Is there any correlation to getting worse gas mileage from being in to high of a gear for the speed you are going? I sometimes wonder if me being in 5th when maybe I should be in 4th or going into 6th when maybe 5th would be better hurts more than helps. It keeps the RPMs down but is the engine in fact using more fuel to try to create more power to maintain that speed at the lower RPM?
That’s a good question and there is no exact answer for every car but yea too low of an rpm can cause poor fuel economy but each car is different
Generally, higher engine loads and reduced engine speed results in greater efficiency.
This can be said for almost ANY car.
So long as you’re still in closed loop, its probably more efficient.
But there is going to be some applications and instances where it might increase fuel consumption. You don’t want to go WOT in 6th up a hill…
^ Agreed. It’s why my GTO came with that annoying CAGS system that would force a 1st to 4th shift when accellerating slowly. Just enough MPG gains on the EPA test loop to avoid the guzzler tax.
I have been thinking about this on my TDI. Being that it is a turbo vehicle. I could stay in a lower gear and keep it out of boost or shift to a higher gear and boost it. The trip computer seems to think fuel consumption is better keeping the revs as low as possible and just let the turbos do their thing. Pumping losses on a engine are a bitch I guess.
My fuel economy seems worse when i do 1-2-4-6 … even if i do it very gingerly… when i go 1-2-3-4-5-6… it seems to get better MPG’s. (according to the digital readout)