Reducing highway RPM?
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 1,818
Likes: 3
From: SE Michigan, USA
sorry to the masses but i must dissagree
i think we all bought this car to have fun, but at the same time, some drives are simply point A to point B trips. not spirited runs at the track, or cruising on backroad twisties. these trips require a long period of time of highway traffic at around 65-85mph, in which the motor we all love starts to be a little annoying.
to talk about this guy buying the wrong car is unwarrented. thats like hearing married guys talk about some of the difficulties of their wifes and going right into "you shouldn't have gotten married / you don't appreciate her / you should turn gay". thats crazy. we love the car. this guy loves his car and doesn't want a different one: he wants this one to be better suited for his needs, and now we have people saying he made a mistake, etc, etc.
i'm with him. driving from fort bragg back to detroit on a 12 and a half hour trip isn't much fun (minus the mountains in WV of course), and i often got tired of my engine running around 4,500 rpm. would have liked to drop it down to 3,500 or so.
and yes, throttle plays an important role in gas milage, but even with the throttle being more open, i bet a 1k drop in rpm's will still yield better mpg's.
so thats that. i'm +1 for an extra gear personally. 7 sounds sexy AND useful
my $.02's
i think we all bought this car to have fun, but at the same time, some drives are simply point A to point B trips. not spirited runs at the track, or cruising on backroad twisties. these trips require a long period of time of highway traffic at around 65-85mph, in which the motor we all love starts to be a little annoying.
to talk about this guy buying the wrong car is unwarrented. thats like hearing married guys talk about some of the difficulties of their wifes and going right into "you shouldn't have gotten married / you don't appreciate her / you should turn gay". thats crazy. we love the car. this guy loves his car and doesn't want a different one: he wants this one to be better suited for his needs, and now we have people saying he made a mistake, etc, etc.
i'm with him. driving from fort bragg back to detroit on a 12 and a half hour trip isn't much fun (minus the mountains in WV of course), and i often got tired of my engine running around 4,500 rpm. would have liked to drop it down to 3,500 or so.
and yes, throttle plays an important role in gas milage, but even with the throttle being more open, i bet a 1k drop in rpm's will still yield better mpg's.
so thats that. i'm +1 for an extra gear personally. 7 sounds sexy AND useful
my $.02's
Registered User
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 19
Likes: 0
Originally Posted by Supra-holic,Sep 10 2008, 03:36 PM
Neutral
I've noticed that I have noticed I get better mileage at higher speeds as well
Using this theoretical method: Clickity Clack
(^_^)V
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 4,802
Likes: 5
Originally Posted by MuttGrunt,Sep 11 2008, 08:55 PM
sorry to the masses but i must dissagree
i think we all bought this car to have fun, but at the same time, some drives are simply point A to point B trips. not spirited runs at the track, or cruising on backroad twisties. these trips require a long period of time of highway traffic at around 65-85mph, in which the motor we all love starts to be a little annoying.
to talk about this guy buying the wrong car is unwarrented. thats like hearing married guys talk about some of the difficulties of their wifes and going right into "you shouldn't have gotten married / you don't appreciate her / you should turn gay". thats crazy. we love the car. this guy loves his car and doesn't want a different one: he wants this one to be better suited for his needs, and now we have people saying he made a mistake, etc, etc.
i'm with him. driving from fort bragg back to detroit on a 12 and a half hour trip isn't much fun (minus the mountains in WV of course), and i often got tired of my engine running around 4,500 rpm. would have liked to drop it down to 3,500 or so.
and yes, throttle plays an important role in gas milage, but even with the throttle being more open, i bet a 1k drop in rpm's will still yield better mpg's.
so thats that. i'm +1 for an extra gear personally. 7 sounds sexy AND useful
my $.02's
i think we all bought this car to have fun, but at the same time, some drives are simply point A to point B trips. not spirited runs at the track, or cruising on backroad twisties. these trips require a long period of time of highway traffic at around 65-85mph, in which the motor we all love starts to be a little annoying.
to talk about this guy buying the wrong car is unwarrented. thats like hearing married guys talk about some of the difficulties of their wifes and going right into "you shouldn't have gotten married / you don't appreciate her / you should turn gay". thats crazy. we love the car. this guy loves his car and doesn't want a different one: he wants this one to be better suited for his needs, and now we have people saying he made a mistake, etc, etc.
i'm with him. driving from fort bragg back to detroit on a 12 and a half hour trip isn't much fun (minus the mountains in WV of course), and i often got tired of my engine running around 4,500 rpm. would have liked to drop it down to 3,500 or so.
and yes, throttle plays an important role in gas milage, but even with the throttle being more open, i bet a 1k drop in rpm's will still yield better mpg's.
so thats that. i'm +1 for an extra gear personally. 7 sounds sexy AND useful
my $.02's
Sorry but this is too funny. You are comparing a car to a wife, you must not be married, or at minimal divorced!
It's a car people, if you often drive on long drips at that high of speed then you bought the wrong one. Unlike a wife, selling your car and buying a new one that suits you better is note illegal, unmoral, frowned upon, etc... It is common sense.
If you only drive the car occasionally on long trips, then stop worrying. You car will be perfectly ok if you have otherwise maintained it correctly. I have driven from Philly to Savannah, GA in my S with no problems. That's just under 10 hrs each way averaging around 70mph which includes a few slow areas (55mph) and 2 quick pit stops, with periods of 90mph+ for a couple hours at a time.
In the end I lost maybe a quarter of a qt of oil and got over 30mpg.
Edit: To the OP, with the extra power and torque, just go with the 3.9's. As it is I would imagine your 1st gear is nearly useless if you really step on it.
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 2,368
Likes: 118
From: Montana
I for one am not concerned about the car's engine not being able to handle a sustained 5k rpm for half a day at a time, it is the noise and gas guzzling that is the problem. I am not at all concerned about mileage, but rather range in this instance. Have any of you guys driven the car at 100-110mph for an hour straight or longer? It is hitting VTEC in 6th at this speed and you are lucky to go 200 miles before you need to fill up.
I realize in most places there is no reason to go this fast, or the roads aren't safe for it or whatever. But come and drive across Montana one day and you will see there are countless highways and even 2-lane backroads that are literally flat and straight for hours on end. You see nothing but elk (I don't recommend doing this at night for this reason) and gas stations can be scarce.
Putting a taller 6th gear in would not take anything away from the concept of "a high-revving motor with a close-ratio 6 speed transmission" if the remaining gears 1-5 were unchanged. How often are you slamming it into 6th still trying to accelerate? Here I can actually do that but even with my hardtop the aerodynamics are bad enough that it is unusual for me.
6th gear is for economy and nothing else. The car doesn't have the power to fight the aerodynamic drag at such speeds anyway. I would like to see 6th gear a full 2k rpm lower.
I realize in most places there is no reason to go this fast, or the roads aren't safe for it or whatever. But come and drive across Montana one day and you will see there are countless highways and even 2-lane backroads that are literally flat and straight for hours on end. You see nothing but elk (I don't recommend doing this at night for this reason) and gas stations can be scarce.
Putting a taller 6th gear in would not take anything away from the concept of "a high-revving motor with a close-ratio 6 speed transmission" if the remaining gears 1-5 were unchanged. How often are you slamming it into 6th still trying to accelerate? Here I can actually do that but even with my hardtop the aerodynamics are bad enough that it is unusual for me.
6th gear is for economy and nothing else. The car doesn't have the power to fight the aerodynamic drag at such speeds anyway. I would like to see 6th gear a full 2k rpm lower.