Daily driving m6 shift points?

Snake Eater · 10-19-2005, 12:22 PM

My concern is not to baby my car too much, but also not to dog on it as well. I hear different from each an every person who drives a m6. My question is what are the safe/recommended shift points. I go 1st-2nd at 15mph, 2nd-3rd at 25 mph, 3rd-4th at 40 mph, 4th-5th at 45 mph, and 5th-6th at 50 mph. Is this correct or to low for the car, possibly resulting in bogging?.. others i know either go lower/higher. can anyone give me suggestions?
MY MODS: catback, lid, headers, ory-- if this makes a difference.

Thanks..

MOLESTER · 10-19-2005, 04:54 PM

drive it like every car should. if you hear the engine start to bog shift a little later, in daily driving situations you shouldn't have to keep track of what speeds you shift at. just drive it how your car needs to be driven.

**02z28ls1** · 10-19-2005, 05:08 PM

My opinion is that you can skip gears-I go 1 to 3 to 5 all the time.Other times it's more appropriate to go 1 to 2 to 4 to 5-what you need to pay attention to is what are the traffic and terrain conditions-how much strain are you putting on the engine.If you are accelerating hard you need to be in a lower gear so you aren't loading the engine. The LS1 has a broad torque range-try skipping gears with a 4.6 mod motor Mustang and you'll feel the bog.With the LS1 F-bodies you don't feel like you're straining the engine-IMHO that doesn't make it a good idea to lug the engine.Keep the rpm s up and you'll lessen the strain.Your shift points are OK w/me-but I would hold off on 6th gear until at least 60 mph or more-it's a heavy overdrive-and downshift if you are going to accelerate at all,unless you're going 120.I don't use 6th gear that much and it really doesn't affect gas mileage that much (I have an on-board computer monitoring device)unless your on open hiway cruise mode.In closing I wanted to say GOODBYE EVERYBODY!

edit-I guess we're back on so-nevermind!!!!!!!!

**sscrazy** · 10-20-2005, 02:56 PM

I pretty much listen to the motor for my shifting. But I think a safe motto is if you are doing over 60 then 6th 50 then fifth 40 4th 30 3rd and 20 2nd. thats pretty easy to remember. but im usually doing 60 in first before i shift

**GatorSS** · 10-20-2005, 09:21 PM

Originally Posted by sscrazy

I pretty much listen to the motor for my shifting. But I think a safe motto is if you are doing over 60 then 6th 50 then fifth 40 4th 30 3rd and 20 2nd. thats pretty easy to remember. but im usually doing 60 in first before i shift

So, do you do a lot of 1st to 6th shifting? I have many, many times. Most of the time, I go through all the gears. Other times, whatever I feel like doing.

It's all part of the fun of the M6.

**02z28ls1** · 10-21-2005, 10:33 AM

If you usually go 60 mph in first before you shift -start lookin for a replacement engine now,you'll need it soon.I have to drive in traffic alot and if I can get a clear shot ahead then I can let it rip-otherwise there's no point to revving the f@#k out of it.Save your motor for when it counts -unless you have alot of time and money on your hands-I have neither.

**TGrits10** · 10-21-2005, 10:58 AM

Why does everyone refer to speeds? I go by rpms, since that's really the issue.

If I'm not in a particular hurry, I like to keep the revs in the 1500-2500, my lead foot tending to stretch the shift points up closer to 3k. For steady-speed cruising, I keep in the 2000-2500 range; below 2k it's lugging, above 2.5k is just too much revs/noise.

Gotta love the wide torque band on these motors. If I get on the gas and let it rev up a ways to get into the powerband, half the time I find I'm shifting at 4-5k. Only when I'm really focusing on winding it out do I realize there's even more revs available. In the twisties the midrange is great, no need to downshift all the time, just keep the rpm's in the 3k+ range and you'll have plenty of power.

**02z28ls1** · 10-21-2005, 05:13 PM

True that-People wanted to talk about speed-it's better to watch your rpm.I've driven old trucks for years that didn't have a working speedometer-just a tach.I also watch rpm as well as speed.Nothing personal-but I find it hard to believe that anyone constantly winds out 1st gear to 60mph and then shifts into double overdrive as their next gear.I just don't understand why you would do this-are you in a hurry to get to 60 mph and then not in a hurry anymore?You've got 6 speeds to chose from-why not use them.Can anyone explain the logic behind this-I've never heard of or witnessed anyone doing this while driving around town or at the track or???-Anyone?

**GatorSS** · 10-22-2005, 08:27 AM

Originally Posted by sscrazy

I pretty much listen to the motor for my shifting. But I think a safe motto is if you are doing over 60 then 6th 50 then fifth 40 4th 30 3rd and 20 2nd. thats pretty easy to remember. but im usually doing 60 in first before i shift

I was commenting about the above quote of "but im usually doing 60 in first before i shift" along with "60 then 6th" to make my "So, do you do a lot of 1st to 6th shifting?" comment.

I never said I constantly wind it up to 60 then shift to 6th, just that I've done the 1st-to-6th shift more than once, but not at 60mph. I constantly use all my gears in normal, everyday driving. The 1st-to-6th shift is an occasional thing, like maybe once a month or so or less, which in 10 years of 6-speed driving, does add up to many, many times. If I've been in a situation where I've got to get out into traffic where there's a small window of opportunity and the traffic is moving along about 55mph, I've got on it fairly hard in 1st and shifted to 6th around 50 or so and eased right into the flow of traffic. Each of the cars handled it with ease. (Come to think of it, many of those times "many, many" times were 1st-to-5th shifts depending on the traffic flow.)

It's not a constant thing, just something I've done that fit the situation real well.