I agree with RICHDE, shifting at 5500 in city is just burning gas and annoying people. There is no pleasure in jerking forward so you can just slam on the brakes again...

I'll simply bite my tongue and direct you to Pete Zimmerman's post on this thread:

http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforums/showthread.php?t=442370

I don't drive my car in "the city". The previous owner of my car lived in right ouside of NYC (Hoboken), and only kept my car six months (after an extensive search to find it, as he was very picky, '63 show 'vette, etc.) because he realized fairly quickly that it was a total waste of these cars potential, and they just weren't suited very well for stoplight to stoplight "city driving", and I must say that I concur. I pick something else for that, and my "toy" is reserved for stretching out on the twisty back roads that are abundant around here. Even when I drive her to work (22 miles of country back roads), I'm stretching her out in every gear, and only hit 4th ocasionally. I LOVE going to work...just hate getting there :). To each their own...

I too try to avoid city driving. I have a 15 mile country backroad commute as well. I must be too gentle with my 86 as I usually drive it around 3000. Even when I am going 55mph I'll shift it to 5th and she just purrs along. This is not to say that I won't down shift to blow away the nimkumpoop who decides they want to try to ride my rear. So usually I am at 2800-3500 and never had any problems. 121k miles and doesn't burn oil, no smoke, perfect temps and no worries.

Leo
86 Carrera

Nothing above 3,000 untill she's warm then by ear and whenever it's safe and mostly legal, close to redline at least twice every trip (Italian tune up). I believe in the never rev the freckle out of a car when cold, it's a sure engine killer. Mechanics do it all the time but then again it's in their interest isn't it? (me cynical?................................never !)

There's also a little orange arrow that tells you uh, nothing useful at all really. :D

I shift around 2,800 - 3,500 when warming up or taking it easy and up closer to redline when driving "spiritedly".

I don't like to cruise around below about 2,500 in the low gears because it feels like the drivetrain is in a losing battle with inertia which can't be good for it and you have no power on tap should you need to maneuver quickly.

+1 along with others who concur. There's a time and a place for everything, e.g. it's not necessary to sweep the needle to red line between red lights. In fact, IMHO, it's silly. If I noticed a driver doing that, no matter if he was driving a Veyron, I'd shake my head and wonder about his perceived size of his "ego".

Sherwood

From my 1978SC owners manual:
Maximum downshift points

5th to 4th 118 mph [190 km/h] or 5200 rpm
4th to 3rd 95 mph [153 km/h] or 5000 rpm
3rd to 2nd 63 mph [101 km/h] or 4300 rpm
2nd to 1st 36 mph [ 58 km/h] or 3600 rpm

Minimum Upshift Points

1st to 2nd 15 mph [ 24 km/h] or 2500 rpm
2nd to 3rd 25 mph [ 40 km/h] or 2400 rpm
3rd to 4th 35 mph [ 56 km/h] or 2300 rpm
4th to 5th 48 mph [ 77 km/h] or 2600 rpm

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1216339069.jpg

So, I guess they knew what they were doing with locating 3K to 4K and the center of the gauge face!

alriight, final lesson of the day: do not drive your car in the city, push it to the freeway entrance then hop in. :cool:

That's just crazy talk! You should move your house to an entrance ramp :)

:D

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i miss my 911.......august i'll be flying back to ohio to bring her home to florida :)

In the city a gear that keeps you around 3000 rpm is probably ideal. You're in max torque zone, not lugging the engine and not unnecessarily revving the engine. Once you get out of the city (and your engine is warm) there is a convenient #6 just before an orange bar to guide you. If you haven't checked this out yet... you owe yourself!! The magic doesn't start until 4000 rpm.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1216351479.jpg

Why didn't I think of it huh... well, I am only about 100 yards away from the entrance anyway... and it was a joke.

I know it was, and I hope you know my response was an attempt at humor too (I realize things sometimes get lost in language translations, particularly over the Internet). Speaking of jokes, I heard a good one recently: "Did you hear about the fellow that shifted his 911 (and other cars) at 2000 rpms?" Dang, I can't remember the punch line but I didn't "get it" anyways :)

I know it was a humor.
There is a situation that I must shift low, didn't pay attention if 2k or at what point but low, because I can't shift into 1st unless I am at stop or very close to stop. Let say comming onto a traffic jam, when you are too low to shift into second but "too high" to shift into 1st, then people move and move fast. Either, I have to wait until I am completely stop to shift into 1st then move again, or I can shift into second at low RPM. I choose to shift into second at low RPM before people honk or give me a finger, or maybe jump out of their cars :)

If the engine sounds like a tractor, you've got too much throttle at too low of an RPM. If it sounds fine, it is fine. Just my opinion.

I usually launch the car at 1200 to 1500 RPMs in 1st, and it seems quite happy. Any significant amount of throttle in 3+rd at 1500 RPM, and it complains. Not sure if it's engine noise or gear rattle, but something sounds unhappy, so I don't do it.