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Does anyone else bother with 6th gear, or is it just me? Above about 3600RPM it starts to pull suffiently well for multi lane driving. At about 4800RPM on bends the engine sounds sedate and you feel like your floating along. It's great, makes a break from hard charging! Car now repaired after debacle with she who wondered if she had hit me! Took the oportunity to have undertray refitted ,so the Plank Club is temporarily (permanently!)dis-banded. Also had the Armor Fend removed from front of car, it looks much better!



Andy

Sometimes I forget there's a sixth gear, as my daily driver is a 5. Usually I'll pop it in sixth on the freeway as a typically fruitless attempt to get decent gas mileage. My best so far: 24 and change mpg.

I use it a lot more now that it's supercharged.

Only when I'm hypermiling <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/smile.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

I use 6th a lot on the freeways here in California, if for no other reason for the fuel economy. Premium fuel here is $4.25/gallon this week.I can drive from my house in Alameda (near San Francisco) to Beverly Hills where my son lives on a single tank of fuel. Fuel consumption is 28 to 29 miles per gallon(US) cruising a 75 mph. If I need to pass a quick downshift to 5th is easily done.

i'd like a taller 6th now that i have the supercharger - no need to be revving over 3k on the freeway anymore

Quote:n[color="#1C2837"][size="2"]o need to be revving over 3k on the freeway anymore[/size][/color]

Agreed!

yeah - with the stock gearing, i'm usually doing about 3400 around here - i'd like to get that down to about 2800 or so, since i no longer have to downshift for passing

Same as Flash, now Supercharged, when driving on the freeway, 6th is a good cruising gear. Still has enough pick up for traffic movement, bu if you want to get by someone, it needs to go back to 5th.



Actually got to use 6th in anger at Bathurst down Conrod Straight. Last year only used 5th, but this year had to change up prior to the first hill.

Chris you've depressed me! Converting Imp. to US gallons and changing to litres times cost per litre in pounds times change to dollar it's about $8.91 for a US gallon at UK prices for premium fuel! Gulp, got to slow down...wonder what it weighs, maybe I could carry the bloody thing!



Andy

lol - about 6.073 lbs/US gallon

My use of 6th gear is directly proportional to the price of gas; I'm working on the chart right now! <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/laugh.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />



Seriously, with the 968, I have become a 6 speed convert; I drive my Porsche every day as a commuter car here in DC, and dont think I can go back to just 5 choices

AJG

At some point US fuel costs will catch up with the rest of the world. It is only a matter of time. When I was in Italy in 2008, the first time I filled up the diesel powered Alfa I rented, I'm looking at the pump and the price was something like 3.60. So my Americanized brain thinks $3.60 a gallon not bad. My brother reminded me that it was 3.6 Euros per Liter topped of by the exchange rate so it more like $8.00 US a gallon.



When I was in high school the very first car I owned was a 1962 Chevy Bel Aire with a 409 CID engine which I immediated installed bigger carbs on and then had to install a faster fuel pump because at WOT the engine

consumed more fuel than the stock pump could deliver. I'm guessiing that car never got more than 5 miles to the gallon, but gas only cost 17 cents a gallon and the minimum wage was $1.50 an hour. The good old days.

Some interesting discussion on that other list, search for "finally found custom gears 968 tranny"...

I think I use 6th more than 5th, I frequently do 4th to 6th shifts and 6th to 4th.

6th gear....ha....I always wondered what that last spot on the gear knob did....



Craig geez you are into 6th at Bathurst!!! Go the forced induction! I only get to about 6600rpm in 5th, or around 236km/h (corrected for my tires) (150mph or so) into the kink.

I use it quite a bit and wish it was taller. Fuel economy would improve a bit at 70mph - I wonder how much better the mileage would be if you could cruise at let's say 70mph at 2,300 RPM.

Mark,



If I did not change up to 6th over the hill (prior to) on Conrod, it would hit the hard limiter on the other side. Same going up the mountain, if I did not change from 4th to 5th prior to the downhill side, it hit the hard limiter. The first time it did it going up the mountain I thought something had broken. In the back of my brain it told me that it was just like hitting the hard limiter, but I thought I had lost boost and overfueled, or had an ignition problem. It wan't until I had the next run that I saw just how quickly the engine rev'd once on the downhill side of the crest.



Last year, like you, I was flat in 5th through the kink. This year I actually braked and changed back to 5th. I found last year that holding 5th flat, I had to brake very quickly once the car was straight or I was not going to pull it up.



This year was much more relaxed, in terms of braking points and generally driving the car. There is more time there, but I have to learn the car and the speed it now carries.



Craig

I often find myself cruising in 5th, and then shifting to 6th just so I can see the clock!



Bill

Flash, I'm talking about carrying the car!



Andy