Taking off at a traffic light.

[christion]

Hi all,

I have a manual 6 speed turbo. If I don't rev the rpms up to about 3,000 on the first gear, I'm usually getting my butt rode. That's way above the suggested shift point and kills gas mileage. Maybe it's the small engine, the manual transmission, or PEOPLE! Why do some people feel the need to take off so fast? You're only racing to the next red light. Sometimes I really bring the rpms up pretty high and I still get passed or at least matched in speed. Sometimes I'm trying to avoid stopping at a red light, so someone will swerve around me like a mad man to stop at the red light. People are so DUMB! No wonder there are so many wrecks all the time. Everyone I'm stationed with agrees that the drivers are insane here. You get pulled out in front of all the time when there's no one behind you, and they have a frontage road system (look it up, it's insane), to name a couple things.

Rant over.

 

[Natesriv]

Frontage Road? Is the the TX only habit of pulling to the side of the road (while still driving) to let the cars behind you pass you? Yeah that's odd.

Shifting at 3000k isn't bad on the engine, it will affect mileage, but you're below mid RPM max at that rate..

 

[christion]

Frontage Road? Is the the TX only habit of pulling to the side of the road (while still driving) to let the cars behind you pass you? Yeah that's odd.

Shifting at 3000k isn't bad on the engine, it will affect mileage, but you're below mid RPM max at that rate..

Well I mean that it's past the point that the shift light illuminates. A frontage road system is far worse than that. On each side of the highway there's a 2 way road, and traffic coming off the highway has to cut across the incoming traffic on the side road to get into their lane, praying that everyone yields. The people on the side road that are driving in the same direction as the highway have to look behind them to yield to the cars coming off the highway. It's very dangerous.

 

[SouthFLSonic]

The shift light means little to nothing if you ask me, other than to get you best "mpg" and I doubt it even does that. I find that shifting at such low points uses more gas trying to get the car going in higher gears than it does if you shift at like 3.5k-4k.

I get better mpg in 4th gear going 35 than 5th but that shift light stays lit telling me it knows better but it doesn't.

 

[Natesriv]

Oh we have a variance of that here...But I know in TX people pull over to the shoulder to let others pass...

That shift light will go on whever there's an opportunity... you can be doing 35 MPH on a flat surface and it'll have you shift all the way to 6th...

I'd kind of like to disable it...I shift by ear and feel...don't need a nanny!

 

[christion]

I forgot to tell a story about something that happened the other night. My wife and I were driving home after her car was damaged from hail. One other car was stopped at a red light with us and started honking like a mad man and whipped around us. I've never had that happen before untili lived here. I was in the right lane and accelerating like I normally do. Apparently I was in the wrong for not flooring it after the light turned green.

This thread also got moved. I put this thread in the general discussion section because it's actually somewhat about the sonic. I mentioned the engine and transmission, but I guess that off topic. My thought was that maybe I'm having to push the car so hard to keep up with everyone, because of the small engine.

I don't need a nanny, but usually with music on I can't hear the engine. I usually shift however I need to, but my experience with the shift light is that it tells me to shift in ways that I see automatic transmissions shifting, which is usually under or at 2,000 rpm.

 

[christion]

The shift light means little to nothing if you ask me, other than to get you best "mpg" and I doubt it even does that. I find that shifting at such low points uses more gas trying to get the car going in higher gears than it does if you shift at like 3.5k-4k.

I get better mpg in 4th gear going 35 than 5th but that shift light stays lit telling me it knows better but it doesn't.

I wonder why you get better mpg in 4th...

 

[ChrisJ]

I've owned quite a few cars, many of which had 1980s-1990s chevy 305s and 350s in them. Even with those engines I was shifting typically at 3000-3500rpm. It's a nice comfortable spot to shift.

I drive a lot in central NJ which is slowly turning into NYC in ways and have no problem not only keeping up with other cars, but getting in front of them as well in my Sonic. I won't hesitate to go almost to the floor and shift at 5K if I need to though I usually shut the A/C off as that's kinda hard on the compressor in my opinion.

Comparing stick to an automatic isn't really fair, the automatic cheats some via the torque converter slipping as well as continuing to transfer power while shifting. You can't do either of those so you need a little more room to play.


So in my opinion, here is what I recommend.

1: Ignore the other people and drive how you see fit. There is no reason to take off like a bat out of hell at every light and many people seem to do it only to burn that energy up via their brakes at the next light. Many don't seem to realize it but brakes have one job and only one job, turn energy you spent money creating into heat thus wasting it. Brakes are essentially what we in electronics call a "dummy load".

2: Ignore the shift light, though do use it as a general guide if going for both fuel economy and longevity.

3: Don't hesitate to shift at 3K or even 4K, the engine is designed for it and will do fine.

