Alright, I'm reviving this thread. I have been pondering this very same question for.... well, a long time.
It seems sometimes as though we drivers of automatics are shunned from the efficiency discussion. Unfortunately, my good ol' 3100 with the 4 spd is all I have for the time being and I have to make due with what I can get from it. Nevertheless, I see no reason not to at least TRY for better fuel economy, even if the transmission isn't the best tool for the job.
In order to settle this once and for all, I intend to employ various techniques of acceleration over the course of a long-distance trip, while monitoring certain parameters in Scangauge, to determine the method of acceleration that yields the least amount of fuel used.
I have tried monitoring AVG (average miles per gallon) before, with very broad results. I believe that either the TFC (trip fuel cost) or the trip total gallons consumed would be the best bet for this.
My idea is to record the starting cost or quantity at a stop. Then accelerate to 55 MPH and record the ending cost or quantity, repeating this for various acceleration techniques. Quite simply, the technique that yields the least fuel consumption from 0 to 55 MPH should be most efficient.
The techniques that I will test are:
- Acceleration at a given throttle setting (10%, 20%, 80%, etc.)
- Acceleration at a given MAP (manifold absolute pressure) setting (20 in. Hg, 22 in. Hg, 26 in. Hg, etc.)
- Induced shifting at a given RPM (2000, 2500, 4000, etc.)
I'll be making the trip tomorrow. Not sure how many of these I'll be able to check out, but I will update when I get some results.