I believe the EPA grants the car manufacturer a slight increase in miles per gallon if they add an economy shift light to the car. For maximum performance, I shift between max torque and max HP. Max HP occurs prior to red line. The real question is which is greater, the torque of say the next 100 rpm or the torque produced in the next higher gear at the resulting up-shifted RPM? Dyno results and gear ratios can be used to calculate optimum shift points.

 

Fully agree, why not offer the opposite, i.e. green lights when you reach optimal rpms around 5k, then turn red once you approach the red line?

 

My '88 3.2 had the upshift arrow but the bulb had been removed and the arrow blackened long before I purchased the car. In fact I never noticed it until someone mentioned it over in the 911 forum. Seems so silly in cars like ours. Since I drive a torquey V8 right now I can be pretty lazy with my downshifts in city driving. I will need some re-education once I find my 997.

 

You have a manual transmission. There is no "typical." EVERY situation is different.

It's time for YOU to make that decision. We can't do it for you.

If you have a manual transmission Porsche I can only assume that you know how to drive a manual transmission--correct?

These cars have changed significantly from the days when they were "911s." When the earlier 911s were equipped with smaller displacement engines you had to work more to get power out of your engine. With today's pseudo "911s" equipped with significantly higher displacement engines, you simply do not drive them the same way anymore.

 

OP:

If you understand load, then you'll know that you don't always need to stay on the cam and above 3,000 RPM. Puttering along at 35 MPH, with barely any load and running in 2nd starts to be a little awkward and unnecessary, but this requires a caveat:

Do you know what load is? Do you know why certain longer gears (lower numerically in tooth count) are ok when you don't want to ask the engine to pull hard under a given RPM?

Let's look at 1st gear: Well, you might want to pull moderately hard (decent load) from low RPM because, well, it's 1st gear. It's a short gear and gear reduction eases any pain to the engine when under load....

....but look at all the other gears... and under load (calling for the engine to pull) well, it gets more and more important to keep the RPM up. From 2nd to 3rd and you're knocking something like 1,000 RPM off w/ that gear change.... but I think 3rd to 4th is just a couple of hundred -- that shift is like butter, so if you want to get really into this, your "What RPM do you shift at?", should be considered for each gear.

Modern tranny gears are set up to get good mileage and deliver performance, so they are a compromise. Nothing shows this more than 3rd gear -- it's a 'compromise gear'. You have to really wind out 2nd to land in 3rd at a good RPM.

I suggest you pay attention to the ratios, get a feel for when this engine is 'on the cam', and when you want to accelerate, make sure the engine is 'on the cam', because under load, and at low RPM, the innards just don't like it. I drove four hours today on a coastal loop and I kept 3200 to 3400 for most cruising, and a quick revmatched-downshift to scoot away ( pulling from 4k RPM and up for anything more than moderate accel ).

I'm gonna wear out 3rd gear.... and 5th and 6th probably look brand shiny new inside.

Just my 2 cents, which jives with most... but just adding my own words. I think you should find something like a 16v Toyota Celica engine... the V-VT in the GTS. It didn't make a lick of power until 4200 RPM and the gears were so short it forced you to keep it screaming and it wound out to 8,000+ RPM. Then get back in the 997 and 3500 RPM will feel pedestrian!

Happy Motoring!

 

Upshift at 3000 RPM until the oil temp moves.
Then 3000-4000 RPM until oil reaches 200°.
3000-7000 RPM thereafter.

 

Just to add my worthless opinion; although I feel the pdk shifts up way too early (probably emissions-based) there is no need to cruise at over 3k at all. If you're going to accelerate etc. then fine, but steady-state cruise on a flat-ish surface you're just wasting fuel and possibly increasing engine wear.

 

Shift from 2nd to 3rd at 3000 RPM and you're now pulling from about 2000 paltry RPM in 3rd... which is a long gear (and that compounds the low RPM problem further).... and that is confounded by every piece of advice here and by solid sources of information (techs, authors, etc).

Shift at 3000 in 3rd (to 4th) and I think you barely drop below 3000.

Hard 'n' fast rules fall fast. Know your trans ratios... shift accordingly... and according to use and intentions.

 

well, as for fuel expenditure, my feeling is that gas is cheap, engines are expensive.

All the best...

 

Dan once again succinctly provides direction: driving is dynamic and situational so just keep getting out there for practice.

Listen, feel and learn and you will be rewarded at some point by developing intuition, anticipation and a general oneness (yes, driving should become Zen-like) with your ride.

 

Lots of excellent responses, many thanks, particularly to those who took the time to write a long explanatory response.

I've been driving a manual since 1983, and driving 911 manuals since 2001, but still picked up a few great pointers from this thread. Never too old to learn... Thanks again. Gary