discoganya

How often do you guys use 6th gear? The previous owner of my car (2000 996 C2) was a race car driver and mentioned that he rarely used 6th gear. Even if he was cruising on the freeway at 80 MPH he'd use 5th. That's not what the drivers manual says -- so I'm curious. Will I be lugging the engine at 80 MPH on the freeway @ 3000-3200 RPM? Shifting up to 5th brings you to 4000 or so RPM. Is it better to drive keep the engine revved to a slightly higher RPM?

robbonds

if you are gonna cruise at 80 id use 6th....if you want to drive spirited (with multiple quick accelerations, slowdowns etc...) stay in 5th so it can rev higher and you will be ready to accelerate...80 in 6th will not lug the engine...

ElTorrente

I use whatever gear keeps my RPMs above 3K. You want to keep your engine in its torque-band.

I think a lot of people drive around in 6th gear, or the highest gear possible, thinking they are doing the engine a favor by using low rpms- but in reality they are lugging the engine and causing carbon deposits and other bad stuff. Lugging an engine is always bad.

rcg412

I only use 6th in ~90+ mph. I try to keep the RPMs around 4K (middle 3-5K band)

marlinspike

You can feel when an engine lugs, and the 3.6 doesn't lug until around 1400rpm, above that you're golden. I would be in 6th on the highway, if you're just crusing you are in fact doing your car a favor. Even in sixth, if you're doing over 60 it won't cause carbon build up. RPMs (and father time) are what wear out engines (time wears out the seals). RPMs wear pistons, cylinders, water pumps, anything that moves faster as the rpms rise also wears more as the rpms rise.

Riad

For me, it's wherever 3K sits.

kem

I have hardly ever used 6th gear, maybe once. Around town I try to keep the revs around 3500, or close 4000 where its not too loud for cruising but I still have some grunt if i need o step on it. On the freeway I just work up to 5th and leave it there.

gravedgr

I use 6th except when in my driveway, in which case I use 1st.

snaproll

The manual suggests shifting to a lower gear when the revs drop to 1500.

The idea of running the car with higher revs probably dates back to the air-cooled cars, which would keep the revs up to pull more air and aid cooling. Doesn't make any sense to do that with a liquid cooled car.

My 996 is running at about 3200 RPM in 6th at about 80 MPH, and the car moves out OK if you stick your foot in it from there. If you really need to go, change down a gear or two. All you're doing by running in 5th when you could be in 6th is making the engine turn more RPMs to travel the same distance.

Moogle

in the p-cars only a handful of times ever.

BMWs are always using 6th on the highway to keep engine speed down, also because SMG can shift down fast.

hell, i rarely use 5th

JES1680

I use 6th more than 5th. For crusing on the hwy. I Once up to speed in 4th I usually skip to 6th. Lower RPMs = Better milage. I usually get around 19mpg, except for 2 weeks when I ran muffler bypass pipes. Tiptoed around town for the most part and got 23mpg.

Shark

I try to keep revs while cruising at 2200-2400 to decrease the strain on the engine.

Never used 6th?.......remind me not to buy your cars

SRL

General rule for me: 6th for freeway cruising in light traffic only.

Ucube

I also use 6th for 60+ MPH cruising mainly for the benefits of reduced engine strain and fuel economy. The beauty of the Porsche boxer engine is even the 6th gear pulls hard when you stick it.

pl

damn, where is my 6th?
never mind, i have tip lol