Ben G
Member
Registered: 12th Jan 07
Location: Essex
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by Bonney
The way i was taught was to get into as high a gear as possable as quickly as possable, Sometimes missing a gear can help, like going from third to 5th.
you were taught wrong then. it's a very old fashioned way of thinking i think as everyone i know who is of the older generation does this.
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M2RTY
Member
Registered: 25th May 01
User status: Offline
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Drove where your engine produces the most torque = less effort = more mpg
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Gary
Premium Member
Registered: 22nd Nov 06
Location: West Yorkshire
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by Steve
revs arent necessarily matched to consumption, eg if you are in 4th on motorway doing 90 and you take your foot off the throttle, your engine will be doing say 5k revs but you will be using zero fuel, and i do literally mean zero
Will still use a little bit. Unless its a derv
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Fro
Member
Registered: 20th Jun 06
Location: Rainham, Essex Drives: A3 2.0TDi Sport
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Find the 4mo is best on fuel between 1500 and 2k revs. enough torque around their too if i need to speed up.
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Daveskater
Premium Member
Registered: 29th Apr 08
Location: Oxford, UK Drives: Jap wagon
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by M2RTY
Drove where your engine produces the most torque = less effort = more mpg
My engine produces almost the same amount of torque right through the rev range, with a slight peak at about 5k IIRC (think there's a scan of the RR printout in my garage) - so does this mean I'd be best of sitting at 5k all the time? That would mean doing 30mph in second gear.
I never do 30 in 5th as below about 35 I can hear the engine start struggling so always go with 4th. What I noticed on the way into work this morning is I have to vary the amount of throttle more in a lower gear than if I was in the one above. Will be interesting to see how much fuel I've used by the end of the week, as I know roughly how much to expect.
Numberwang!
Originally posted by AlunJ
I like you Dave, you are a man of men
Originally Whatapp'd by Neo
Dave's maybe capable of a drive-by cuddle
Look at my pictures
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mwg
Member
Registered: 19th Feb 04
Location: South Lakes
User status: Offline
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Interesting.
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Matt L
Member
Registered: 17th Apr 06
User status: Offline
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tried a little test today,
set the cruise control to 60, flicked between 5th and 6th, 6th leaves me just under 1.8rpm and 5th took me to about 2.5k, 6th was more economical.
dropped down to 50 and again flicked between 5th and 6th, 6th was around 1.4 and 5th was around 1.8ish iirc and still 6th was more economical.
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mwg
Member
Registered: 19th Feb 04
Location: South Lakes
User status: Offline
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Try setting off in 6th
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Matt L
Member
Registered: 17th Apr 06
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by mwg
Try setting off in 6th
car wont let me.
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AndyKent
Member
Registered: 3rd Sep 05
User status: Offline
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The difference will be noticeable when theres a real throttle demand, not when just cruising.
For example, driving at 60 in 6th, want to accelerate to 70 you'd be better in a lot of cars being in a lower gear (5th) so you don't work the engine so hard.
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pow
Premium Member
Registered: 11th Sep 06
Location: Hazlemere, Buckinghamshire
User status: Offline
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My car hates being in 6th at 50. You can FEEL it
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AndyKent
Member
Registered: 3rd Sep 05
User status: Offline
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My mate has a tendancy to stick his diesel in as higher gear as possible despite the low-down shudder.
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pow
Premium Member
Registered: 11th Sep 06
Location: Hazlemere, Buckinghamshire
User status: Offline
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Urgh taxi driver driving.
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Nick-S
Member
Registered: 3rd Mar 04
Location: Leigh. Drives: RS Megane 230 F1 Team R26
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by Ben G
quote:
Originally posted by Bonney
The way i was taught was to get into as high a gear as possable as quickly as possable, Sometimes missing a gear can help, like going from third to 5th.
you were taught wrong then. it's a very old fashioned way of thinking i think as everyone i know who is of the older generation does this.
No he wasnt. Missing gears is good for fuel economy. Its called block changing and is something all truck driver are encouraged to do.
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Sunz
Member
Registered: 12th Jan 07
Location: SE England
User status: Offline
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But if you miss a gear then are so low in the rev range where the engines is sturggling, engine will have to work harder to get up to speed therefore not doing any good for mpg.
