[bhazard]

The way I think about it is, you can accelerate slowly and have to be in the throttle for a longer period of time, or you can accelerate quicker and get to cruising speed much sooner. Ive also got two different cars to consider, and the only thing they have in common is they're turbo 4 cyls. One is a 5 speed and one is automatic, so for the 5 speed another thing to consider is shift points (and you can also consider that on the auto to an extent).

The shadow has a stock vac/boost gauge whereas the tbird only reads boost, Ive been wanting to pick up an aftermarket vac/boost gauge for it. Ive always assumed that accelerating with the most vacuum is best, and try to keep it between 7-10in of vac when accelerating (cruises at 14-15). However, Ive noticed that acceleration doesn't really improve much with more pedal until you get to around 2 to 0 inches (remember its a turbo car so 0 vac doesnt mean wide open throttle. At that point, close to 0 inches the car seems to accelerate a good bit better, even though you arent giving it hardly much more pedal. Between 0 vac/boost and 2psi of boost is where I would consider "normal" non-hypermiler acceleration.

Basically I just wonder if it would be better to accelerate slowly (7 or more inches of vac for me) and have to stay accelerating for a much longer time, or to accelerate at a more "normal" pace (2in vac to 2psi boost) and get up to speed much sooner.

Its a pretty different story for my Thunderbird. Since its a 5 speed theres no torque converter to slip around and keep the engine from lugging. Its happy accelerating from at least 2000 rpms, and anything under 1500 is a no-no, except in 1st or 2nd gear. In the upper 3 gears its like a semi truck jake braking under 1500, sure to rattle the bearings and such pieces apart in time. So its not only a matter of how far to open the throttle, but what rpm range to use as well. Should I accelerate in the range that seems "easiest" on the engine or try to keep the rpms as low as possible without rattling the car apart. Theres different combinations of rpms and throttle to try too, low rpms and low throttle, low rpms and more throttle, high rpms and low throttle, etc.

So what are you peoples opinions? Accelerate slow or quickly? Keep rpms as low as possible or use more of the engines efficiency range?