Controversial idea to better FE

[Thymeclock]

Originally Posted by KITT222

Well... I never thought it'd be generally accepted as it is. Surprise to me.

In the area I drive, which is a very spread out suburb, has a few lights, but speeds that at minimum are 45MPH, and the main stretch to my high school has a speed of 55MPH and only two stop lights.

I'll look for that 'sweet spot' in the Vibe. The thing can rev to over 5k RPMs before shifting, but when I saw the needle that high, I let off a bit. It's almost weird to watch me accelerate. I hit it, and it's loud, the car rear backs, but once I hit the speed limit, I'm a steady, calm driver, no matter how close that truck gets to my rear bumper. For the ABA, I'll check around on Google earth, but I may have to go to the nearby Native American reservation to find a good road.

It sounds to me like you are flooring it. That probably isn't a good strategy for maintaining the best FE. Your vehicle will be consuming more gas than usual under conditions of heavy acceleration. When that occurs some of your optimal FE is lost, and it ends up being a wash at best.

As some mentioned, the best strategy is 'brisk' acceleration done in an appropriate way, to get into the higher gears and enter torque converter lockup ASAP. But anything can be overdone. If acceleration is excessive it isn't going to have a beneficial result.

[brucey]

I've also found out via scangauge that the best method for my car (automatic transmission) is about 3/4 throttle to get to speed (30 mph). Then once in 4th gear ease back up and let the torque converter lock up and try to hold it no matter what.

This doesen't apply in stop and go traffic, of course. But if you're starting from a standstill and going on a 35 mph road, it's perfect.

[comptiger5000]

I've found this to be very true in my Jeep as well. However, being that it has a good bit of power, there are times where I can't pick up as fast (traffic, etc).

[gone-ot]

...FWIW, that's the method I use on both our '04 and '09 Vibes with 4A tranny's:

• briskly up to speed, always avoiding down-shift.
• upon TC-lock-up, back off on throttle.
• maintain highest gear at lowest RPMs, without lugging.

...now, if I only can the wife to do it!