Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnnyRun
I recently purchased a manual transmission car, and have a few questions on how to increase its fuel efficiency even greater. This is my first time driving stick shift (aside from a motorcycle), so I was wondering what would be the best time to shift gears (in rpm's) in order to keep efficiency up. Its a '93 Civic Dx if that helps. One more question. Lets say I'm coasting in neutral at 30 mph, and need to accelerate because the streetlight turned green. Would I shift to the appropriate gear for that speed? And would going from neutral to 3rd, for example, damage the transmission? Any answers would be greatly appreciated, since I'm only a beginner! I've been hypermiling in automatic cars though, and have seen some impressive gains, like 20% mpg, so I'm optimistic! Thanks again
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I'm in a similar position as you. 12 years as a biker, 2 months as the owner of a stick (2005 Mustang GT).
Drive it like your bike. You'd never dump it into 1st going 75 on the bike, so the same applies to your car. Like others have said, pick the right gear for your speed. Like the bike, you will know just by the sound of your engine, so give it some time.
Once you get used to the feel of the engine and your gear ratios, you will be able to dump it into a higher gear. In your example, you're in neutral at 30 MPH and need to go into gear. Because of my gearing in my Mustang, I can put it into 5th gear at 30 MPH (and be just above idle at ~949 RPM). Acceleration will be slow, but I'll most likely be catching up to the cars that were stopped at the light. If there were no cars ahead, I'd dump it into 4th and get up to speed and shift normally, assuming the speed limit is higher than 30, otherwise I'd just stay in 5th.