Driving big hp v-8's over the years made me a short shifter in daily driving due to the low end torque of those engines. I have tried to break that habit on my manual 991. I still find myself shifting in the 3500 rpm range especially in the first three gears when doing daily driving and shifting at an even lower rpm after third.

My question is where are your comfort rpm shifts during normal daily driving and not when you get "on cam"? I know the sweet spot for these engines is over that 4000 rpm margin, but do you allow your shift points to go that high without fully depressing the accelerator and holding a lower gear and higher rpm?

Please tell if you are driving a mt or PDK. Thanks

 

I have a 7MT. I generally shift around 3,000 rpm when cruising at a leisurely pace. If you notice the shift indicator often indicates shifting at around 1800 rpm if you're accelerating very slowly. It saves gas, but seems a bit unnatural to me.

 

When my wife drives, it's a PDK, I tell her to not shift up until she gets to at least 3k, down when under 2k. She's never driven a manual so this is as close as she gets right now.

 

7MT. I usually shift around 2,000-2,500 around town.

 

I have a manual.

In normal around town driving I have typically shifted up at between 3,000 and 3,500.

However, recently I have been shifting at around 2,500 as I find it a little smoother and quieter.

 

Feel better to hear that I'm in the range of shift points, maybe a little higher, than others have posted. I've been watching the shift now indicator and feel I would be dragging the engine at the indicated points.

The economy and efficiency of these engines in daily driving never ceases to amaze me. Think I'll try to keep the shift point at 3000 rpm's.

Thanks for the replies.

 

PDK here. Currently at only 1000 miles, so shifting at 3000-4500. Once I hit 2000 miles, will shift at 3500-7500. I can tell that once it gets above 3500 rpm or so, it wants to go go go. The shift-now triangle indicator seems silly on a performance car like this. It does seem to be set ridiculously low for fuel economy's sake, and I would think you would actually do some harm to the engine if you always followed the shift indicator, shifting up at 1800 rpm and lugging the engine. Kind of reminds me of the highlighted "55" on the speedos of cars in the '80s.

 

I like to shift around 3,500 to 4,000 RPM in normal around town driving. I think shifting under 2,500 RPM is really lugging it. These aren't V8s or turbo-4s.

 

As the PDK transmission will shift at less than 2,000 for around town driving I think it is fair to assume that it will not hurt the engine.

 

Interesting that the PDK will shift at less than 2000 rpm's. When the PDK automatically shifts at this lower rpm does the engine feel it is lugging or still smooth running? Does the PDK do this in all the first four gears?

The Owners Manual does state to not shift at low rpm's causing engine lugging. If I shift my manual trans under 2000 rpm's I feel I'm lugging the engine.

 

Since I just got out of my break-in period, I always stayed in the 3-4k range shifting. The manual states NEVER LUG the ENGINE! And I also found shifting around 1800 on my 7MT does lug my engine.
I agree with everyone, daily driving for me is 3-4k RPM range, with nothing less than 2500 shifts. I rarely skip shift, and if so only on the top gears.
Wonder if there is an exact RPM Porsche considers the engine "being" lugged and will the PDK ever drop to that engine speed.

 

I mentioned earlier that I shift at about 3k RPM. However, driving manual smoothly is obviously an art and that's why manual drivers enjoy it so much. In reference to the above shift points, I don't think you "lug" the engine by shifting at 2k when the car has good momentum (i.e. going 50mph). I think that feeling of "lugging" the engine occurs at lower speeds when upshifting to 2nd gear and maybe 3rd. The best part about manual is the fun of getting a great smooth shift.

 

I beg to differ. You aren't "lugging" the engine if you're shifting below 2,500RPM; it also depends on the driving situation and what you're doing (accelerating uphill on a highway, rolling downhill in city traffic, etc.). If you're smooth on the clutch and your driving style, you can shift way below 2,500 and still keep the car moving without lugging. Also, don't confuse "lugging" with "bogging" while shifting.

 

I have a PDK, but I usually manually shift. That is usually between 4,000 and 5,000 and cruise below 2,000.

ChuckJ

 

Agreed....

Its really about the overall engine speed coupled by the drive ratio to the wheels.. And how much power the engine needs to deliver given the current load (i..e uphill, downhills flat).

And when you are at a RPM point on the engine HP/torque curve where the engine can't supply enough power to meet the load you get into a sort of mush point where when you try to rev the engine higher to develop more power, it struggles given the load.. And thus the lugging.. (or if you like to call it bogging to differentiate when it is induced by a shift)

This can happen when the engine load changes (usually gradually) due to incline or quickly when you up shift to a higher gear which changes your overall drive ratio that lowers your RPM into that mushy point.

But under low loading conditions, and relatively moderate acceleration as in stop and go traffic, popping to the next higher gear a little low isn't going to cause a lot of distress.

But one way you can tell is if when you shift to the higher gear, if there is a feel that there is not a lot of ability to accelerate then you know you are too low on the HP curve for the engine to produce the power needed given the current load.

Usually the things that are rough on the engine is tooling along in a high or overdrive gear and then hitting a steep incline and remaining in that gear for a prolonged period of time at too low of engine speed. At that point the engine is forced to put out a lot more power at a reduced RPM and among other things has a hard time getting rid of the increased heat (since the cooling and oil systems are usually based on engine RPM) and then cylinder temperatures rise and you start to get detonation/pinging which is a destructive..

But shifting to the next higher gear on a flat surface under light acceleration while a little low isn't going to hurt anything.. It is all about how much load is on the engine..