How high do you rev your engine?

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Camry shifts at 3,000 to keep up with traffic, it's slow as a turd. Redlines at 5,500-5,600 (auto). It sees full throttle often. Like, all the time
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Under different conditions, what are your shift points for engine speed when you are driving?
Normal stop and go traffic
3500-4k from 1st to 2nd
3000-3.5 to 3rd where I'll stay...to stay under 40mph...the engine braking keeps me from getting a ticket...
3k to 4th where I'll stay unless there's plenty of room ahead and the speed limit is 45...
3k to 5th when speed limit is 50mph

accelerating onto a highway
4th is good until I'm off the ramp and cruising, then to 5th

max throttle acceleration
Under normal use 4k is as high as I need to go to get to speed quickly...though I will redline it in lower gears on occasion.

What max engine speed do you consider comfortable when you're cruising down the highway?
@ 80mph the engine revs @ 3100rpms in 5th
@ 70mph it's at 2700 in 5th

The ride was comfortable with 15" tires...but more solid/stable with 17s.
I can't really go much slower than 65....that's about the slowest a car can go on south Florida interstates

What kind of rpm wouldn't you mind hearing on an all-day drive?
I shift @ 3k all the time and cruise all day in town @ 2500...I never shift below 2.5k
...on another forum someone with the same car never shifts above 2k!
I ENJOY cruising @ 2.5-3k and stay in 4th when I could up shift to 5th...because I want the torque and quicker responsiveness you get in the lower gears.

What engine speed do you consider to be "lugging", and will downshift to get out of it?
1500rpm...@ 1.5-2k the car rides quiet like a saloon, and as if it has an AT...and I didn't get a stick to run the car like an appliance.
 
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Jetta, I usually shift by 3k, sometimes as low as 2k, depends upon my mood. I don't go much above 4k. But it often gets full throttle. I don't do much below 1.2k as it is on the verge of lugging. But I often get full clutch engagement by 1k when leaving a stop. 60mph is 2k but it seems to care not one whit about turning 3k at 90, if anything it pulls harder at 80 than it does at 60!

My truck, I can usually get it's auto to shift around 2k. It is hard for it to stay in gear below 1.2k though. Above 3k it starts to make a nice V8 rumble, but I rarely put my foot in to hear it. If the torque convertor unlocks it often winds up near 2k. Drives me nuts, wish it was a stick sometimes. 60mph is 1500rpm and I rarely drive faster than that.
 
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Thanks for all the responses.

In my Camaro, in normal stop and go driving, I upshift at ~2300 rpm, and downshift at 1500. It doesn't take more than ~1/8" of accelerator pedal to keep up or even pull ahead of most traffic situations.

When accelerating onto a highway, I'll shift at 3500-4000 and use about 50% pedal opening to get over 65 mph, then upshift to 5th and 6th once I have gotten to cruising speed.

A couple of times a week, and when I can find a clear stretch of road, I'll go WOT through 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, shifting at 5500 rpm. That's about all I can do, because 5500 in 3rd is about 90 mph. One time I did romp on it all the way to 150 mph in 5th on a deserted highway, but nowadays anything over 90 mph I save for the track.

The Camaro is an all-day cruising machine that goes 72 mph @ 1600 rpm. I'd love to be able to cruise it at 2000 rpm and 90 mph, but I don't think my license would last very long.

Below 1500 rpm, the driveline begins to grumble, so I downshift to keep out it.
 
My car rarely sees 2000 rpm as it means you are soon going to jail.

It will go all the way down to 900 rpm around corners in 4th gear, and pull smoothly away. You never feel any vibe or bucking, just torque.

It sees redline regularly, but just like A_Harman I simply cannot use it all on public roads...
 
2500-3000 rpm normal driving; 3-4k merging in third. Highway cruising in fifth, 2500-2700, about 65-75mph.

With the short geared Miata add about 1000k rpm to the above.
 
CRV- 6k rpm shifts, regulary.
5.7 Truck, 4k usually
Field cars- Pedal to the floor, dont care when it shifts lol. The intrepid 2.7 can just about hit 6500 rpm and doesnt miss a beat.
 
Usually 3,000-5,000 when merging onto the highway. Every once in a blue moon I'll redline it, but that's rare. I also rarely go more than 5 mph over the speed limit, so I'd say my RPMs are within a normal range of 2,000-3,500 depending on the speed i'm going. It has a redline of 7,000. This is with my Integra.
 
I normally shift my E-150 4.9L 5 speed stick around 2,200 rpm. If I need to get onto the highway fast I'll bring it up accordingly. It is very rare that I get over 3,500-4,000 rpms. I honestly don't think that engine has ever seen anything north of 4,500 rpms. I make it a point not to lug it.
 
I'll commonly take it up to 6K out of 7K available. 302 hp 3.7L Ford, automatic. If I have to accelerate hard, why hesitate? The scenario is turning right onto a busy 4 lane road with pretty fast traffic (stop lights over a mile apart). I want to get up to speed and I want to do it as soon as possible for safety's sake. So as soon as the wheels are square, I punch it pretty hard for a couple of seconds.