 

[christion]

I actually figured out a way to shift right at 2k in first and second, even lower in some gears and still keep up with the flow of traffic to prevent road rage and my average mpg was 31-32 city. The shift light sometimes illuminates under or at 2k, but if my acceleration is faster, it illuminates later. It's trying to tell you when to shift to get the best gas mileage. The higher the gear, the better my mileage, so I don't know how you get better in 4th. We do have different transmissions and engines, though. I know that the engine can take 3-4k shifts, but I just can't do that to my baby on the regular, plus it kills my mileage compared to increasing my acceleration but still shifting at about 2k rpm. I enjoy getting the most mpg possible, but people won't let that happen, because everyone is in a hurry to get to nowhere fast. I was matched in acceleration plenty of times with my old acceleration speed, but too often are there lead foots riding my rear, so I'm through with driving to conserve our extremely limited resource as much as possible. Nobody cares or understands that we're running out of oil, anyways, so we're screwed and a few people can't change that.

 

[christion]

I really appreciate the help and tips. Thanks, guys! Feel free to turn this thread into a place to tell stories about your experiences with nut job drivers. There are plenty where I live, and you have to drive extremely defensively, so I'm sure some of you guys live in places like this too.

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http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2011/11/09/study-texans-are-the-3rd-worst-drivers-in-the-nation/

 

[Blue hedgehog]

Hi all,

I have a manual 6 speed turbo. If I don't rev the rpms up to about 3,000 on the first gear, I'm usually getting my butt rode. That's way above the suggested shift point and kills gas mileage. Maybe it's the small engine, the manual transmission, or PEOPLE! Why do some people feel the need to take off so fast? You're only racing to the next red light. Sometimes I really bring the rpms up pretty high and I still get passed or at least matched in speed. Sometimes I'm trying to avoid stopping at a red light, so someone will swerve around me like a mad man to stop at the red light. People are so DUMB! No wonder there are so many wrecks all the time. Everyone I'm stationed with agrees that the drivers are insane here. You get pulled out in front of all the time when there's no one behind you, and they have a frontage road system (look it up, it's insane), to name a couple things.

Rant over.

Are you sure your not overdoing the hyper mileing thing? God knows I CAN'T STAND PEOPLE WHO DRIVE SLOW. There have been many many times I was behind some moron who took their sweet time getting up to the speed limit or under, causing both of us to miss the next green light by seconds. You don't save gas or time by driving too slow, you waste both.

 

[Fempunk]

^agreed. Idling at a light for minutes on end doesnt save gas to say the least.

My car starts off fast, but its AT.

 

[ChrisJ]

Keep in mind, I'm still not sure what is harder on an engine. Going at or near WOT at a low rpm, or going easy at a higher rpm.

For example WOT @ 2000rpm is producing the most stress on the pistons, rings and bearings as possible but half throttle at 4000rpm produces the same horsepower, half the strain.

No one could ever give me a good answer, at least in my opinion of which is easier on an engine.

 

[ChrisJ]

^agreed. Idling at a light for minutes on end doesnt save gas to say the least.

My car starts off fast, but its AT.

No,

But it does give me A/C and I needs my A/C!

 

[Blue hedgehog]

^agreed. Idling at a light for minutes on end doesnt save gas to say the least.

My car starts off fast, but its AT.

Don't forget the long ssssslllllloooooowwww acceleration instead of maintaining a steady speed.

 

[christion]

Are you sure your not overdoing the hyper mileing thing? God knows I CAN'T STAND PEOPLE WHO DRIVE SLOW. There have been many many times I was behind some moron who took their sweet time getting up to the speed limit or under, causing both of us to miss the next green light by seconds. You don't save gas or time by driving too slow, you waste both.

No I usually don't have issues with that. I'll hyper mile if no one is behind me, or if there is someone behind me in a two lane when I'm accelerating, but even then I speed up my acceleration to be courteous. I never drive like I'm racing to the next traffic light, though.

 

[christion]

Keep in mind, I'm still not sure what is harder on an engine. Going at or near WOT at a low rpm, or going easy at a higher rpm.

For example WOT @ 2000rpm is producing the most stress on the pistons, rings and bearings as possible but half throttle at 4000rpm produces the same horsepower, half the strain.

No one could ever give me a good answer, at least in my opinion of which is easier on an engine.

I'm far from WOT. I just slightly increased my acceleration speed and kept the same shift points, and I keep up with the majority of people now. I kind of did before, but the daily race car drivers/tailgaters caused me too much stress.

 

[AK-Brando]

No I usually don't have issues with that. I'll hyper mile if no one is behind me, or if there is someone behind me in a two lane when I'm accelerating, but even then I speed up my acceleration to be courteous. I never drive like I'm racing to the next traffic light, though.

Sounds like you and I have similar driving habits. Still learning the shift points on the Sonic, but I can hyper mile my '98 Suzuki Swift and regularly get over 45 mpg which was originally rated at 38 mpg. My Swift has no mods and has multiple issues due to age and abuse (I'm not the original owner) - like no second gear! lol I hope to at least match my mpg numbers in my new Sonic.