Shifting points 3.2
 

I don't have a manual for my '89 911 but need to find out what are the shift points. I've been driving around the city and trying not to lug the engine. I assume anything under 2000rpm is not good. So should I just use 1st and 2nd gears? Its loud and I get a buzzing in my years after a while.

40,70.100 and 125 are redline shift points. My '87 has the Fed mandated shift lite, does the '89 have that? I don't think 2000 rpm hurts anything around town.

5500 shift, 5500 shift, 6000 shift, its not your grandmothers car!

+1!!!!:D

I usually shift mine around 3000-4000 rpm depending on conditions/grade/mood, etc.http://forums.pelicanparts.com/suppo...leys/pint1.gif

A stock 3.2 is not happy running below 3000 rpms and it really will feel like it is lugging. Try to stay above that whatever gear you are in.

I cruise around town at 3,000 rpm in 2nd or sometimes 3rd depending on the speed limit. I usually shift into 2nd by 4,000 rpm, if higher I double clutch since my car has a 915 tranny. Entering a highway on ramp I get into 2nd by 5,000 rpm then floor it to experience the great acceleration that I now have with a custom chip from 911chips.com (my car was running very lean). I do not pay any attention to the shift indicator light, that will have me driving around town in 5th gear at 1,500 rpm, which can't be good for the engine.

PM me if you want a scan of the manual specs...

Whatever happened to shifting by sound? I just shift when it sounds like it needs it - could be close to redline, could be 3k, I just let the car tell me depending on the situation.

What did John Wyer call it? That Certain Sound. Maybe you need a more sonorous muffler. While you're in there, try the sport intake as well. I rarely shift out of second around town. It's a safety issue: I prefer to stay in the sweet-spot of the torque curve in case I need to accelerate hard to avoid some oblivious nimrod veering into my path...

My car sounds very happy at 6200; If i just did it by sound I'd probably end up well north of the "orange" line but I don't get the chance to drive it very often and I drive it above 5K RPM even less.

What Kurt said! AFTER she's good and warm I run her up to close to 5500+ on every shift (I go by sound too, I'm not watching) and even when cruising, I'll be in the 3500 range. I've got a 22 mile commute to work (backroads), and I rarely see 4th, much less 5th (occasionally on the Interstate which I avoid usually). Driving at 2K rpm is silly for these cars :)

ps: Goes without saying, IGNORE that stupid EPA mandated "shift light" too.

Don't you just love 3rd gear in these cars?

My car could be a 3 speed and I probably wouldn't know I was missing 2 gears for several weeks :)

My 2 cents is that more importantly you don't lug the engine... Mashing down the gas pedal at 2,000 RPM's in 4th or 5th gear is hard on the engine like ours. I'm not sure running around town at 4 grand is necessary, but to each his own.

Piston travel is wear, the more times the piston goes up and down, the more wear that takes place. I say use the RPM's appropriately for the conditions you're driving.

If you are shifting around 4000 in a 1984-1989 Carrera then you have a car with the effective power to weight performance of a Honda Accord.

once warm you need to drive the car between 4000 and 6000 rpms. Don't worry, if you change the oil consistently - you won't break it.

One thing that is not addresses in your question is are at a steady speed? To drive down the road in 2nd gear at 50 MPH is silly. I try to keep it between 2,500 and 3,500 RPM once I am up to the speed limit. In traffic moving at a steady pace there is no reason to stay at 4,000 RPM for several miles.

If I'm at a "steady pace", I'll probably be around 3-3.5K (in whichever gear is appropriate), but I'll sure take her up to near 6K every shift (when she's good and warm). Thus, if I'm on a typical road, 45-50 mph or so, I'd be in 3rd at the low end of the power band. I mentioned "lugging the engine" on a recent Rennlist thread, and Pete Zimmerman gave a great explanation about how it's really putting more of a strain on the tranny too at lower rpms (not necessarily the engine). Bottom line, I'm almost never below 3K rpms, and that type of driving is certainly not causing unnecessary wear imo. Heck, at 80-90 mph on the Interstate (not often for me), in 5th, she's going to be probably close to 3500, and they're designed to do that ALL day long, every day, plus I get 27 mpg to boot @ those rpms :). Drive it like a sports car should be driven is my .02 worth...

There's a red line on the tach that tells you when to shift.

Remember these cars are not only sporting vehicles, but also made to be driven daily. In other words, reving the crap out of it when not necessary is just a waste of gas and annoying to the general public. You know how annoying it is to hear a motorcycle go by at 9K rpm, or a ricer with the fart cannon? That's how it sounds to other people when you constantly redline your motor.

Vary your RPM, run it up once and a while, but doing it constantly doesn't do anything.

Really "lugging" the engine and what some people consider "lugging" are two very different things. If it pulls smoothly, it's not "lugging."

A well tuned 3.2 should be able to take off in 2nd at 1,000 rpm effortlessly without stalling or bucking and shift at 2,000 or less all day, just like any other normal car, with plenty of grunt all the way to 6K.

That's my criteria because that's the way my 3.2 behaves and anything less would not be tolerated.

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

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/DqnJ46v_Lsw&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/DqnJ46v_Lsw&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>


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.