Gearing Question

[Maestro]

Hey guys,
Is it safe to run our celica's in 5th gear @ 60km's/h and 6th gear @ 80km's/h.
Most speed zones in sydney are at that. And I dont seem to feeling any lugging in the tranmission..
But Im not sure if it is safe.


Cheers !

[kennly]

I am sure it will use Lots of Fuel doing this...
but not sure if it's safe
but i can tell u that, if u doing a 60-90 degree cornering at 60km/h at 5th GEAR the car will definitly be understeeling

[Maestro]

"I am sure it will use Lots of Fuel doing this... "

how will it use more fuel ? your reducing the RPM's by going into higher gearing right ?

[kennly]

OK, my mechanic Lecutre told me about this, but it really invole many Physics in it, include the pully and camshaft and Kinetic energy, but it really take ages to explain to u
but just think of this way, when u are in 60km/h and in 5th gear, did u feel that when u step on the acc peddle the response to the car is DELAY by 1-2Sec, that's where the energy(fule) loses

[M SPEC]

I normally drive in 5th at 60km/h around town. The engine is normally at 2400-2500 RPM's which enough for the transission not to be "lugging" to me. I normally downshift to a lower gear if it drops below 2000 RPM's. I only drive it around in 4th at 60km/h if I feel like going a bit fast. I drive in 6th for 80km/h as well. Maestro, you got nothing to worry about.

On page 89 of the owners manual is has Recommended shifting speeds 6th at 80km/h is OK according to Toyota. They also recommend staying in 4th upto 65km/h. But driving with in a steady flow of traffic can be annoying at 3000 RPM's.

Jason

[VVTL-i Powered 1]

It also depend on how you use the throttle...

On a flat piece of road without traffic, I'll happily go 60km/h in 6th gear and just barely touching the throttle. Anything lower than that you might start to hear pinging from the engine.

Again its how you use your throttle... If you floored the car in 6th gear at 80km/h, it would feel the same, and I guess as kennly said it will only consume a lot of fuel, and your car wont really accelerate at that speed, despite the amount of gas you're giving.

[platnm]

i think its quite ok.
i doo that all the time...but only for cruising purposes to save fuel.
if i need the power then i down shift

[Maestro]

thanks for the replies....ill be continuing my practice...:)

[Matty P]

I use either 3rd or 4th when doing 60km/h. I often use 6th when doing 80km, but mainly downhill.

The Celica engine is not designed to lug around at 2,000rpm!! But as long as the engine isn't really bogging down, you won't be doing it any harm.

Matty P