there so u can accelerate or deccelerate in tht gear if needed and it will acctually save on gas.... now the way i know is u take it up tht high only if accelerating decently and then u take it down to1.5 region when at a coanstant speed. my dad thinks tht is dragging ur engine and giving ur bad mileage.... im not sure what to say to either, my dad isnt the greatest mechanic and my friend knows a ****ing lot on cars so i just wanted a few opinions

TwotoneVert

I dont get it. Drive it like you want to................ You can shift anywhere in the rpm range and not hurt the engine. Everyone drives their car a little differently. Obviously, you can rev up to the limiter and beat on it, or you can shift around 2-3k.

GreyStang

It'd be nuts to be "cruising" along in a 4.6l GT revving at 3-3.5 like your dad says.. but sometimes it depends on what car your driving..

I let my sister drive my car once with me in the passenger seat. She was revving the **** out of the engine upwards of +3000 rpm & I chewed her out for cruising at such a high rev. But then I remembered,, she learned to drive inafour cylinder standard shift car, and if the car has a weenie motor then yea you need to hold higher revs.

Maybe the same with your dad? Did he always drive cars with smaller engines than a V-8?

ponysnake99

i know guys that won't take it into OD gears (5th and maybe 6th if you got it) while in the city, and only use those gears for highway driving. Personally i try to keep my rpms fairly low to help with gas milage and use all gears when driving period...its all a matter of how you drive.

67mustang302

You'll know if you get your rpm too low and load too high when the engine starts to lug. The only time I ever cruise at 3k or over is on the freeway when I'm scootin along, since I only have a 4 speed, no overdrive. 1,500-2,500 in the city, depending on whether I'm just cruising, or need a bit of rpm to accelerate because of traffic. It depends on the engine too, some engines with no power down low won't run worth a crap under 3k, but street V8's(if they're built right) don't have that problem like 4 bangers do. And generally speaking the lower the rpm, the higher the mileage since your cylinders are firing less often per distance you travel. Otherwise why not just drive in 3rd or 4th on the freeway? You'd only see 5th if you were doing like 120mph, and I'd like to see you explain that to the cops. "But I need to keep my engine at 3k rpm!!" *clink clink* go the cuffs

JibStyle

I don't know much about which gears ur supposed to be in, but i remember when i was reading my manual it recomended speeds (not revs) to shift at. I don't remember the exact numbers it gave but it was basically every 10 mph, give or take 1-2 mph. So during casual driving i usually shift 1-2 at about 10mph, 2-3 at 20 mph, and so on, all the way up to 5th at 40+ mph. I think this comes out to shifting around, maybe 2k rpms? (i usually listen to the engine more then i look at the tach), and then i arrive in my new gear at about 1200 rpms. I find it advantageous to shift based on speed instead of rpms during daily driving because whenever i am coasting in neutral and need to choose a gear, the tach isn't going to help since the engine is just idling at a set speed. Also, I suppose it makes sense that you get better mileage in the lower rpms since the cylinders are firing less, but the trade off is that your not gonna be able to accelerate as fast. I hope this helps.