engine and drivetrain When to shift gears? Have I been driving like a wimp?

[asifallasleep]

All my cars have been 5-6speeds. I'm new to a high rev/high rpm, 4 speed, 2002 engine.

Just found the following:

0-20 (1st gear), 20-35 (2nd gear), 35-56 (3rd gear), 56-74 (4th gear)

I've been shifting way too early. City driving from 30-45 i've always been in 4th gear.

Hearing the loud 4 cylinder makes me want to shift early all the time.

Clearly these cars are built to be driven hard and fast. If I am to shift per the specs suggested by the manual, I can only drive the car really fast and aggressively. Or at least at high rpm's all the time. Are you guys typically only as high as 3rd gear when driving in the city? Coming from 5-6speeds, I never stayed in 3rd for any period of time

[Chamonix72]

Hm. From 35-50 on city streets I'm in 3rd. I don't get into 4th unless I'm headed 55+. Soon I'll have a 5-speed - oh the choices!

[logume1881]

When accelerating away from a stop, I will usually shift between 3-4K. When just cruising at a constant speed I'm usually in whatever gear puts me at 2.5K depending on the speed I'm driving, if that makes sense. It is fun to run it through the gears when getting on the freeway, though. I think the highest you can go in each gear from the factory is 29MPH for first, 54MPH for second, and 80 in 3rd, if I remember correctly. Personally I have a 5 speed in mine, which keeps the shift points the same but just with an added overdrive. I never use 5th unless I'm going above 55.

There is nothing wrong with the way you have been driving it, so long as you're not dogging the motor and it does what you want it to. You probably get better mileage than me, if it's any consolation.

Side note: In relation to your other thread, I always try to keep my revs above 2K. Below that it really bogs the motor down.

[FunElan]

It's a revvy little motor!! That being said I have a 5 speed, but around town I'm usually in 3rd gear, on bigger streets (50 mph) I'll hit 4th. I don't really like using 5th except on the freeway.

[TobyB]

well, if it pulls OK and has decent oil pressure

when you're accelerating, you're not hurting anything.

I remember being amused when I first started driving on track-

it seemed that on the street I was using up to 4k, and

at the track, if it dropped much below that, I downshifted.

These motors are pretty hard to hurt, as long as you change the oil regularly...

t

[roadhog0]

I'll ring it out all the way to 5 or 6 sometimes just for fun, and yes, at least I know mine does but these old 4 speeds make some racket accelerating, usualy I will be in 4th by the time I hit 40, lower rpms=better mpg most of the time.

[cmmatt123]

It depends on which rear end ratio you have too.

[f1reverb]

'02s and all German cars are designed to be driven at maximum sustained RPM on the Autobahn all day long without harming the mechanical components, whether a '61 VW bus or a 2011 M3.

Back in the '70s here in California, when you could sustain high speed running on the Freeways for long distances without getting tickets even in the middle of the day, I'd get challenged all the time on the road by American hot rods when I was driving my '69 1600-2 at 90mph. The HR would pull up next to me and laugh and drive away from me for a bit, but eventually they'd fall back into my grasp and then fall back behind me. A number of times they'd have to slow dramatically with clouds of smoke coming from the exhaust as they'd overstressed their car by maintaing high RPMs for too long.

In the 1600-2 I'd always, and I mean always, go to 5500rpm in first (4-speed), so I'd at least get across the opposite crosswalk before I had to shift into second. My normal shift point would be 5000rpm for any driving, and with my '74 2002 it's 5k in all the gears (or in 3rd/4th the max I can get away with at the time). I take it to 5500rpm all the time too for sustained periods in any gear, and 5800rpm frequently. It might drive people crazy that hear it or are riding with me, but it certainly does not hurt an '02 in the least.

I drive my '83 533i the same way, and boy does the M30 leap away from a light. I feel it's safest to drive in the high RPM range so when you select the next gear you are at 4k or more, whether going up the gears or down, as you never know when a split second traffic move needs to be made to save yourself from a crash, and being at 2500rpm when you need 4500rpm for the instant response can cost you. Recently I had a guy standing in front of his house scream "SLOW DOWN -- the speed limit is 25" when I drove by in first doing 20mph in the 5er. The noise of the engine at high RPM made him go insane as he ran after me in the middle of the street frothing at the mouth. I went 25 still in first just to rattle him some more. I feel the engine braking is an advantage too, unlike modern cars that are like a freewheeling overdrive '61 Rambler Classic when you back-off the throttle (my dad's car I learned to drive in when I was a kid).

I'll always be a leadfoot instead of an eggfoot.

[c.d.iesel]

keep it in the sweet spot = 2,500 to 4,000 rpm

you'll both be happy.