Even though this car is made to rev and shift higher, what is considered to be a conservative shift point for someone who wants to conserve a little fuel during my commutes to and from work? Don't want to shift too low and bog the engine, and don't want to be cruising at an unreasonable RPM when I could be saving a little more fuel.

 

I don't have the book (or PDF) handy at the moment, but the owner's manual has a table in it for the recommended shift points. Is very easy to locate in the manual.

 

One of the s2k gurus said 5k. I used to shift at 2.5 to save gas but it backfired on me because i would have all this pent up frustration and then WOT it after a while ha

 

Thanks for the tip, I'll have to check that out. I wonder if the shift points they recommend in the manual are the ones they used to estimate MPG.

Haha, I know what you mean. Billman has also said before that shifting around 5k provides smoother shifts, and I've since found this to be true. Not sure how much of a difference it makes on fuel economy though. Personally, I think it's actually a little difficult to shift around 2.5/3k because of how quickly the engine revs. By the time I'm able to get on the gas after shifting, it seems like it's already around 3.5/4.

 

I'm pretty conservative myself. I sometimes shift when rpm gauge only blinks once in the red.

 

lol, word. There are times when i feel like going treehugger status and see how much mpg I can get. There are times I try to shift at 2-2.5k super light on the throttle so it won't bog on the next gear but damn 3rd-4th gear pull with the top down feels great.

 

I don't think I even look at the tach when shifting "conservatively"; I got by feel. If I had to guess, it's probalby around 3.5-4k.

 

The manual says to shift at 4k for best fuel economy.

 

I see what you did there.

 

Shifting at 2.5k sounds more of a chore to me than actual driving. Why would you want to shift so low? The engine revs up four times that? I don't understand?