Gearing and revs.

[TwinInfin]

Talking about low displacement manual trans autos. During normal flat driving it is more effecient to be in the highest gear so the engine produces fewer revs. How about going up a hill, is it better to floor it in a higher gear w/ lower revs or keep it in a lower gear w/ higher revs and not as much throttle? Hope this makes sense I'm just trying to get the most out of my work car.

[mIKE]

It all depends on where the powerband of the car is.

Generally, lower revs = more MPG.

My s2k does about... 4300RPM at 80 cruising.

Going up hills, it is better to rev higher in a lower gear. (you want to be near peak TORQUE for efficiency)

On a steep grade, I'll usually rev 5-5.5k before shifts, or hold that gear to stay over 4k RPM.

My usual driving involves shifting at about 3-4k rpm in the s2k.

In a G, I typically shift much earlier than I do in the S.. rarely over 2.5k unless I'm in a hurry.

[silverG2007]

With fuel injection, computer controlled cars....... when talking about fuel efficiency, gearing beats out engine load...... pretty much always.

A heavier car with a bigger more powerful motor (Corvette) gets better fuel economy with really wide gearing than the exact opposite car (S2000).

The load in 6th gear on a vette is really high (it barely accelerates), but it gets great fuel economy this way.