Is it okay to cruise at 4000 rpm for 20 mins?

[crosby50]

My drive to work is on a busy highway where traffic is moving at 80mph. In fourth gear at 80mph the car is turning 4000 rpm. I like to have the power on tap if I want to pass and I feel like the car is bogging if I shift to 5th (about 2900 rpm).

Besides gas mileage, is there anything wrong with cruising in 4th gear at 4000 rpm for 20 mins?

Oh, its a 3.2 G50.

[Zeke]

I just purchased a car like yours. I drove it down from the San Franciso bay area to SoCal in 4th. 5th is too tall for legal speeds, especially if there's a hill or you need to pass, as you mentioned.

So, to repeat, I drove over 400 miles in 4th spare for a few minutes in 5th. I mostly drove 65-70 and it was under 4K, but I didn't see any reason not to go faster (except the CHP ).

[emac]

I don't see any reason to leave third if you are only at 4k.

[911 Rod]

Are you sure you car is okay?
My 3.2 pulls hard at 80MPH even up hill.

[Jared at Pelican Parts]

this will be no problem.

[Drago]

No, your engine is shot. You should sell it to me immediately for a greatly reduced amount of $$$.

My '69 only has a 4 speed crash box in it. This past Sunday I drove it for over 2 hours at 4000 rpm in 4th gear. It was all I could do to not get run off the road...

[anthony]

It's not going to hurt the engine to run at 4K rpms but the car should not be bogging at 3K rpms. What is wrong with downshifting when you need more power?

[EarlyPorsche]

My 2.0 punched out to 2.2 will run all day long at 3,800-4,500 on the highway. I think that one should look at it like this. What is 2,000 RPM's in a normal car is 4,000 RPM's in a Porsche. My 997 does the same thing all day long, it what they are built to do.

[GeorgeM]

Did it all the time when I lived in Germany.

In my 3.2, a comfortable autobahn cruising speed was about 110-115mph, or about 4200 RPM in 5th.

No issues, but it wore on me after an hour and a half or so.

[crosby50]

911 Rod: Perhaps "bogging" in 5th was a bit of an exaggeration. I was trying to make the point that I wanted power on tap. Of course, in 5th I could still pass, but I would rather downshift to 4th. I just don't want to spend my commute shifting since the clutch has 59k miles on it. I feel that if driving in 4th is not bad for the car I would just stay in that gear.

[dtw]

4th/5th and 5th/4th shifts don't put any significant wear on a clutch. Save the gas, cruise in 5th, shift to 4th as needed. Stay in 4th if you really want to, it's your gas and your car...but if you're worried about the clutch, don't.

[crosby50]

Oh, one more thing. My last entry may elicit responses like: "It's a Porsche, drive it aggressively, etc." I'm talking only about my commute to work and I'm still getting a feel for the normal behavior and limits of this car. When playing - its a whole different story. Of course, I'll run through the gears and back down as needed.

I like to hear responses like EarlyPorsche's, comparing higher revs in a Porsche to revs in "normal" cars.

[Formerly Steve Wilkinson]

Not sure I agree that "4,000 rpm in a Porsche is 2,000 in a normal car." The classic 911 engine isn't considered a particularly high-winding engine today.

[masraum]

You could cruise for an hour at 5k if you want.

I'm with Dave though. Shift to 5th and then downshift to 4th to pass or when you need the grunt. 60k on a stock clutch shouldn't be that big a problem.

[livi]

I am very impressed with the sound comfort of my Carrera. Cruising to work at about 65-70 mph in fifth feels more comfy and quite than in my Jeep.

[911 Rod]

Originally posted by livi
I am very impressed with the sound comfort of my Carrera. Cruising to work at about 65-70 mph in fifth feels more comfy and quite than in my Jeep.

Someone needs a dual exhaust

But seriously,
I do 500 miles a week commuting using all of my gears at different revs.
This thing is a clock and never stops amazing me.