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In my manual trans 2001 Echo, I installed a simple vacuum gauge. I found the vacuum reading was about 1 inch when I was accelerating correctly.
I shift quickly out of any lower gear and it's in 5th at anything over 30 MPH.
1-2-3-5 shifts are the norm with very little time spend in the first 3 gears.
I try to maintain that vacuum reading while using lower gears if I need more acceleration, which is very rare in a 2020 pound car with a 108 HP engine.
My mileage has been very consistent at 53 MPG, for the last 7 tanks, almost 3500 miles.
My take on it is this.
The engine is most efficient when you have low vacuum because that is when you have the highest effective compression (in the cylinder at the point of ignition), which gives the most work for every combustion pulse.
In an automatic you would need to accelerate with the lowest vacuum possible, that did not cause your transmission to stay in the lower gears too long. it probably would not be as low as I see in my manual, because the auto would stay in lower gears, which is not a problem with the manual.
In most of my local traffic the rate of acceleration is about the same as the rest of the traffic, fairly brisk but not too great, probably about 50-70% of maximum.
In the CVT Insight I accelerate at 6 bars of battery boost. I find this to be the best compromise between too slow and too fast. In both cars the mileage will drop off considerably if I accelerate too slowly. I would error on the side of faster acceleration versus slower, as long as you don't let the auto tranny stay in lower gears any longer than absolutely necessary.
regards
Mech
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