Yeah I keep an eye on my MPG meter these days (saves money and stops me driving like a tool) and just stay in the gear that is within the right rev range for top efficiency, which isn't always the highest one.
When do you use 5th gear
- Thread starter Ixon
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Yeah I keep an eye on my MPG meter these days (saves money and stops me driving like a tool) and just stay in the gear that is within the right rev range for top efficiency, which isn't always the highest one.
When doing a commentary on an advanced driving course, the phrase 3rd for flexibility is used often
But this is the point I made earlier, just being in the highest gear is not the most economical, especially in a diesel with low engine braking, and with other factors such as control, the highest gear is often the worst, especially around town.
I regularly get 68-70 mpg in our Audi, so I can't be doing much wrong, and the Scooby is more economical in lower gears, and drives like a dog when out of its optimal torque range. I like to sit it just off boost for best all round flexibility and economy.
Caporegime
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That's exactly my take on the situation, i really don't think 5th is the right gear to be in when only doing 30mph, it fails on both economy and safety ground imho.
because if your required speed means your sitting 500rpm from the redline that's stupid?
I get better economy in 5th compared to 4th, even at 30mph. Less throttle application needed unless you need to speed up for some reason. If there's little traffic and the road is clear, no reason not to use it. If it's busier, then yes, being in 4th or 3rd is much easier from a driving point of view. You could always just change from 5th when you need to as well though. You just need to anticipate the road ahead I guess.
Soldato
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Over 50mph. My engine only has 59 lbsft of torque and when it labours it really does labour!
In my 1.3l petrol Yaris, 4th at 30mph is about 1500rpm and I wouldn't even consider going into 5th till 40mph+. I don't think I drive on roads that a long enough and clear enough to warrant sitting in 5th at 30mph, plus the engine sounds wrong in 5th at 30mph.
2nd and 3rd are the main gears for my Scoob round town, 4th at 37ish and 5th at 45ish.
That power comes in most handy when you need to safely overtake, the rest of the time I just love the sound
cant argue with that...sound is one of the main reason to own a scoob is it not?
same. Like all gears, i change up around 3k, which puts it in at around 2k in the next gear. Basically ill be in 5th from about 35mph if i dont need to accelerate.
I could rev the nuts off it in first and then block change into 6th if I wanted to!
5th Gear? - around 15mph....
HGV five o/
Completely depends on the road and traffic for me. If it's 30MPH and clear ahead then I will pootle along in 5th, the revs are quite low but the engine isn't labouring and the realtime MPG needle sits all the way left (60 marker). I find it does the same in 4th gear too but obviously the revs are a bit higher.
I doubt it matters that much on my car though. Sometimes I even just leave it in 3rd if there is some traffic, as long as the engine is pootling along without having to work the needle stays the same. A few times it's been in 3rd and I've forgotten about the gear I'm in because it's so quiet between 3rd, 4th or 5th at 30-40mph.
I doubt it matters that much on my car though. Sometimes I even just leave it in 3rd if there is some traffic, as long as the engine is pootling along without having to work the needle stays the same. A few times it's been in 3rd and I've forgotten about the gear I'm in because it's so quiet between 3rd, 4th or 5th at 30-40mph.
I can go into 5th at 25mph, I have boost that low down the rev range (starts kicking in around 1600rpm), and she pulls, and I dont mean just a little, she will pick up her heels and go (pretty standard, running around 312bhp).
I will admit that the car does have AVCS and is twin scroll (2ltr) and as quite a few manufacturers now use twin scroll technology (Renault, Vauxhall, Mitsubishi etc), it does improve things a little (far more responsive than single scroll tech which would be laggy that far down the rev range, even with variable valve timing).
That is pretty low geared, 1600rpm at 25mph is 6400 rpm at 100mph, few cars are geared that low these days, unless your car is 6-7 speed, in which case replace 5th with top.
Soldato
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