Merging onto a lightly traveled highway at night. I could merge at any old speed, but I'm worried about a maniac coming at me at a really excessive speed. I want to be at 65 mph and climbing when I'm on the road. So I puch it pretty hard there for a couple of seconds too.
 
I'm concerned with fuel economy, so I get the Regal up to cruising speed swiftly and then let it settle at 1500 rpm for speeds up to 45 or so, 2000 for above that. Though, if it's warmed up, I will flick the transmission into manual mode and drop a gear, rev it to 3500-4000 if I'm shooting up a ramp or pulling up a long grade like the Miss. River bridge.
 
it depends on what car I am driving.

Originally Posted By: A_Harman
I'm sort of taking an informal survey of driver's habits.

Under different conditions, what are your shift points for engine speed when you are driving? i.e.: Normal stop and go traffic, accelerating onto a highway, max throttle acceleration, etc.

What max engine speed do you consider comfortable when you're cruising down the highway?

What kind of rpm wouldn't you mind hearing on an all-day drive?

What engine speed do you consider to be "lugging", and will downshift to get out of it?




in the G35, I typically shift around 4K. I usually redline it a few times a day just for fun ~7,200rpm. At 80mph it is just over 3k. 4k is fine all day, it gets kind of harsh past ~4,500. I would consider below 1,200 to be lugging it.

In the FX45 (auto) it typically shifts around 2.5k. Just a tiny bit more throttle and it will hold each gear to about 5k. It is also just over 3k at 80, and it is not objectionable at any speed. It feels and sounds smoother at higher RPM, but power falls off around 6k, so I rarely exceed that. It is not as much fun to drive fast, and uses a lot more gas, etc. Unlike the G which seems built to rev, the FX feels best between idle speed and about 4.5k

The BMW rarely exceeds 3k. Its torque peak is at about 3k and that's where it likes to be. At 80 it is around 2,700rpm. Driving it aggressively it is quick to redline, but there is not much additional speed - or at least it is not very rewarding to push it.

The bike... it is totally comfortable at 13,000rpm, not too happy below about 6k. However, due to traffic regulations, I typically shift at or below 5k to avoid jail time. I think at 80mph it is around 6k.

It varies so much by vehicle, engine and transmission. I had an Oldsmobile that never hit 2,500rpm in daily driving. I also had a Mitsubishi V6 that would pass 5k with every shift, driving slowly.
 
It varies a lot.

Most of my driving currently is on city streets. Above 3K RPM I'm breaking the law, about to run a light, and/or about to hit someone. Not much room for fun.

On the interstate, 4K, 5K when I have room to do it.

Around the city, shifting at 2500 RPM is not uncommon. I just don't want to have to slam on the brakes, so I take it easy. I would like to shift higher than that. The truck firms up the shifts at higher RPM, which I like. At lower RPM it thinks I want butter shifts.
 
I wind my Cruze out 2-3 times a week or so to the 6500 RPM redline. I figure it's good for the variable-capacity oil pump to be working at full capacity to flush out all the little VVT passages and otherwise sling oil where it doesn't normally get, even more so with the splash-lubricated manual transmission. Otherwise it's about 3000 RPM since it accelerates just fine with the turbo boosting away.

At 60 mph it's at 1700 RPM, and it's doing 2200 RPM at 70. Quite low for a 1.4l engine, even turbocharged.
 
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The 528e has a 5200 rpm limiter that shuts off the fuel injectors. Holding the Getrag 4hp22 in 2, they'll do 70mph . 5k in 3 is 105 mph. 3k in D is 88 mph. Haven't bothered to see what the top end in the Rat's 4.0 V6 is. I'm afraid of breakage. I am underwhelmed that the Ford's metallurgy is inferior to that of the older BMW.
 
I have the rev limiter set to 5850 RPM right now (via a Diablosport Predator handheld), and a 5800 RPM pill in the Auto Meter shift light.

I rarely get it up to those levels though, save for when I do an 'Italian Tune Up', when I might even raise the limiter to 6K, or even 6.1K.

I usually short shift at 2000-3000 revs for most driving around town, and will run it to 4K-5.2K revs when entering busy highways/roads to get up to speed and not impede traffic.
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As you know, these LS1 f bodies' T56 gearboxes have a CRAZY .50 overdrive 6th gear, so even with a 3.73 rear axle ratio gearset, it is only turning ~ 1750 or so revs at 65-70 mph, steady state highway cruising (0NE of the reasons WHY these cars can get > 30MPG on the highway!
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01 5spd integra
Daily driving: 2.7-3k rpms
Accelerating onto onramps and such: 3.5-4k rpms
When i feel like wasting gas: 7k rpms

In the past 30k miles, I've been winding it up to redline a few times a tank. It feels more powerful now at 155k than when i bought it at 55k.
 
Honda S2000, even the AP2, has very little torque below 3k RPM, it only moves when engine is in 3-5k and it sings beautiful sound when the rev passes 6k till 8200-8300 fuel cut-off.

With short gearing the engine is turning around 4500 RPM at 80 MPH in 6th.
 
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