The G seems to be capable of staying at lower rpms in higher gears. In fact, the manual suggests some ridiculously low shifting speeds which I do not really follow
What do you guys think? Is it ok to drive on 4 th gear under 2000 rpm,1700 or so say at 25 miles per hour.I could hear how the engine sound changes but the car is still driving ok. Am I damaging the clutch that way?
I have tried to shift at lower rpms to reduce fuel consumption but that hasn't helped and I no longer care for it. All I am concerned is how to provide better conditions for my engine to have a longer life.
I gun the car 70% of the time at 4-5 rpms but wanted to know your oppinion when it comes to more casual driving.
Thank you all in advance for your input.

 

I don't think shifting at lower RPM's would help fuel consumption......if anything if you shift below 2k rpms you have to push the throttle down more just to get going a little. I have tested this with my Nav, it shows current MPG.

 

Yup, I did that with my navi also. It takes longer to accelerator up to the speed you want, thus burning more gas. Shift around 2k - 2.5k RPMs.

 

No, it's not okay to drive high gears in low rpm. you won't be damaging your clutch, but you will be stressing the gears, bad for the transmission. You are not going to improve much gas mileage. If you want to save gas, go easy on the gas pedal and shift a little bit early.
Don't be lazy, MT = shift
Another thing I want to point out, if you shift quick, it's good for the trans but bad for the clutch; if you shift slow, it's good for the clutch but bad for the trans. So somewhere in between is where you want to be.

 

It's not really a good idea to bog an engine down since low rpms means low oil pressure. Low oil pressure and high loads, such as in accelerating, would cause more wear and tear on the engine.

 

I shift my G at 1500 RPM or so when first started. Once warm I shift at 2000 rpm. I think my gas mileage is pretty good.(about 420 miles per tank) Now on the freeway im anywhare from 2000-3000 RPM in 6th.

 

My car doesnt like to be below 2400 rpms. I just shift at 2800 ~3k when casually driving. On warm days that goes up a bit...

shift at 1500 rpms , I once had my hands full trying to talk on the phone and write down a number at the same time and was approaching a hill in 4th, the person in front of my slowed down to like 28mph or so and my car sounded like it wanted to die, it was screaming for 3rd

 

yeah my car doesnt do good at low rpm's... sounds like its struggling too much
plus its bad for the tranny...

 

do your car a favor and stop driving high gears at low RPM, as stated above you are making your car work harder than it should.

 

Normal driving, I shift at 3500rpm and cruise around 2200-2300rpm on surface
streets. I seldom use 6th gear on surface streets.

If a little busy, I shift 1-2 very early like around 2200rpm just to get the car
rolling, then shift 2-3 around 3000-3500rpm.

It's not healthy to keep rev's low like that. you're over working the motor.


on a FI motor like my cooper-s with s/c, I usually keep the rev's
2500-3000rpm's while cruising.

 

Thank you all for the valuable input which makes perfect sense.One wonders to why Infiniti suggests in the manual those low shifting speeds.
That's why I tried to follow them rather than go with my habits.
It appeared to me that the G tolerates lower rpms in high gears more than other cars I have driven in the past but that is of course no reason to abuse it.

 

Your engine and tranny do not work harder if you are light on the gas. Drive an auto and see where it wants to ****. Im betting real close to 2K RPM. I have seen absolutely nothing to suggest that its bad for the car. Now if your at 1500 rpm in 6th and floor it, I can see where that wouldnt be the best of things, but if your just light on the gas, the car just drives and pulls you though, no bogging. And like I said before, your MPG will go up as well. I would also thing your Clutch, and brakes will last you longer as well. Whats the bad side to this?(besides accelerating slowly)

 

likely one advantage of an AT in that case, low RPMs are not directly bogging the enginge due to the Torque converter.