Where in the rev range are you?

[Carbon Based]

Picture the scene, you find yourself on a wonderful road, gentle rolling curves mixed with really tight, sharp turns. Some with open visibility so you can see not just the next corner but the one beyond, others with limited view to keep you technically alert.

Vertical bends are accommodated with light undulations or occasional steeper climbs and drops.

Sometimes these flow smoothly from one twist to the next. At others, they are linked with straight sections, short but just long enough if you need to overtake the very occasional vehicle and sometimes long so that you can just enjoy the view.

You get the picture?

So how much of the rev range of your car is being used?

Assuming UK legality,and depending on the car, second gear could do all of this, with some headroom to spare as I approach 7,000rpm. Bit tiring and wasteful on those straights but very responsive round the twisty bits. Third would still be fine. On the straights, well I can go to 7th, and left to auto, it will do so very quickly.

What about you?

[superplum]

Picture the scene, you find yourself on a wonderful road, gentle rolling curves mixed with really tight, sharp turns. Some with open visibility so you can see not just the next corner but the one beyond, others with limited view to keep you technically alert.

Vertical bends are accommodated with light undulations or occasional steeper climbs and drops.

Sometimes these flow smoothly from one twist to the next. At others, they are linked with straight sections, short but just long enough if you need to overtake the very occasional vehicle and sometimes long so that you can just enjoy the view.

You get the picture?

So how much of the rev range of your car is being used?

Assuming UK legality,and depending on the car, second gear could do all of this, with some headroom to spare as I approach 7,000rpm. Bit tiring and wasteful on those straights but very responsive round the twisty bits. Third would still be fine. On the straights, well I can go to 7th, and left to auto, it will do so very quickly.

What about you?

Staying "technically alert", what is a "vertical bend" and how long are the straight bits?

[trashbat]

Second gear isn't just tiring in terms of noise, it's tiring in terms of dealing with the high level of engine braking, so you have to stay permanently 'on it' and be very attentive to the smoothness of throttle changes. That quickly cancels out the flexibility it gives you.

It all depends on the car. There's not much benefit using the full rev range of the average diesel, but if you had say a Honda S2000, the situation would be reversed.

What motivates the question, other than an out-of-interest survey?

[TheInsanity1234]

Me being young and full of energy, I'd just change up and down as is appropriate, but I appreciate that perhaps the majority of chaps here are slightly older and not quite as full of energy as I am

[martine]

Dare I say: "It depends"...sorry but I find it difficult to answer this type of question...so much depends on the car, the road, the mood I'm in, traffic around, the weather, time of day etc.

You can define it all you like but it still 'depends'.

Sorry

[gannet]

Dare I say: "It depends"...sorry but I find it difficult to answer this type of question...so much depends on the car, the road, the mood I'm in, traffic around, the weather, time of day etc.

You can define it all you like but it still 'depends'.

Sorry

+1 but Ill add another...

depends who is in the passenger seat

[Carbon Based]

...and be very attentive to the smoothness of throttle changes. That quickly cancels out the flexibility it gives you.

It was this, some observations about smoothness. But the odd foray into the upper reaches of the range does sound and feel nice, a little lumpiness needing to be worked on. I guess that can be a challenge in lieu of learning to heel & toe.

[jcochrane]

Picture the scene, you find yourself on a wonderful road, gentle rolling curves mixed with really tight, sharp turns. Some with open visibility so you can see not just the next corner but the one beyond, others with limited view to keep you technically alert.

Vertical bends are accommodated with light undulations or occasional steeper climbs and drops.

Sometimes these flow smoothly from one twist to the next. At others, they are linked with straight sections, short but just long enough if you need to overtake the very occasional vehicle and sometimes long so that you can just enjoy the view.

You get the picture?

So how much of the rev range of your car is being used?

Assuming UK legality,and depending on the car, second gear could do all of this, with some headroom to spare as I approach 7,000rpm. Bit tiring and wasteful on those straights but very responsive round the twisty bits. Third would still be fine. On the straights, well I can go to 7th, and left to auto, it will do so very quickly.

What about you?

Staying "technically alert", what is a "vertical bend" and how long are the straight bits?

"Vertical bends"---crestings.

[superplum]

Staying "technically alert", what is a "vertical bend" and how long are the straight bits?

"Vertical bends"---crestings.

I thought "crestings" was something to do with newts!

[jameslb101]

I have a personal hatred of light throttle openings (not closed throttle) at high engine speeds as it can accelerate engine wear.

Never heard this before. In terms of mechanical sympathy, I always believed that this was preferable to large throttle openings at low engine speeds (making the engine 'labour' etc) to achieve the same rate of acceleration.

[TripleS]

....how much of the rev range of your car is being used?

No more than about half, most of the time.

[TripleS]

I have a personal hatred of light throttle openings (not closed throttle) at high engine speeds as it can accelerate engine wear.

Never heard this before. In terms of mechanical sympathy, I always believed that this was preferable to large throttle openings at low engine speeds (making the engine 'labour' etc) to achieve the same rate of acceleration.

I don't know about small throttle openings being bad at high revs., (that's a new one on me, so I can't comment) but I do accept that wide throttle openings at low revs are inadvisable.

On one occasion I was criticised by an HPC member for running at low revs. in 5th gear in a 30 mph limit. The claim was that I was causing the engine to labour, and I did not agree. It would have been labouring if I'd used a wide throttle opening at the low revs. but that wasn't the case. We were running at a light throtle opening so there was not much load on the engine at all. Case dismissed.

[jcochrane]

Having had a little bit of a play yesterday, I think my decision making process around gears boils down to this:

1. If I'm accelerating (or indeed braking - after all the sound of a nice heel-and-toe change is addictive in certain cars) then I'm happy to use all of the rev range in a particular gear. Often the appropriate gear is chosen not in terms of road speed but in terms of one's ability to control the throttle pedal accurately when you're being shaken around by bumps and the like.

2. When 'cruising', this being defined as more or less at the appropriate speed for the road, then I'd be very inclined to using a much higher gear. If I'm not going to drop out of the sweet spot in that gear, then I wouldn't necessarily change down for corners and the like.

Those who took tuition back in the late 80s and early 90s with a certain gnome-like instructor (and gmome-like not in a Yoda sort of way) will remember that he insisted on letting the engine 'sing' pretty much all the time. If 2nd could be used he almost expected that to be the case, despite how out of step that was with his previous teachings. I have a personal hatred of light throttle openings (not closed throttle) at high engine speeds as it can accelerate engine wear.

Sorry to have missed yesterdays playtime.
I am in agreement with both your points and is the way I tend yo approach gear selection these days.

By contrast......
Ah, yes "the gnome". I'm sure I as also had training from him. "Don't change up unless you hit the red line." More a question of driving with revs at maximum power (engine singing away all the time at the upper end of the rev range) than maximum torque. Would that be the same gnome?

I very much agree with your last paragraph. Someone once drove my car like that and I was not at all pleased.

[7db]

I have a personal hatred of light throttle openings (not closed throttle) at high engine speeds as it can accelerate engine wear.

Do you mean cruising at high revs? I wonder how to reconcile this with not changing up on approach into the hazard (but not wanting the engine braking of the lower gear).

[Carbon Based]

If I've understood that correctly, the extreme of light throttle, high revs, low load would be revving a stationary car.