General Which gear
- Thread starter leonh
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General Which gear
iirc the 100hp shares the same running gear (engine and gearbox) as the 1.4 6speed Stilo (which I have) and I run about in 5th or 6th with no problems at 30!
3rd and 3000rpm isn't going to be helping your MPG
3rd and 3000rpm isn't going to be helping your MPG
yeh 5th 6th easy
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You are a driving instructor yet asking a question like this, I don't get it...
yet asking a question like this, I don't get it...babbo umbro
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Depends entirely on traffic conditions. If ambling along on a flat road with little likelihood of opportunity/need to accelerate I'd probably be in fifth, though sixth is possible; if going downhill and anxious not to be caught by speed camera on the way back into our village from Exeter I'd be in fourth; if I anticipated that I'd be about to accelerate smartly or going up a steepish hill I'd be in third.
It does completely depend on the situation.
In my current car (Toyota Celica 1.8), I amble around town in 5th all the time.
But as soon as any acceleration is needed I'm in 3rd and away we go.
But driving around town in normal conditions would ruin the mpg.
In my current car (Toyota Celica 1.8), I amble around town in 5th all the time.
But as soon as any acceleration is needed I'm in 3rd and away we go.
But driving around town in normal conditions would ruin the mpg.
5th on the flat, 4th if needing to speed up or slow down.
30 is too slow for 6th imo, feels like the engine is beginning to labour under 40. No benefit from mpg either if you use instantaneous readout.
30 is too slow for 6th imo, feels like the engine is beginning to labour under 40. No benefit from mpg either if you use instantaneous readout.
Ok then I shall ignore others on this forum I know everythingYou are a driving instructor
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Ok then I shall ignore others on this forum I know everything
Feel the car, judge wether it feels comfy or laboured, over or under revving...this was almost the first thing I was taught, to have mechanical empathy with the car.
TBH its not something a driver normally asks let alone a driving instructor.
Youre the one driving the car, judging the conditions, if you feel its revving too high, you change up, simples
its not really a question to be asked, what gear should i be driving in....
its all about conditipons, traffic and your own decision!
its not really a question to be asked, what gear should i be driving in....
its all about conditipons, traffic and your own decision!
iirc the 100hp shares the same running gear (engine and gearbox) as the 1.4 6speed Stilo (which I have) and I run about in 5th or 6th with no problems at 30!
3rd and 3000rpm isn't going to be helping your MPG
Using 6th at 30 is labouring your engine. I think the same of using 5th.
Will only use 4th at 30mph. If i'm doing 35mph then I will go into 5th.
I use 3rd.At 30mph it doesn't do 3000rpm, isn't it something like 2700rpm? I don't think I have ever tried 5th, and 6th sounds crazy! In 4th the engine does 2000rpm, which is pretty low IMO. In 4th it ends up struggling if your speed drops by more than a couple of mph. You may just be able to get away with 4th on some roads, but I don't really want to try it much until my engine is run in a bit more.
If you're all driving around in 4th and 5th gear how do you all get such poor fuel consumption (approx 35mpg)? Does 5th actually use less fuel than 4th? Has anybody got some numbers for fuel consumption in each gear?
Not at 30 it isn't (in my opinion).
What do we class as labouring gears
You honestly don't think 30mph in 6th isn't labouring the engine?
Really? How many revs is that? There is absolutely nothing to be gained by having it in sixth at 30 over say 5th (which I still think is too low revs) compared to just sitting in 4th.
In 4th at 30mph you have a reasonable pick up. In 5th you don't.
Don't forget the panda is only a 1.4. With such a small engine I try not to cruise at less than 2000rpm.
According to my calculations:
At true 30mph (49kmh)
1st: 6879rpm
2nd: 4188rpm
3rd: 2872rpm
4th: 2175rpm
5th: 1787rpm
6th: 1486rpm
Discuss.
Here is roughly what I got (from memory):
2nd: 4000rpm
3rd: 2700rpm
4th: 2000rpm
5th: 1500rpm
6th: 1250rpm
I just tried it and I can confirm that 5th and 6th do labour the engine! In 5th you can hear a deep droning noise, which is because it's labouring, and 6th is even worse. I can't believe people would actually use 5th or 6th
4th seems to be right at the point of labouring. On a typical 30mph road I found the gentle slopes to be a bit too much for me in 4th.
I just tried it and I can confirm that 5th and 6th do labour the engine! In 5th you can hear a deep droning noise, which is because it's labouring, and 6th is even worse. I can't believe people would actually use 5th or 6th
4th seems to be right at the point of labouring. On a typical 30mph road I found the gentle slopes to be a bit too much for me in 4th.
Agreed. 4th is okay unless you hit an incline at that speed, then it's 3rd. I tend to try and cruise at an indicated 35mph then 5th is okay, but again on any incline 4th would be required at 35mph. If the incline is reasonable then even at 40mph 5th seems to struggle and would require a downshift. As you can see i'm forever changing gear!
I'm not a fan of labouring engines because it's about the worst thing you can do to an engine.
I'm baseig it on my 1.4 6sp Stilo, which I believe is the same running gear as the 100hp's
6th gear at 30 on a flat road does about 1400 rpm. Car dosen't struggle or labour, down to 25 and it does, but 30 it doesn't.
What do we define a labouring? Am I correct in being tought that it's when engine is struggling/trying to drop below idle speed.
Idle speed cold on Stilo 1.4 is 1200rpm, warm about 750-800rpm.
If at 30 in 6th and a incline comes where the speed starts to drop I put it into 5th/4th.
Why not? There is no power that low in the 16v Panda, agreed, but if you need power (say to overtake) you just drop it a few gears.
I was doing 20mph in 6th today....
I was doing 20mph in 6th today....
:worship:
