2000RPM Redline Game on 2.7L Tacoma

Hey guys I just made up this game to save gas. I recall tacoma007 saying in order to save gas shift between 2-2.5K. Well, I decided to give it a shot. I used to drive like a teenager (cause I am one & shifting at like 4K) but now I'm working for my own gas money, not my parents. If I drive like my old-self either me or my taco is going to starve. I decided to treat the 2,000RPM bar as the red line & not going over unless of a emergency.

Hopefully I'll save gas and get out of the habit of driving insane.

I do have several question if you all care to answer:

1. Is it in fact safe to shift at 2K RPM?

2. When the engine is buzzing cause of a low RPM what's going on in the engine and is it a negative effect?[I.E. i went from 1st to 3rd gear at 10MPH]

3. My friend told me shifting at a lower RPM have negative effect on the engine. He's reasoning made several logical sense. He says the gas being taken into the engine is a constant flow(true, I'm not sure?) and the engine RPM is essence the rate the gas is being burn. Therefore if it's going too low of RPM the engine is burning too little gas it builds and is waste in the next burn. [Tell me if this makes any sense]

4. Will this make any difference. The pedal to the metal? say i floor it to 2K and shift and floor it 2k and shift and etc. Of course I know it will make an impact on gas mileage. But comparing to shiftin at 3.5K which is a better. (not really floor it but u know more pressure then the usually)

5. How much does gas is wasted reving an engine in neutral? same as the if u were driving the RPM MPH?

5B. How much does idling kill gas. Example, leave your car outside and the window shield freeze and turn it on and warm it up.

-Report

25-Dec: So far I haven't really pissed anyone off by shifting at 2K RPM. People tend to switch lanes to the other lane but not passing me. (odd, maybe it's the holiday spirit). It's actually pretty fun shifting and trying to reach the 5th gear every time instead of gear skipping. What's sweet is going at 40RPM I'm usually below 1.5K RPM at 5th gear. I guess I'm really want to become a efficiently person haha.

Gear /up to max 2000RPM speed
1 st / ~11MPH
2 nd/ ~ 22MPH
3 rd/ ~ 33MPH
4 th/ ~ 45MPH
5 th ~ 55MPH

My last refill was at Dec 23 07 $56.01 18.49G 19.2MPG
My ride is a 07 Toyota Tacoma 2.7L 5-SPD manual Accesscab
I'm going for at least 3 reports =)

--- Report : This is mainly city driving :
-01-11-08 Re Fill 395.9 Miles / 18.813gallon = 21.043959 MPG
-

 

I think it's awesome. About some of the fuel questions I don't know, I do know you should lug the engine, i.e. going from 1st to 3rd, and have the engine struggle at low revs until proper speeds are obtained. Please keep us update as we will all be interested in the results. Good luck and Drive on.

 

I don't lug my engine and can still shift from 4th to 6th at 30mph.

In general, I'm rarely above 2500rpm anyway, even doing 75-80 on the highway. At those speeds it hover right around 2500. Sometimes a little higher, usually a little lower. So the 2000rpm readline should be fine. However, I'm one of those guys that make funny looks when other say they shift at 3000rpms. I mean, I drive fast and accelerate fairly hard and STILL shift well before 3k. So it's not like I really need to change a lot to keep it down around 2k, but still i only get around 17-18mpg.

Only thing I can think of is there's so many damn hills around here I need to cross to get anywhere. They must be killing my mpg! I could hold it steady at around 30mpg for a couple miles on a nice flat stretch of road so I know it's possible! The problem is maintaining that for a long enough time to actually affect to overall number.

 

That's probably where I make out so well, Rochester and the surrounding area is so flat, nary a effort to get around.

 

Except for all the stop n go crap... lol I'd probably be doing great if I was still in SC.... Only hills are on-ramps!

 

Yeah sometimes I want to get out and strangle someone

 

I know the feeling... I lived in Henrietta, and worked at a Hess more in the city (East-something st. Blossom rd exit off 390 or 490, maybe even 590 ). Henrietta wasn't so bad if I could take "back" roads to get somewhere, but Jefferson was a bitch, and forget downtown. Between the idiot drivers, and lanes that became "turn only" AT the red light with no warning I hated driving there. Taught me to drive defensively though! Or is that offensively?

