For those with manual tranny's, I am just curious what rev's you shift at for just normal driving [like when your spouse is sitting there in the passenger seat eyeing the speedo ].

When just "driving" from A to B and not pushing it, I usually shift at around 3000. Do you let it rev higher? Lower?

 

Since I like to drive in the 2500 to 3000 range I usually shift from 3000 to 3500 in non spirited driving. There usually isn't some point in shifting though that I can't help but go a bit higher and let the car wind out a bit though.

 

2500-3500, occasionally 4000 depending on what gear and the circumstances

 

3000 RPM is a nice point to shift for overall economy. On my current car, a 2002 Lexus IS300 (my MC isn't due for delivery until next week (the suspense is killing me!)), I also like to "1-3-5" shift. Believe it or not, I improved my fuel economy by 27% by doing this (18mpg to 23mpg combined). 1-2-4 works as well, but now with the extra gear, I'm guessing that my new shift pattern will be 1-3-5-6 . Give skip-shifting a try on your next tank and see what happens MPG wise. A little easing up and smarter driving will surprise you.

And no, I NEVER lug the motor, and yes, it's always fun to occasionally "blow it out" by getting nasty with that long pedal on the right!