When to shift

[phantomcow2]

I've thought about this a lot, and cannot come to any conclusions. I am driving a 1993 accord coupe lx. This is a 5 speed manual transmission (in case the title didn't give that away).
When accelerating...
Is it best to apply a liberal amount of throttle, to get up to the appropriate speed quickly. Shift gears, and repeat process. Do this until you're at cruising speed.

To slowly accelerate to the appropriate shifting speed.

Also, is it necessarily best to shift at low rpm's? I've heard some folks telling me to shift as low as possible. But I remember during my test for my license, the guy suggested shifting at 3000 for optimum fuel economy.

[lovemysan]

Originally Posted by phantomcow2

I've thought about this a lot, and cannot come to any conclusions. I am driving a 1993 accord coupe lx. This is a 5 speed manual transmission (in case the title didn't give that away).
When accelerating...
Is it best to apply a liberal amount of throttle, to get up to the appropriate speed quickly. Shift gears, and repeat process. Do this until you're at cruising speed.

To slowly accelerate to the appropriate shifting speed.

Also, is it necessarily best to shift at low rpm's? I've heard some folks telling me to shift as low as possible. But I remember during my test for my license, the guy suggested shifting at 3000 for optimum fuel economy.

That guy did not know what he was talking about. I shift at 1500rpms or less generally. The scangauge confirms this is more efficient for my saturn. There are some accord drivers on here maybe they can give you some specifics.

[Bill in Houston]

Liberal, but not WOT. About 80% of your maximum torque is what you are shooting for. And shift at about 2800-3000 rpm. That's my opinion...

[GeekGuyAndy]

Getting up to speed it seems best - according to my scangauge - to shift at moderate rpms, but when just cruising keep it at the highest gear in lowest rpms

[slurp812]

I have a 94 5 spd accord. So I would be interested in this as well. I usualy shift 2~2500 rpms, keep it light on the pedal.I live in the burbs, so its stop=n=go, then freeway. So 90% of my cruising is 5th gear.

[brucepick]

Optimum shift points really depend on the engine, gearing and car weight. Even so, suggestions like above from drivers of similar size/weight cars with similar engines will at least not be totally out of the ballpark.

Somewhere I read that assuming you want a steady speed, any car/truck has the best fuel economy when in the highest gear, at the lowest speed where the engine does not lug in that gear. So for many standard-trans cars, that would be 5th gear at something like 30-35-40 mph.

I think you can use the above to find the best shift points for your car. You want to be in the new gear at an engine speed so you can be at 50-80% throttle without lugging. You find out what that rpm # is, then shift so you land there when you let out the clutch.

Below that speed, you lose because you'll need a lower gear or will lug the engine. Above that speed, you lose because air resistance aka drag becomes your enemy more and more, as speed increases.

[psyshack]

Voorm click, vooorm, click click, voorm, click, voorm, click. Check SG.

[brucepick]

Originally Posted by psyshack

Voorm click, vooorm, click click, voorm, click, voorm, click. Check SG.

I love it!