Gas saving shifts
 

I've got some shifting questions for the M6 owners out there. I know you can do like a 2-4-6 pattern to save gas. But will it hurt to do a 1-3-4... shift? I've heard it will burn the clutch doing a 1-3 shift. But I'm not talking hard shifting. My idea is to save gas. Thanks

If you are in town:

1 3 5. It the best for fuel savings.

However, 1 3 4 is safer. I would put safety over the savings of a couple MPG.

There is no point of being in 5 in town. The fuel savings in marginal, you don't have as much compression braking, and if you have to accelerate in a hurry you won't be able to.

If you want to save gas keep it under 2,000 rpm.

i drive 1,3,5 in town and have no problems if i need to hit the gas.

1 to 3 shouldn't burn the clutch, considering the M6 cars have skip shift which is 1 to 4.

thats what i do, i like shifting into every gear to make sure they still work :devil:

so the skip-shift feature that comes with the car is bad for it?

WTF, will someone explain to me how certain gears get you better gas mileage?

Correct me if I'm wrong but mileage should depend on your RPM's, keeping the car at the lowest posible RPM will result in the best mileage right? Thats why they give you six speeds, so you can maintain low RPMs at all speeds.

I just dont get this one...

hes just talking about keeping the rpm's lower... you drive an automatic... dont worry about it.. but driving the speed limit, under 2000rpms like what was said earlier will help.

they are just speaking in terms of keeping the rpms low with a stick in order to save gas

I get that, and my DD is a stick so I know how to drive one.

Heres my issue:

Driver A.

1st gear, shifts to second at 2000rpm
2nd gear, shifts to third at 2000rpm
3rd gear, drives at 2000rpm

Driver B.

1st gear, shifts to third at 2500rpm
3rd gear, drives at 2000rpm

My question is: If driver B has to go above 2000rpm to shift (because hes shifting to third and doesnt want the car to bog) how is he saveing gas as opossed to Driver A, who never goes above 2000rpm?

There is no way in hell I can keep it under 2krpm :( But I am used to getting 12mpg. It's not like I would expect anything more from my car

2000rpm is just an example, but really... why would you not use the gears that you've got?

It's makes no difference for me on how I drive around town. I have tried skipshifting I that gives me the worse mpg because it lugs the motor and then you have to give more throttle just to get moving. I shift at 2k rpm and can't get no better than 14.5 mpg around town. Of course where I live has all to do your mpg. I have signals every 100ft and hills everywhere.

If you want to save on fuel, buy a honda. Other than that your doomed :)

If I'm lazy about my shifting, I go 1-4 5 or 6. (5th or 6th depends on the speed of the road)

I also tend to keep the rpm's low, 1500 rpm is as low as I'll take it in any gear before I have to downshift. So my target rpm ranges from 1500-2000 rpm, if I go near the 2000 rpm mark, I shift to the next gear. That usually gives me the avg acceleration of 95% of cars on the road.

This has netted me 18-22 city mpg depending on my mood.

In rush hour traffic, I will usually take 1st to 2500 rpm before going 4th-5thor6th. This prevents angering the already volitile road rage suffering commuter.

If I touch 2nd or 3rd, I'm not going for mileage and aim to pretty much outgun the cars around me.

No, it's not bad for it. IMO it's kinda pointless. Everyone I know has it turned off.
It's the RPMs that save gas, not the gears.

I have had great results following the factory recommened shift pattern. 1-4-5 works great in town. I have plenty of throttle response at 40mph in 5th. The manual does say that 2nd and 3rd are for high rpm i.e. racing only. I'm not a tranny man, but I imagine they didn't say that to take up space in the manual. I figure the gears and what not on 2nd and 3rd are not designed to be driven on at low rpms at all. Just my .02 though.

maybe im wrong. what you said makes sense, i just figured it wouldnt really matter, not noticably anyways.

You bought a V8, who gives a fuck about mileage.

what about saving gas on the freeway 5th st 60 or 6th at 65 or 70 (no one drives at sixty here) and dont say you do