3rd Gear Challenge!

[JonB]

This is just a little fun thread from me telling you how too save petrol in the days of 90 pence per litre petrol... IN A CAR

You inevitably use the most petrol whilst moving in congested 30MPH zones which involves changing up and down a gear far too often, causing you to waste un nessacery fuel whilst changing gear.

For the past week in town I have pulled away, got to low speeds in the car and just used a bit of clutch control and pulled off in 3rd gear, minimal revs needed, no need to change gear "BE AMERICAN" just use the brake and throttle. Gone are the days of having to labourously change gear. Provided you have a car that pulls off in 3rd gear, my example being a 1.3litre Fiesta, it can be a economical way of saving petrol and ultimately MONEY.*

They do have their pitfalls though, Little Miss Grumpy Mum in her £210 tax 4x4 will be very pissed off at your slowness of pulling off. You also face the chance of being T-Boned whilst slowly pulling away out of a junction.

But apart from those minor pitfalls REAP the benefits of saving loads of money to spend!

(For the bikes) This is obviously not a problem, we pay lower tax and it's always fun to rev upto redline in 1st gear.

* I have no evidence of this, so if you don't save £££'s don;t come running back to me.

DISCLAIMER: - Also, don't have a go at me if your clutch fails.
____________________
Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it?s worth.

[Ste]

Pulling away in 3rd isn't very economical.

[JonB]

Oh damn, why not?
____________________
Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it?s worth.

[colin1]

i dont think changing gears wastes petrol but being in the highest gear you can be probably does reduce the amount you use.

if you really want to save money, ditch the car and get a lowish capacity bike for stop start traffic. you will also be able to filter through the congestion. cars dont get 80mpg

if you already have a low capacity bike, why not use it rather than driving slowly in a gaz guzzling car !?!
____________________
colin1 is officially faster than god

[EuropeanNC30R...]

So have you actually measured your fuel consumption before and after?

[WR450_geezer]

Pulled away in 5th before, now that was funny.

I just notice the difference with heavy breaking and acceleration.

Put 15quid in once and drove fast, breaked heavy etc etc, and I got about 80miles. Put another 15quid and drove properly like a 50year old and I got 150miles.

WR
____________________
Siggi, ''Fack, having Daz around is like living next door to PC-World, with a hole in the wall.''

[JonB]

[McGee]

If you dont like a manny tranny by an auto.

Just drive like a granny no need to do 3rd gear pull offs thats just daft. Just change gear alot. Try and be in 5th for 35mph I used to be able to get atleast 450miles to a tank on my punto.
____________________
◙◙► K6 GSXR 600 ◄◙◙◙◙► K5 GSXR 1000 ◄◙◙◙◙► K5 GSXR 600 ◄◙◙◙◙► 96 RF600r ◄◙◙
◄◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙►◄◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙►◄◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙►
Its pronounced Jixxer!

[numark1]

I swear my cars cursed, i do about 200-250 miles a tank. Thats like 40 squid in a week.

[EuropeanNC30R...]

[UrbanRacer]

doesn't pulling away in a high gear f**k the big ends?

[WR450_geezer]

[JonB]

[G]

[WR450_geezer]

[Kickstart]

[Davo]

[haGGard]

Weird this thread turns up now. Im trying to save money driving in my car. I dont bother pulling off in third though, as 1) My car wont! 2) I need to rev the tits off it if i were to try...

I just keep the revs nice and low, like get out of 1st gear ASAP, then 2nd etc. I try and get into 4th ASAP and anything over 40mph i put in in 5th gear.

Does this method of keeping the revs nice and low work?
____________________
chaff mans random tingz on loot
"Why dont you go and weld your face to a moving train, you sack of pus" - tobyr
"ROFL MY TOFFLE I AM TEH 1337 SPELLING MISTAKE FINDER!" - BikerBen

[WR450_geezer]

Do 30mph in 5th gear. What I did, makes a hell of a difference. We call it taxi driving

WR
____________________
Siggi, ''Fack, having Daz around is like living next door to PC-World, with a hole in the wall.''

[numark1]

A quick question about cars and gears...

I find that im on a roundabout or approaching a junction and am in 3rd gear, i find that if i change into 2nd then the engine is racing (ie revving more than necessary, wrong gear) but in 3rd it seems to struggle so there is no sort of inbetween, either slip the clutch loads of got into second gear.

Another problem i have when in traffic, my car doesnt like driving slower than about 10mph in slow traffic so im always in first gear which is not as smooth as second but i need to slip the clutch loads in second.

Make any sense??

[haGGard]

[WR450_geezer]

[mrchips]

No matter how a drive my car, I'll still lucky to get 70 miles to a tenner.
____________________
Northern Irish? www.nibikers.com

[Kickstart]

Hi

Stuff that. If it is a 30 limit I will be 3rd or maybe 2nd. At least that way you have decent performance available when required. My car would shake itself to death if I subjected it to 30mph in 5th. It would only be about 1500rpm. 3rd will happily go above 80mph so is fairly useful.

You are prepared to rev a bike, why not rev a car engine? If it is a horribly harsh low revving lump of an engine then choose another car rather than the 4 wheel equivalent of an Enfield diesel.

All the best

Keith
____________________
Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[WR450_geezer]