when you drive a standard is it better to keep the RPM low, or about when should you shift.?

Question

Do i want to keep the RPM between 2 and 3. Is it ok for my car if am driving between 4-6RPM.

Answer 1

I would keep it lower than the 4-6, the less that you can work the motor the better for it. But my car runs kinda high on the interstate just due to how it was geared out of the factory. If you can get another gear out of it...then I would upshift.

Answer 2

Usually manual vehicles can be shifted UP at approximately 2 - 3 thousand RPM, and down one gear at around 1 thousand RPM.
This would apply in city driving. Entering freeway ramps however requires a higher RPM in order to build up speed needed to merge.
When passing a vehicle on a freeway, shifting to 3rd from 5th at 70 mph would cause the RPM to go up to about 5 thousand RPM......this is okay temporarily because you now have the power required to pass someone, and then of course you would shift up again to 5th gear after passing.
I have a Honda Civic. When Im doing freeway speeds (the speed limit) my RPM gauge reads 2500 RPM. You must be speeding a lot?

Answer 3

You should be able to tell when the engine is peaking for that specific gear, don't worry about the tachometer when you are driving.

If you are in first gear and you press the accelerator you will feel when the car does not seem to want to go any faster even though you press down on the accelerator further, that is your queue to change gears. Of course you should get into the habit of not red lining your RPM's between gear shifts and the owners manual will have recommended speeds for each gear.

Good luck and god bless.

BTW: Be nice to your clutch.

Answer 4

Better to keep it as low as practical. Faster RPM uses more gas (can YOU afford it?) and wears out the engine faster, too.

The only reason to run at higher RPM is for a little more power at high speed (for passing), but that's rare case, so just downshift when you pass, otherwise it's best to keep the RPMs low.

Heck, if the gear box in my manual Toyota had a ratio 6th gear, I'd run the RPMs at idle if I could.

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Answer 5

not really unless its modified for raceing high rpms are not good to run all the time as its hard on the engine the average shift would be between 2 and 3 thousnd rpms

Answer 6

alot of it will depend on the car and road conditions. generally running at lower rpm's is more efficient. but keep in mind if you shift from 2nd to 3rd gear at 2,000 rpm and the car is lugging your being inefficient and creating excessive wear. I recommend you experiment a little and then adapt for different conditions. on level ground you may be able to go from 2nd to 3rd at 2500 rpm but going up hill may require you to reach 3500 before shifting to prevent the engine from lugging.

hope this helps

Answer 7

well this really depends, if you are trying to pick up allot of speed fast, then you shift at a higher rpm, usually above 5, but if you are trying to be fuel efficient then shift it at a lower rpm, 2-3.

Answer 8

Shift before the needle hits red.