Is like when your in to high a gear and floor it and you are going no where, maybe fine on a lorry with 15000cc engines but on a little car I wouldn't expect it was helping.
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Nick-S
Member
Registered: 3rd Mar 04
Location: Leigh. Drives: RS Megane 230 F1 Team R26
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by Sunz
But if you miss a gear then are so low in the rev range where the engines is sturggling, engine will have to work harder to get up to speed therefore not doing any good for mpg.
Is like when your in to high a gear and floor it and you are going no where, maybe fine on a lorry with 15000cc engines but on a little car I wouldn't expect it was helping.
All depend how close gear ratios are tbh. I can do it in my car as there pritty close together.
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Sunz
Member
Registered: 12th Jan 07
Location: SE England
User status: Offline
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Very true and also amount of torque the engine has.
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Nick-S
Member
Registered: 3rd Mar 04
Location: Leigh. Drives: RS Megane 230 F1 Team R26
User status: Offline
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Another good point 
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Daveskater
Premium Member
Registered: 29th Apr 08
Location: Oxford, UK Drives: Jap wagon
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by Sunz
But if you miss a gear then are so low in the rev range where the engines is sturggling, engine will have to work harder to get up to speed therefore not doing any good for mpg.
Is like when your in to high a gear and floor it and you are going no where, maybe fine on a lorry with 15000cc engines but on a little car I wouldn't expect it was helping.
I agree, for acceleration you want to use each gear, but with mine by the time I'm up to about 2.5-3k rpm in 2nd, I'm nearly doing 30 anyway so don't bother with 3rd and go straight to 4th. Didn't do it with my 1.0 B because of the gearing and lack of power 
Numberwang!
Originally posted by AlunJ
I like you Dave, you are a man of men
Originally Whatapp'd by Neo
Dave's maybe capable of a drive-by cuddle
Look at my pictures
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Daveskater
Premium Member
Registered: 29th Apr 08
Location: Oxford, UK Drives: Jap wagon
User status: Offline
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Fuel update: Roughly 1/4 of a tank down in 50 miles. I'd usually expect at least 60, so it's not looking great so far.
Numberwang!
Originally posted by AlunJ
I like you Dave, you are a man of men
Originally Whatapp'd by Neo
Dave's maybe capable of a drive-by cuddle
Look at my pictures
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Daveskater
Premium Member
Registered: 29th Apr 08
Location: Oxford, UK Drives: Jap wagon
User status: Offline
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Filled up my tank tonight, so I have now worked out the average fuel consumption across a tank's worth of fuel. I did 289 miles to 44.06 litres, which comes to 29.5mpg. This is the first time I've had it below 30mpg in a long time, so from this one trial I'd say it wasn't worth sitting in a lower gear with a view to increasing efficiency.
Obviously if I was a real scientist I'd do it for a few more tanks, but I'm not a scientist  Also I felt a bit of a plank going past people sitting at just over 2k rpm, making a right racket as I went. The one advantage was that if I needed to speed up, I was already into the power enough so picked up speed quite easily.
Tl;dr - Average mpg was no better than normal.
Numberwang!
Originally posted by AlunJ
I like you Dave, you are a man of men
Originally Whatapp'd by Neo
Dave's maybe capable of a drive-by cuddle
Look at my pictures
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BarnshaW
Member
Registered: 25th Oct 06
User status: Offline
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fucking hell just put petrol in your car and put your foot down when you want, if you want to save money or MPG then buy a scooter
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3CorsaMeal
Member
Registered: 11th Apr 02
User status: Offline
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i keep the needles parrallel, revs and speed.
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shaned12345
Member
Registered: 28th Sep 10
Location: Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire
User status: Offline
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My 1600 corsa averages 38mpg on a full 46 litre fill up, with a mixture of driving
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Daveskater
Premium Member
Registered: 29th Apr 08
Location: Oxford, UK Drives: Jap wagon
User status: Offline
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Calm down Barnshaw, it was just a simple trial to see whether this theory of having your revs slightly higher actually helps efficiency or not.
Mike who was also trying this noticed no gains in efficiency, and it has also killed off his clutch because of having more torque going through it all the time.
Numberwang!
Originally posted by AlunJ
I like you Dave, you are a man of men
Originally Whatapp'd by Neo
Dave's maybe capable of a drive-by cuddle
Look at my pictures
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