Where do you shift?

[Cobain03]

for daily driving use to get best mpg? i know its a mustang and that = bad in itself but trying to learn how to drive this car around town. is it OK to drive around at say 50 in 5th gear at say 1500 rpm? or is that lugging it ?

 

[Red2000GT]

If you're only trying to maintain speed,then it's fine. If you're expecting to drive normally,up and down some small hills even,then yes thats lugging it and will actually hurt your mileage. With my 3.73's and such,I typically shift right around 1800-2000 rpm for around town driving.

 

[RedDaemon]

50 in 5th is cool, i do it all the time

dont try to accelerate cuz you wont go anywhere

 

[Mustang5L5]

I usually wind 1st out to 3000RPM before I shift and then shift at 2500 for the rest of the gears.


I can't use 5th gear at all. 2003+ GT's get a 0.63 5th gear which is equal to the Cobra's 6th gear. The jump from 4th to 5th is huge and at 50MPH with stock 3.27's i would be doing 1300RPM.

On the plus side, 80MPH is 2000 RPM

 

[squeak93]

Take off in second in 5th by 40.... Oh, wait, thats with 4.30's. Still horrible mileage. With stock gears stay under 2500 and u should be ok.

 

[blackfang]

7000 rpm because I got these mods to enjoy and not worry about mpg

 

[myponyrocks]

I shift at about 1200 rpm lately. Onl down shift to accelrate. I'm in 5th by low 40's (3.73s)

 

[Superhereaux]

around 2000 rpm every gear normally. i don't make it a point to do that but it seems as though that's what i do


i usually only use 5th on the highway, the rest of the time the speed limit is always 30-45 mph so i keep it in 4th




stock 3.27's

 

[bullitt_2620]

I found that after the exhaust was on, my shift point moved from around 23-2500 to around 3000. I dont think there is that much of a difference in mileage by the increase, but then again, I cant remember the last time I got more than 20mpg...

 

[Stang|ess]

I used to shift around 2500, but I now find myself going anywhere from 3k to 3500.

That might have something to do with the 11mpg I got last fillup.

 

[squeak93]

I used to shift around 2500, but I now find myself going anywhere from 3k to 3500.

That might have something to do with the 11mpg I got last fillup.

I hear ya. Havn't driven my car much do to all the freezing rain and snow. So this tank will barely make 150 by the time its to 1/4. Missed my car!

 

[mrvax]

If you're only trying to maintain speed,then it's fine. If you're expecting to drive normally,up and down some small hills even,then yes thats lugging it and will actually hurt your mileage. With my 3.73's and such,I typically shift right around 1800-2000 rpm for around town driving.

Exact same here. BTW, my 100% stop/go mileage is nasty. Getting about 14.5mpg. New air filter and decent tune up also.

 

[BlackGT4.6]

3000rpms with 4.10s still getting around 20mpg

 

[40th GT]

It's not about when you shift, it's about how much throttle is being applied. For instance, you could be at 1500rpm in 5th gear with the gas pedal halfway down, or be at 2000rpm in 4th. The latter will save more gas b/c you won't have to apply as much throttle.

 

[WillDuhhBeast]

I shift at about 1200 rpm lately. Onl down shift to accelrate. I'm in 5th by low 40's (3.73s)

I dont know how you could possibly drive like that. You'd have to shift 34523452354525 times.


You'd be going like 3 miles an hour when you shift to second. and then like 20 when you shift to third. You'd be bogging every gear.

 

[ADRENLN]

i was thinking the same thing......1200rmp! you wouldnt eve nbe moving.

 

[kaostik]

i find myself cruising at about 2300 - 2500. any higher, in cruise mode, and it just sounds like i need to shift, unless im wot-ing it of course, since its not sitting on any given rpm, but climbing.... if im trying to get fast from 0 mph, ill shift around 4000 - 5000 through the gears. unless im racing, then im redlining

i usually stick to 4th on the highway at around 60 or so. thats about 2400, give or take. i dont stay on the highway for more than 10 minutes usually. if im going for a trip on the highway for a while, ill put her in 5th, and cruise at just under 2000 at about 70. otherwise, 5th seems powerless until im at about 75mph.

i like keeping it at 2500 because it sounds so nice and i can get a burst of acceleration when i need it. i dont care about gas mileage...i traded a hemi ram for the stang last month, so ANYTHING i get with the stang is better, mpg-wise. ill cruise at 4500 for an hour and still get better mpg than the old hemi.

on the stang with just a flowmaster catback, ive been averagine 15.5- 15.8 mpgs every fill up, thats about 60% city, 40% highway, and getting around 200 miles on a full tank when the low fuel light glows up.

i was getting 10.4 from the hemi stock. after exhaust, functional ram air hood with intake, superchips, i got a best of 13.3 mpgs. roughly 11 city and 17 highway.