[ishot3bucks]

1st to second
2nd-3rd
3rd-4th
4th-5th

Just curious?

 

[tweety]

Shifting all gears at or slightly above 5000.
Casual driving is in the 3500-4500 range.
In Houston traffic, one must move or be moved.
Sprited driving will take me to the 6000 range.

 

[ggccg]

When I test drove the Sky, I found around 5000 RPM to be a comfortable shift point for a spirited drive. For a leisurely drive around the neighborhood, I'd probably shift around 3000-3500 RPM. Wouldn't try driving it in any gear (except 1st) below about 2500 RPM.

 

[ishot3bucks]

THANKS! I always was curious compared to my driving. I fall into the casual..but after 500 miles...it will get sportier!!

 

[NCBlue]

I started out shifting lower (2500-3000) out of habit from previous cars(older Mazda pickup), but have moved to shifting beteen 3-4K now and she does have better response.

 

[Sunny Ragtop]

I started out shifting lower (2500-3000) out of habit from previous cars(older Mazda pickup), but have moved to shifting beteen 3-4K now and she does have better response.

Agree! I was shifting around 3K, but boy does that motor lug in low RPM's. Not used to a 4 cyl, so when it whines I want to change gears too soon...now I'm learning to rev it a little higher before going up a gear. I'm still not smooth downshifting, a few times trying to go from 4th to 3rd, I've went to 2nd OOPPPsss.

 

[GottaHaveOne]

What's a break-in period?

Shifting all gears at or slightly above 5000.
Casual driving is in the 3500-4500 range.
In Houston traffic, one must move or be moved.
Sprited driving will take me to the 6000 range.

All kinding aside, we all know that we SHOULD have a break-in period, but oh who easy to forget.. like when I had an unexpected opportunity to SMOKE a riced out toyo MR2...did'nt even have to get her out of third gear......see ya!!

I generally shift in the 2800 to 3200 range on a casual drive...when challenged, more like 5500 to 6200.....

 

[Dylan01]

I baby my solstice and shift anywhere from 2,000 to 2,500 rpms.

 

[Anne]

I started out shifting lower (2500-3000) out of habit from previous cars(older Mazda pickup), but have moved to shifting beteen 3-4K now and she does have better response.

I second that.

Anne

 

[DaveOC]

Shifting all gears at or slightly above 5000.
Casual driving is in the 3500-4500 range.
In Houston traffic, one must move or be moved.
Sprited driving will take me to the 6000 range.

:agree: When driving seriously, I find myself shifting between 6700 to 6900. You don't want to hit the rev limiter as it will seriously limit your performance.

 

[MrJester]

I've been shifting around 3000 myself. Lately I've been pushing 2nd to 3rd and 3rd to 4th to about 3500 or 4000. Since this is my first manual transmission, I wasn't sure if it would hurt the car to shift it much higher. I always shift first around 3000 cause it doesn't seem to help to go much past that gear.

 

[Druid-2]

I try to get up to 6K on a regular basis. If you shift at 3K your computer will program itself that way.

I've also hit the rev limiter several times.

If you shift aggressively your engine will perform better .

 

[tiger20005]

I would say I shift around 5K for me and as a side note (I think I mentioned this before) the car hits between 101-105mph before redline in 3rd gear! (btw I tried this on a safe road that was a perfect straight away and obviosuly no traffic)... :thumbs:

I want to see what the RL does...

 

[usmc]

I try to get up to 6K on a regular basis. If you shift at 3K your computer will program itself that way.

I've also hit the rev limiter several times.

If you shift aggressively your engine will perform better .

I thought this was a myth?

 

[zzzybil]

what happens

:agree: When driving seriously, I find myself shifting between 6700 to 6900. You don't want to hit the rev limiter as it will seriously limit your performance.

really curious what will happen if you shift too high.. waddayah mean seriously limit performance.... i've read others - sound like motor kills ?? does it actually die??

 

[SkyMan 08]

I try to get up to 6K on a regular basis. If you shift at 3K your computer will program itself that way.

I've also hit the rev limiter several times.

If you shift aggressively your engine will perform better .

what do you mean the computer will program itself that way? Never heard of that before...
You shift differently for different situations... it does not make sense to drive it up to 5 or 6K before every shift...

 

[DaveOC]

really curious what will happen if you shift too high.. waddayah mean seriously limit performance.... i've read others - sound like motor kills ?? does it actually die??

I find it difficult to describe, but you have a brief period without power, the engine doesn't kill, doesn't die, you just have a brief moment of no power.

 

[C20LET_50]

really curious what will happen if you shift too high.. waddayah mean seriously limit performance.... i've read others - sound like motor kills ?? does it actually die??

It's only a fuel cut off, no fuel - no power, nothing will be damaged besides of normal wear at high revs (a bit more than in low rev driving).

 

[Robotech]

It's only a fuel cut off, no fuel - no power, nothing will be damaged besides of normal wear at high revs (a bit more than in low rev driving).

That's not wholly true.

See, when the ECM cuts fuel it does it when it hits a predetermined RPM...doesn't matter where the engine is as far as its sequence. So let's say the rev limiter is designed to cut fuel to all four cylindars at once (not likely, but I haven't looked at the Sky's tables to know how it is programmed to cut fuel). So let's say the injector for the #1 cylindar already started to spray fuel but gets cut off in mid spray by the rev limiter parameters. Now #1 cylindar has a lean condition because it didn't get the full amount of fuel it should have. Now IF the ECM isn't also cutting spark then when that cylindar fires it will do so with a dangerously lean fuel mixture. What can be even more dangerous is the fact that with a lean condition your chances of detonation are even greater thus even if your ECM does pull timing you may still see an ignition of the now lean air/fuel mixture which could damage your engine.

So while you PROBABLY won't damage your engine by hitting the rev limiter it really isn't a good idea to do it repeatedly as there is the possibility of engine damage. Again, not sure if the Sky is programmed this way or not...but really...is there any reason to find out?

Best bet is not to hit the limiter to begin with.

 

[azzhauler]

I still don't understand why GM insists on cutting fuel instead of spark... Nobody's driving at redline for the mpg benefit...