 

there is not a hill in site around here

 

Maybe, but driving down 95 to 501 from NC to Myrtle beach is f'n BORING!!! Not a single hill unless I take the on ramp for the 501 bypass, take it all the way to MB, and get off there. Oh, and the 501 bridge over the river in MB (which they made bigger, IIRC).

Conway, Florence, MB, NMB, Murrells Inlet, not a single natural hill in sight. Heck, I don't even remember much of anything not-flat when we drove to Charleston and back.

 

hmmm 2,000 rpm huh lol cant play this game....no tach in my 4cyl truck i usually stay on it till it doesnt feel like its pulling anymore then shift LOL jk.. thats how a buddy of mine described driving his no tach equiped ranger...blew up with less than 40k on it can you believe it lol

 

Since it's a Ford, I'm surpised it lasted 40k miles period. It should be entered in the Guiness book.

Hehe

 

Since it's new, I'd shift it at 2100-2500 range until it loosens up a bit....say 3,500 on the odometer. I usually shift my 2.7 at 2100-2200. You don't want it to struggle by shifting to low because it just puts a lot of strain on the engine (you can feel it vibrate slightly too). As stated above, I also don't rarely exceed 2500 rpms. It seems to like 65-70 mph for fuel/mileage trade-off. These trucks create a lot of drag and going above 70 really eats the gas. At 70 mph I get consistent 26.1 mpg. At 75 I get consistent 24.3 mpg. At 80 I get consistent 18.4 mpg. Here's the kicker, if I go 65 I get consistent 29.7 mpg. I haven't had the patience yet, but doing 60 will net me in the area of 33-36 mpg. These aren't Scangauge II estimates, they are full tank (visually) to full tank fill-ups divided into miles driven over distances of 350 miles with some steep and long grades uphill (Grapevine, CA).

One of my dislikes about the manual 5-speed is that if your going too slow for second gear (like 3-5 mph), it takes a lot of force to get it into first gear even with the clutch depressed while you're still moving. This causes me to lug a tad (buzzing)...I just don't accelerate very hard until the rpms build up to where it runs smooth again. Either that, or just slow enough for the synchronizer to match up. Lugging hurts the motor.

Don't worry about unburnt fuel buildup like you're friend was discribing....the injectors do what the computer tells it to do based on air intake and atmospheric pressure. Fuel injected engines are efficient much more so than carburated one's.

As far as wasting fuel per questions 5 and 5b, anytime you run the engine without going anywhere...well, you're wasting gas, period. Specifically I think idling burns about .2-.3 gallons per hour (normal operating temp), but don't quote me. Revving doesn't do anything but make noise and heat. Under normal 70 mph driving it burns about 2.5 to 2.7 gallons per hour.

The best thing to gain fuel mileage for me has been installing the cruise control unit. I did the do-it-youself routine and it took less than 130 bucks and an hour of labor. It has been well worth it.

Let it warm up in the morning at least 1-3 minutes (depending on cold weather) and then drive it easy for the first 10 minutes. Don't rev a cold motor to 4,000 rpms...or anytime really, it's not necessary and you'll just hasten your motors demise. Just imagine if someone was to make you sleep out in the snow and then at 5 am they make you wake-up and run full bore for 1 mile. How long would your body last? About 150 feet before you blew your knee out or something. Treat your truck with respect and it'll last forever.

 

Nice 22, That's kind of how I run my operations, I'm trying to think but I don't believe my rig has ever been over 4000 rpm ?

 

Hey Thanks for the reply! Sry I didn't get a chance to thank you earlier.

i got my first filled up=) hopefully 2 more to go.

 

I agree, shifting at 2k, is really too low, 2500 is more like it. You can shift at 2000 but you will have to feather the gas a lot to avoid lugging and trying to gain any speed.

My Scan gauge confirms the .2-.3 gallons per hour at idle.

Cruise control is nice , but it will not improve your mileage over prudent driving with your foot. Drive as if there is a raw egg between your foot and the pedla for best mileage. If you install a vacuum gauge , you will see graphically , how much hunting the cruise control does when trying to maintain speed, especially on any upgrade. The hunting is not conducive to best mileage. Best to let the truck slow down on hills within reason.
I mark my vacuum gauge at the 10" vacuum mark and try to accelerate without going below 10", pretty hard to do. 8 or 9" might be a more realistic target.

The cruise control basically floors the throttle when trying hard to maintain speed. The vacuum gauge shows this all.

 

holy thread revival batman, This thing is about 2 1/2 years old.

 

holy thread revival

 

Damn u beat me