Best habit to shift gears on MT and fuel economy

[dssence]

Hi well like the post says.. I own a toyota 86 FT manual, and I'd like to know what 's the best way to shift gears and have a nice fuel economy rate about 25mpg like most ppl state.
I don't know if my driving habits are bad or whats up , but I've taken my car from the dealer with the tank filled up have done like 89km and have half a tank left.
So maybe I'm shifting gears badly at bad rpms. A friend of mine told me to keep rpms below 3000rpm not to consume excesive fuel.
but what would be the best manual shifting practice. Start car 1st gear, then 2nd gear those gears are the most fuel demanding ones.. then 3rd .. move to 4th .. Then should I stay driving the car in 5th and 6th gear?

[Dusty]

Slower acceleration. Slower deceleration.

You can look at your instantaneous mpg on the dash menu.

[993Fan]

Try not to have any fun.

[dssence]

Originally Posted by Dusty

Slower acceleration. Slower deceleration.

You can look at your instantaneous mpg on the dash menu.

I've actually done it checked the instantenous mpg reading , but even if I start slowly in 1st gear gives like 36litres , then it steadies.. then jumps a bit.. then seems to be about 8 litres when I'm in 5th and 6th .. but seems like it's not a matter of being under 2000 rpms . it's weird.

[jwlee7ucla]

Originally Posted by dssence

Hi well like the post says.. I own a toyota 86 FT manual, and I'd like to know what 's the best way to shift gears and have a nice fuel economy rate about 25mpg like most ppl state.
I don't know if my driving habits are bad or whats up , but I've taken my car from the dealer with the tank filled up have done like 89km and have half a tank left.
So maybe I'm shifting gears badly at bad rpms. A friend of mine told me to keep rpms below 3000rpm not to consume excesive fuel.
but what would be the best manual shifting practice. Start car 1st gear, then 2nd gear those gears are the most fuel demanding ones.. then 3rd .. move to 4th .. Then should I stay driving the car in 5th and 6th gear?

I drive 40 minutes to and from work 5 days a week, and drive around weekends to play. I get stuck in ~30 min of traffic each day, and I average 30mpg per tank.
Here are things I do that I've picked up from hypermiling.

1) Don't jackrabbit the gas pedal.
2) try to stay out of neutral- coast in gear.
3) I change gears between 3k-3.5k
4) I keep 2 car distance between me and cars in front of me, because I'm scared of rockchips. If you are not, feel free to draft behind trucks (you get a mpg boost from as far as 100 feet gap if I remember correctly)
5) have a steady foot- accelerating uses more gas than staying constant speed

[N1rve]

Under 3000!? I get my car in the 3-4k range...right now I'm averaging 27 MPG LOL

[ntron1]

1) Pretend there is an egg between your foot and the gas pedal
2) Coast downhill in Neutral not in gear.
3) I change gears between 2k-2.2k
4) I keep 10+ car distance between me and cars in front of me, so I almost never have to brake (wastes alot of gas)

[dssence]

Originally Posted by jwlee7ucla

I drive 40 minutes to and from work 5 days a week, and drive around weekends to play. I get stuck in ~30 min of traffic each day, and I average 30mpg per tank.
Here are things I do that I've picked up from hypermiling.

1) Don't jackrabbit the gas pedal.
2) try to stay out of neutral- coast in gear.
3) I change gears between 3k-3.5k
4) I keep 2 car distance between me and cars in front of me, because I'm scared of rockchips. If you are not, feel free to draft behind trucks (you get a mpg boost from as far as 100 feet gap if I remember correctly)
5) have a steady foot- accelerating uses more gas than staying constant speed

heh kay so what don't jackrabbit the gas pedal mean, what about coasting in gear? I've been trying now to shift gears in the 2-2.5k range. Honestly don't now what's the best rpm to shift gears.. some ppl are saying 3k-3.5k

[ntron1]

If you activate the eco shift light it will give you the shift arrow @ 2K - 2.2K.

go to the 3:30 point of the video below.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fB9dcC9dl3w"]Scion FR-S: How to set the Shift Light & Gear Indicator Display Settings (BRZ GT86) - YouTube[/ame]

[dssence]

Originally Posted by ntron1

If you activate the eco shift light it will give you the shift arrow @ 2K - 2.2K.

Well I don't have cruise control, I enabled the G-on feature which tells you with a blinking arrow when you should shift to the next gear. but that goes in a high rpm mostly.. which wouldn't be really fuel conservative.

[jwlee7ucla]

Originally Posted by dssence

heh kay so what don't jackrabbit the gas pedal mean, what about coasting in gear? I've been trying now to shift gears in the 2-2.5k range. Honestly don't now what's the best rpm to shift gears.. some ppl are saying 3k-3.5k

jackrabbit means quick starts (big acceleration compared to slowly reaching driving speed.

When you cost in neutral, your car uses gas to keep it's idle, but you go a little farther. When you coast in gear, you use no gas, and you supposedly go less distance (I havn't really noticed). Everytime I drive to a red light, I start coasting in gear early and get into neutral when I'm almost at the light to prolong the in-gear coasting.

You should learn how to drive predictably so you can replicate your results, then compare the difference in mpg from you changing gears at 2k vs 3k. Most of getting a high mpg just involves you driving at a constant speed for as long as possible, and reducing your accelerating amount.

I hit 30mpg almost every single gas tank, but I've been practicing for a long time, and I used to have a air fuel gauge/boost gauge to stare at when driving my old car to make sure I kept my foot steady.

I don't use cruise control ever, but you could give that a shot.

[dssence]

Originally Posted by jwlee7ucla

jackrabbit means quick starts (big acceleration compared to slowly reaching driving speed.

When you cost in neutral, your car uses gas to keep it's idle, but you go a little farther. When you coast in gear, you use no gas, and you supposedly go less distance (I havn't really noticed). Everytime I drive to a red light, I start coasting in gear early and get into neutral when I'm almost at the light to prolong the in-gear coasting.

You should learn how to drive predictably so you can replicate your results, then compare the difference in mpg from you changing gears at 2k vs 3k. Most of getting a high mpg just involves you driving at a constant speed for as long as possible, and reducing your accelerating amount.

I hit 30mpg almost every single gas tank, but I've been practicing for a long time, and I used to have a air fuel gauge/boost gauge to stare at when driving my old car to make sure I kept my foot steady

When you coast you mean when you're letting the car roll without pressing the gas pedal and in neutral ? Sorry

[jwlee7ucla]

Originally Posted by dssence

When you coast you mean when you're letting the car roll without pressing the gas pedal and in neutral ? Sorry

coasting just means moving without stepping on the gas pedal. you want to do that while staying in gear

[ntron1]

My other car gets 9 mpg but it is far more fun than my BRZ but not a good Daily Driver.