jumper5836

yah sorta, speed limits here are 100 km/h
top of 3rd is what, around 140-160 and way over the speed limit

3rd gear @4000 rpm is 100 km/h

nycebo

For about town driving (sustained speeds), I try to keep my revs around 2500rpm. On the highway, that's sixth gear around 75mph. Good cruising speed. Good mileage.

Blackness

I use 6th on the freeway. If I remember correctly, 80mph is around 3000rpm in my '00 996. I get around 25.5-26.5 mpg cruising around 80mph on the freeway. I have no problem passing slower cars while staying in 6th unless I get hemmed in behind an abnormally slow car and want to get around them in short order. So why would I cruise in 5th gear and sacrifice my fuel economy?

I also use all the gears. I'm probably at 75+ in 4th as I hit the freeway if I was able to charge the onramp. 5th allows me to settle into traffic and figure out what I have around me (and if I need to pass a slower car in the right lane). Then 6th for the cruising. They're there, so I use them.

Sanjeevan

I also find the 6th gear acceleration to be sluggish for what the car is actually capable of,...of course it can easily pass most cars on sixth with no effort, but it sure doesn't compare to being in fifth or fourth. When the rpm is at 4k and in 4th gear, I find you only have to think and the car is there, in fifth it takes a few seconds, and a bit more for sith, but still enough. When i am just cruising at 70ish I will use 6th, but for spirited driving the RPM has to be at 4k in 4th.

hwk72

I disagree: 6th gear is designed for the Autobahn and speeds >100mph, not for the Freeway.

I think the questions about 6th gear in the US is very good! When I'm on freeways with a 55mph speed limit (trafic flow is then around 70mph), I hardly use 6th gear as I think the RPM are too low. When the speedlimit is above 65mph, so trafic flow 80mph+, then 6th gear starts to make sence.

I don't think fuel efficiency is much different if you cruise in 5th gear with 70mph or in 6th gear with this speed, it might even be less efficient to plague the car up a hill on the Freeway in 6th gear with 2.5k RPM. In my opinion, our cars are built to be driven in a certain RPM range for me 3k-7k RPM. If you really want to go below 2.5k RPM and think that's cool, then buy a diesel - they have much more torque at 2.5k RMP than our cars, even with half of the power.