Have a 2001 6 speed manual. In NY when highway cruising at 55 or 60 should I be in 6th or keep the revs up in 5th?

Let's face facts. The car is really happy when turning 4000 rpm/

Thanks for the input

 

I usually stay in 5th at that speed while anything over 65-70 and I'm in 6th. It depends how many dinosaurs you want to burn I suppose.

 

5th ? 6th !!

55? - try 3rd

 

Does your car even go that fast?

 

YEP 3rd

...what is this 6th gear you speak of????

 

no kidding, is that thing even legal to use

 

I tend to keep mine in 4th under 60, and then change to 5th up to about 70. FWIW, a tiptronic will shift into 6th at about 50!

 

HA, a PDK with shift into high at 40! - like 1500 rpm (unless you push the magic "sport PLUS" button)

 

Clearly, all these guys have more money for gas than I do. In the 50's...I use 5th gear. I'll use 5th a lot higher if I'm going up a slope. But on flat roads from 60 up -- 6th.

There was a culture in Porsche that started with the 356 of not letting your revs get below 3000 for normal running. But...that was mostly because the cooling fans in 356's were marginal...so you wanted to keep the revs up to manage temps....and because the engines were small with little torque....so you kept your revs up for hp.

The cooling issue disappeared with the 911...but, people still kept their revs up and "cleaned" out the engine due to leaded fuel and less-than-precise fuel metering.

With the accurate fuel metering we have now, water cooling and unleaded fuel...all you need to do is avoid lugging the engine. All higher revs are for speed and entertainment. BUT....it's damn fine entertainment.

 

5th but I rarely drive 55

 

And that's how Porsche maintains their MPG claims.

 

At BIR 5th gear is good for 150 down the main straight.

 

55-60 in 4th. Our cars have tall gears. Here is a story that happened today. I'm driving back from a pcar event at the local dealer, I'm in 5th doing 70 on 465 (the loop around Indy). Some dude in a Pontiac Grand Prix decides to close in on me hard and we are side by side. He looks at me and I downshift to 4th and than to 3rd still doing 70. I see his eyes widen when he hears the motor and he decides to punch it. He has no clue that 3rd will take me to around 103....so I had to show him . Oh how I love this car!

 

NYC would be 3rd, and upstate would be 4th.

 

+1 w/pilot.
heard that exact same story............