These cars LOVE 2500rpm... that's the start of the first torque mountain, so you know the car is at it's most efficient. To those saying not to floor it under 3k, you're missing the second best part of the power band.
To the OP, use your ears and but dyno, and you'll hear/feel the best shift points based on your intended acceleration. For me, puttering around town I'll usually grab second by 10mph, third by 20, 4th by 30, 5th by 40, and 6th at 55 or so. This is with the 2017 FD. If I want to rip it, it's near redline. If you want something in the middle, I usually skip the extra revs and just give it more gas thru that first torque plateau. Still shifting no later than 3500, because if you do you'll miss that 2500rpm sweet spot. You'll be faster if you stay on the low end cam versus riding the valley. And the car just sounds right when it's on cam like that.
I'm of the mind that this motor is a little gem. People complain about the dip really they've given us two torque mountains. One for puttering around (2500rpm-3500rpm), and one for ripping it (~4.5k to 6.5k+). There's a huge tuning and aftermarket modding industry drive to flatten that dip, when it's supposed to be there in the first place. This is how the motor was designed. And who is pulling through 4k anyway? If accelerating hard my tach never sees below 4k. Maybe for a split second while the wheels catch traction at launch, but that's it.
I personally would rather have the low end available to me. I've driven Hondas that only have one portion of the rev band on cam... VTECYO!, and they feel sure lifeless before that surge.



OK, /end torqudip rant :thanks:

Thanks for your tip, guys. Now, I'm done with a break-in stage (strictly by the manual) and did the first oil change at the dealership. I asked them to change transmission and rear differential oils, but they said those should be done at 10000 miles or so and were not done at that time. They put Mobile1 5w30, not 0W20 as the manual goes. Is the engine alright with 5W30?
Now, returning to my original question on engine speed, my concern is if I'm lugging the engine at a low 2000 rpm, or I should shift down by one gear to run at a high 2000 rpm at the same speed of the car. Say, at 50 mph, 5th gear gives 2700 rpm, and 6th gear gives 2100 rpm. which gear would you use? I've been driving nothing but pickup trucks and SUVs equipped with a V8 motor for the past 3 decades, and I'm so used to 1000 to 2000 rpm range. nothing matters with a V8 motor so long as I put fresh 5W30 oil at every 5000 miles. Meanwhile, I'll stay close to 3000 rpm with my BRZ.

You can cruise to get the RPM as low as possible witht he highest gear but the moment you need any kind of acceleration it is not going to do anything, thus you would have to downshift probably 2 gears to get back into the powerband. IN and around town you're not likely going to see 5th or 6th gear all that much if any. I wouldnt put it in the highest gear unless cruising for a long time though. Usually you can feel the car feel kind of bogged at the cruising gear so you'll be able to identify if the gear is appropriate or not. If say 6th feels normal at 2100rpm i wouldnt mind cruising with it, but if 6th feels like the car is kind of rumbling along not raelly smoothly then its definately not the right gear to be cruising in.

Unlike a V8 a 4banger does not have alot of torque available at all times. Especially a N/A 4 banger of relatively small displacement, the FA20 was designed for high revs so all its power is really located high up in the rev range (5000-7400 RPM).
Even high revving V8's have gobs of torque available at the low end if if most of their power is located high. Theres no replacement for displacement, although turbos help alleviate this dificiency

5W30 or 0W30 doesnt really matter all that much. I think 0W30 was formulated to help in winter conditions where the oil can get really thick due to the cold (im not 100% sure, i just know that 5W30 was the norm for a really long time before 0W30 came along...i kind of forgot what 5W30 means)

I agree to an extent. And there's definitely no replacement for displacement, but I think the FA was not designed specifically for high revs, but rather a compromise between high and low end torque.

High revs only, ala Honda S2000


https://www.dragtimes.com/images_dyn...S2000-Dyno.jpg


And our curve, for those who don't have it on the gauge cluster:
https://media.ed.edmunds-media.com/s...011123_600.jpg

2.5 to 3.3 krpms... This small 4cyl NA motor definitely has some low end grunt! Ok, so grunt might be the wrong word for it :lol:

Do these new cars still have the shift light? If you do not put your foot to the floor the light gives a good indication of shift points.

The shift light is programmable, if you're talking about the red blinking one on the tach.. I've moved mine up as i've gotten better at driving stick, as the BRZ is my first MT car :)


I usually do :

1 -> 2 at 20 mph
2 -> 3 at 30 mph
3 -> 4 at 45 mph
4 -> 5 at 55 mph
and only use 6th above 65 mph.

Seems pretty excessive for puttering around town. You can get out of first gear at 10mph with zero danger of lugging.

Best thing about Subarus are the long power curves and (almost) infinite 3rd gear. Even if they were gaining on you once they shift it looks they hit a turkey or something... where did they go they doing so well? If that doesn't do it the fact you are still accelerating thru the turn and they had to slow down for it will.

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Yes, the 86 has a square setup with a 86mm x 86mm bore to stroke, which is an attempt at balancing power and torque, and it is true that the S2000's F20C is oversquare, which is one of the things that can allow for higher piston speeds and the high revs that it has. It is also true that being oversquare means there is less low end torque, but a lot of the torque can be added below 6k by tuning out the VTEC. Many people will drop the transition point of the low lobe to the high lobe to 3500 rpms. Torque still ramps up, but there isn't nearly as much of a flat dip. That is largely by design for fuel economy.


@p1l0t

I'm not really sure what you mean when you say long power curves. EJ's have always been oversquare like the S2000, but they don't rev high for many reasons. That design was probably to reduce the width of the motor to aid in servicing and to give more room for suspension geometry.

Did you mean they have a broad torque curve? In like 2006 the WRX moved from the EJ20 to the EJ25, so the extra displacement provided some low end torque and got the turbo moving faster, but the top end really falls off, even on the STI.

My STi pretty constant from like 3k to 6k... :iono:

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The original shift light was RPM, speed and throttle position related. I think it was an up pointing arrow. And could be turned on and off. The red line light was adjustable.
Been years since I thought I saw it. I turned if off right away, it kept pointing up and I still had several grand to red line.

I run 5w30 in the summer, 0w20 in the winter. Just be careful to not rev it out when cold and it will be fine.

Yeah. My 2020 has a little shift arrow that can be turned on. It’s for slow pokin, maximizing mpg, and probably other things that are unholy for this car. I’m surprised Subaru bothered with them.