Do you save more gas in a higher gear or a lower gear?
I always hear people claim that folks with manual transmissions on their cars save more gas than drivers with automatic cars.
I have an old fashioned manual gearbox. Not this new stuff where there is no clutch. I have a foot-operated manual clutch on my car with a stock-standard four-on-the-floor stick shift gear change lever.
I really want to save gas as I drive.
What I want to know is, do I burn more gas in a higher gear or a lower gear. Where should I keep the RPM’s when I’m driving in the higher or lower gear at that as well? Example. It redlines at 9000 revs.
To save the most gas. Should I keep the engine revs halfway up the tachometer while driving in any gear, and should I be driving in a high or low gear to minimize my fuel consumption?
How much MPG will I gain from a Mandrel bent exhaust and a cold air intake on my 240sx?
Low gear, like 1st gear or reverse gear, means the engine has to turn more revolutions to move you a fixed distance… It uses more gas, but the strain on the engine is lightened. So low gear moves you when the going gets tough – like on a steep hill or when you first get the car moving.
High gear, such as 3rd or 4th (or Overdrive on certain models) allows the engine to turn less revolutions – and use less gas – for the distance covered. But this only works while the car mas momentum already, its moving fast, so the strain on the engine is light. By the way, some small European cars, like the modern Volkswagen have six manual gears. Now that is economical on fuel!
To save gas, keep the engine revolutions as low as possible without stalling the vehicle. And keep your road speed down as well because the faster you go, the more fuel gets burned up just overcoming the friction from the air. Leadfoots don’t save gas.
What admin says sounds about right. I just purchased an 02 Jetta 1.8T (manual trans) and I found that it always revs higher than my brother’s 05 Corolla (automatic trans). I started to switch gears up quickly that by the time I’m going 60 km/hr I’m already at 5th gear to save gas. 5th gear doesn’t give me any power at 60km/hr but I figure it saves me on gas.
Well someone recently told me that this could be bad for the engine and it doesn’t really save me on gas. Is that true?
Volkswagen Service Manualshas a virtually endless list of manufacturers, models and vintages that is so comprehensive that you will find yourself trying to catch it out by looking for your old cars on there as well as downloading the guide for your current one. With this information to hand, all you need to concern yourself with is downloading the correct manual and keeping the information close to hand for the hopefully rare occasions when a fault occurs.