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Mr. Luddite

On 4/26/2016 3:33 PM, wrote:
On Tue, 26 Apr 2016 13:15:52 -0400, Keyser Söze
wrote:

On 4/26/16 1:07 PM, wrote:
On Tue, 26 Apr 2016 05:42:54 -0700 (PDT), Tim
wrote:

I run through town in 3rd on my Guzzi. Get it out on the road and a lot of times I'll do the 1-3-5 Dom a dead stop. Lugging isn't good. I agree

Lugging is not really a problem if you are spinning up 2500 or more
and with a useable RPM band of 2500-7500 (the redline) you don't need
that many gears to get a little car like mine going.
The V-tech doesn't even kick in until 5000.
If you are driving aggressively you probably try to stay between 5000
and 7000 and if you are not in a hurry you stay between 2500 and 5000,
In normal light to light, 1-3-5 seems to work fine and I end up using
2 and 4 when i am slowing down for turns and such. Four is probably
the least used gear. With the speed limits around here and some well
timed lights, I spend most of the time in 5.

I go through the gears on Mr. Blue when starting up from a dead stop,
and downshift through them to negotiate steeper hills and 90 degree
turns. First is pretty close to a stump puller, but the truck is not a
lightweight, so I use first to get rolling. I usually don't use fifth or
sixth unless I'm out on State Route 4 or better.

That is just a reflection of the Northeast thing. Your roads were laid
out when people were riding horses and they have fairly low speed
limits. In SW Florida the 2 lane blacktops are 50 or 60, Us 41 is 55
at the end of the feeder road to my street and the interstate is 70.
Most people speed, at least 10 over. The cops seem to not really care
until you are 15 or 20 over is you are not on a residential street or
s school zone. Unlike Maryland, they do not see speeding as a profit
center.
I have to say I am not really that conscious of what gear I am in most
of the time. I drive by the sound of the engine and the feel of the
road. After 15 years in this car, I just pick the gear instinctively.
I have been driving a stick all my life.
I was out today and 1-3-5 is not right. On US41 it was more like 1-2-5
on my little trip today
At 2500 RPM, 1st is 12, 2d is 22, 3d is 31, 4th is 40 and 5th is
faster than I could go from here to publix.
I downshifted to 3 from 5 to make the turn into the Publix lot road
(made the light) and hit 2d while I was in the lot itself.
I do hit these turns pretty hard tho. That Prelude still handles
pretty well, probably better than my 69 Corvette ;-)

Car engines today are designed to rev higher than in the old days and
the torque/horsepower ratings can be deceiving because they are
developed at RPM's that you don't get near in normal driving. It's
interesting to look at their horsepower/torque curves and compare them
to the old big blocks of the 60's. A big old 454, 440 or the famous 426
Hemi developed gobs of torque at 3000 RPM or so. The new
engines can develop decent torque but at much higher RPM.