[jrocheunh]

So I was driving my car from one lot to another today to get it closr to the dorm, and a friend came along with me (to laugh at my driving a stick)

Well I didnt stall, but almost did twice.

Anyways, seeing as my car has no tach, Im not really sure when to shift, and I feel like I am shifting too early and keeping the rpms too low.

So what would you guys reccomend as good "shift speeds"

my dad thinks i should
take 1st to about 20mph
take 2nd to about 30-35 mph
take 3rd to about 40-45mph
take 4th into about 50-60 mph

a friend who drives stick though says I should go about 10 mph less on average then my dad.

 

[ACD]

Don't go by mph ratings. If you don't have a tach, go by sound (which you should be doing anyway.) Listen to when the engine begins to strain (around 3500 rpm on) and then shift. You always know if you shift too early because the engine bogs down and makes a lot of low end sound. Some people are naturally inclined to shift out of gears too early. My girlfriend does this in her A4 and it drives me nuts so I do most of the driving. I also knew a girl who never used first gear. From a stop or a red light she would accelerate away in second. That drove me nuts too. So don't shift too early. Let the car wind up a bit, it likes too plus you use more horsepower.
As shifting becomes second nature, you will only go by sound. I rarely look at my tachometer. Have fun.

 

[11110000]

Those are reasonable shifting speeds.

When I first got my 240, it didn't have a tach either. After I got one, I found that I had been shifting at around 3500RPM, because the noise the engine was making sounded like it was near redline! With the stock cam, though, that's not a bad shifting point.

If you want to find out how far you can rev the engine, hold it in first sometime until it hits the limiter (it will feel like the car just shut off), then let off and shift. This will give you an aural impression of how much room you have to work with.

Personally, I like to run the motor hard fairly often (high RPM) to keep carbon deposits from forming. 100K miles of low-RPM driving can affect your motor the same way a lifetime of lard can affect your heart. Pick up a tach from a pick-n-pull - they're cheap, and a good gauge to have.

 

[towerymt]

I experienced the same thing that Jason metioned. Before I had a tach in my 5spd DL, I never shifted over about 4000rpm. I thought 2nd gear had to be at least 5k at 40mph, but even at 45mph I still have room to go higher.

If I'm going for fast acceleration, I shift at about 25, 45, 60, & 75. Normal driving for me is 20, 35-40, 55-60, and 70mph into 5th, but I tend to accelerate and drive fast.

20mph in 1st is good because 1st gear & 2nd gear are far apart, so you really need to wind out 1st so you don't drop the revs too much going to 2nd.

I've still never hit the 6K rev limiter, but the fastest speeds I've gone in each gear are: 30, 50, 70, 85, & 105. Here are my speeds at 3000 and 3500 rpm in my '87 244, M47, 3.31 rear end, 205/55/15 rear tires:

RPM 3000 | 3500
1st 18mph | 22mph
2nd 32mph | 38mph
3rd 48mph | 55mph
4th
5th 78mph |

I'll try to fill in the rest the next time I'm on a road that allows those speeds.

 

[jrocheunh]

thanks for the replies... i guess I have more room then i thought. Maybe in my free time this summer ill scrounge a tach and install it. I also gotta learn how to change my own oil and stuff like that. First car = many hings to learn. But my Bentley manual is on the way, so I shouldnr have too many problems.

 

[[email protected]]

You see tachs on ebay all the time. I searched Volvo 240 about a day ago and saw a full size tach kit on their with small clock and voltmeter that WAS at $40.

George

 

[idale]

3000-3500 is where I always liked to shift, based on noise and seat-of-the-pants feel. Shifts seemed to work best around there (lower shifts ended up with struggling, and going higher left me with seemingly little power).

The one good thing about having a "noisy" engine: you can hear it working.

I need to get my wife to learn a general-purpose stick so I can get more rowing time than the none I get now. (She does fine with the shift lever, it's just the clutching that she has issues with.

)

 

[ACD]

quote:

Towermt wroter:
If I'm going for fast acceleration...

LOL! I checked my shifting points today. I shift around 3000-3500 around town. That seems like a good compromise to me.
Don't buy a tach off of ebay. It's a rip. Pick one up for like $5 at a boneyard. It takes like 15 min. to do the installation.