Letting it purr or letting it roar...

[GimmeM5]

So I have been confined to an A/T Camry for the past 5 years, and I am not too educated on the official M/T do's and don'ts (just to preface the questions).

Do you cruise around in city driving by rolling in a higher gear at 2k rpms or do you (as I believe someone else put it) "let it breathe" in a lower gear at 3k+ rpms?

Driving on the highway at "don't pull me over" cruising speed (80-85mph), is the car more fuel efficient in 6th @ 2.5k rpms or is there not much of a difference (meaning you leave it in 5th @ 3k rpms to have a little more of a jump when accelerating)?

I'm sure I could read some book about the ins and outs of when to shift, but M5 folks know what's "right" for this car... I say "right" because from my impression, it is a subjective issue.

Thanks!

-Kevin

[MGZ]

Hello Kevin!
In the city I'm letting my Beast purr. The sound is impressive enough. On the highway, when cruising, 6th gear. When overtaking, depending on initial speed, gearing down, full throttle and my low-flying black missile is gone..
Lovely "NASCAR"wail.
Fuelconsumption is of no issue to me.
Best Regards,
Magnus

[SoCalJD]

Originally Posted by GimmeM5

So I have been confined to an A/T Camry for the past 5 years, and I am not too educated on the official M/T do's and don'ts (just to preface the questions).

Do you cruise around in city driving by rolling in a higher gear at 2k rpms or do you (as I believe someone else put it) "let it breathe" in a lower gear at 3k+ rpms?

Driving on the highway at "don't pull me over" cruising speed (80-85mph), is the car more fuel efficient in 6th @ 2.5k rpms or is there not much of a difference (meaning you leave it in 5th @ 3k rpms to have a little more of a jump when accelerating)?

I'm sure I could read some book about the ins and outs of when to shift, but M5 folks know what's "right" for this car... I say "right" because from my impression, it is a subjective issue.

Thanks!

-Kevin

>>>

I'm typically a gear lower than I *need* to be...um...so I never have to deal with "carbon buildup".

[Shakazulu12]

Originally Posted by SoCalJD

>>>

I'm typically a gear lower than I *need* to be...um...so I never have to deal with "carbon buildup".

Yes your honor, it was the Carbon buildup I was trying to avoid.......

[Habu]

Originally Posted by GimmeM5

So I have been confined to an A/T Camry for the past 5 years, and I am not too educated on the official M/T do's and don'ts (just to preface the questions).

Do you cruise around in city driving by rolling in a higher gear at 2k rpms or do you (as I believe someone else put it) "let it breathe" in a lower gear at 3k+ rpms?

Driving on the highway at "don't pull me over" cruising speed (80-85mph), is the car more fuel efficient in 6th @ 2.5k rpms or is there not much of a difference (meaning you leave it in 5th @ 3k rpms to have a little more of a jump when accelerating)?

I'm sure I could read some book about the ins and outs of when to shift, but M5 folks know what's "right" for this car... I say "right" because from my impression, it is a subjective issue.

Thanks!

-Kevin

Kevin,

I typically shift at 4K so I'm usually running between 3K & 4K. Humm maybe that explains my lower gas mileage.

Bob

[Winnipeg M5]

I'm sure someone more knowledgeable will correct me if I am wrong, but I believe I recall reading that gasoline engines are most efficient at their torque peak?

[Mattkins99]

I think you get the best gas milage when you're going at a constant speed at the lowest RPM you can be.... or something to that effect.

So on the freeway, drive in 6th.

Funny thing is though, I followed a Porsche group for about 30 miles once on a drive down to Portland, OR. They... um... are nice people... but... not the fastest of drivers. We were doing 55 in a 60 in the right lane. I had filled up with gast right before we met up wth them so I'd reset my MPG calculater.. thing. Anyway, I was SHOCKED when I looked down and saw 28.7mpg! I didn't think that was possible!

Knowing something was wrong, I left the group soon after and brought my average for the trip (almost all freeway driving) to a more respectable 18mpg by the time I got home. :-)

[djtroy]

Its all relative to how hard you need to accelerate at that time. When im cruising I run the rpms low as possible without lugging the engine. (hard to do with this car) around 2000 RPM. If I am driving hard and need to have the power on tap I let it rev, but I never run the RPM's higher than 4500 RPMs for extended periods of time. I always run it in 6th on the highway and i dont have to shift to 5th to make easy passes, there is plenty of power in 6th to cruise past the other cars. I shift down on the highway when I really have to blow someone away, then I bang it down to 3rd, 4th or 5th (I always rev match) depending how angry I am or how much I wanna prove a point.

[Richard in NC]

I've gotten my best MPG at or near the 65mph speed limit in 6th gear. For cruising, that's just fine. I get as much as 26mpg if no A/C and average 23-24 on most trips. Anything over 2000 rpms is OK for the motor and provides a nice pull. If you know you need more, a quick 6-4 or 5-3 downshift puts the motor nicely in the power band to leave traffic behind.
When I want to have a little fun on a country road, I'll keep the RPMs at 3000+ and drop a gear in the tighter turns. On track, I'll stay 4000-6000 RPMs.

In short it's mostly a purr with occasional roars.

[teej]

1 mpg is the delta i estimated between choosing 5th versus 6th on my commute trips on the highway at the speed i normally cruise at ... so i stay in 5th

[djtroy]

Originally Posted by teej

1 mpg is the delta i estimated between choosing 5th versus 6th on my commute trips on the highway at the speed i normally cruise at ... so i stay in 5th

please explain this.

[jclyman]

Well, am I the only one who believes in driving the "Ultimate Driving Machine" hard and fast? I never let the RPMs drop below 3000 (except at idle) and select the appropriate gear to maintain 3000 RPMs or better on the road (unless I am going downhill).

I believe the best gas mileage for me is at 80 MPH (in 6th) which I rarely do (it's under 3000). Mileage isn't much different between 5th and 6th for me (negligible difference).

My "lifetime" gas mileage (for 47,000 miles) is 19.1.

[ECB]

Originally Posted by djtroy

please explain this.

Delta usually means a change or difference in values so I'm assuming he's saying he gets 1mpg more in 6th than 5th so it's not worth leaving it in 6th.