Greetings all,
I still have a smile on my face every time I drive my new/used car, a 06 red/black MCS. I have had it about a month now and had a couple questions for the experts.
First it is a 06 MCS w/6MT and Navi. 15 inch rims with 205/50 15's.
The previous owner changed to this rim/tire set-up about a year ago. Questions:

1. At around 70 - 80 mph what should the RPMs be in 6th? I'm getting around 3500 rpm, seems a bit high and I'm concerned about cruising long distances. This leads to question 2.
2. With the Navi, there is no temp gauge. Is there an aftermarket gauge for temp I can get installed. I just like know where the temp is at all times while driving.
3. When I drive this wheel/tire set-up moderately hard, sometime the ABS and Tire pressure monitor come on. Everything seems to be fine. Is this because of the wheel/tire size and no run-flats?

Sorry for all the questions, but I want to enjoy my car fully and these are few nagging??s. Thanks for any information, I look forward to posting and conversing further with all of you.
Jason
in Long Beach, Ca

 

Can't answer for the 06, but for the 08 (turbo) 80mph is about 3200rpm. Seems a little zoomy to me, too. On the plus side, you're in a good power zone for passing, but for the sake of noise level and maybe mpg, I'd like one more taller gear for pure highway cruising.

 

3500 sounds about right for 6th in the manual. Sixth gear in the auto is much taller as 70 mph is about 2500 rpm.

 

Cool, thank you both for your responses. Being new here, I had questions right off the bat. After exploring the site I have come across the RPM answers and coupled with your responses I feel a little better about it.

 

One way to display what's going on under the bonnet is with a Scan Gauge II -- look for posts/reviews here on NAM. It will let you display some temperatures, battery voltage, other stuff, as well as duplicating data shown other places, such as mpg, rpm, and mph. Plugs into the OBDII diagnostic port, so it's easy to install.

 

1st Gen MCS built July 2004 onward has a 6th gear ratio of 3.126. With 205/50-15 tires 2960 RPM are required to maintain 65 MPH. At 3500 RPM the speed would be 76.8 MPH. 205/55-15 would have been a better choice in tire size as these would require 100 less RPM to maintain 65 MPH.

 

Wow, thanks MINIAC. I'm pretty rusty on my math but I'm sure I can ask my son for help.

I do plan to moving to this tire set-up once I save a few duckets:

225/50R16 on 16x7 wheels. I like the old school look of the smaller wheel and taller tire.

I'll plug this in the equation to see if it beneifts my RPMs...