6-speeders: at what RPM do you shift at in casual driving?

In regular, relaxed driving I normally just go by the engine sound to determine the right time to shift, but it's right about 2300rpm. I never want to let my friend borrow my truck, because he takes it up to like 3300rpm in each gear. I can see doing that if you're merging onto the interstate or whatever, but geez, that seems too high for just slow tooling around town.

How about you guys?

 

2300 is highway cruising rpm.....

A redline a day keeps the mechanic away!

 

3300 rpms is childs play for these motors, they will do that all day long without even breaking a sweat. fljhdsafpi

But i never let anyone else drive my vehicles for liability reasons.


If i had a manual though.... fuckin every shift would be banging off the revlimiter never lifting.

 

Like you said in the OP, OP, depends on what im doing. When merging on to the highway if I've got the room, im taking it close to redline every time, just for funsies. But in the mornings, i let it warm up for a few minutes in the driveway, then keep it around 2k for my shifts....relaxed every day driving with wife and kids im usually shifting around 2500-3000. But then again. Supercharger+fun mods means everything is funner

 

I remember helping my sister look for a vehicle a year or so back and I drove one for her. Took it to maybe 4000 RPM before I kicked it to 2nd w/ sport shift (redline was 6500 on that particular one) with the owner in the car, and he about flipped. Told me no cars are meant to do that, I was beating on it, and it was still his so he didn't appreciate it.

It had other issues that I would have told her to run away from anyway, but that alone was enough to make me lose interest.

Bottom line: 3300 RPM is not going to hurt it.

 

I really don't pay much attention to the tach during everyday driving as it just by feel, also I usually skip 5th gear and just go from 4th to 6th.

 

That means he had a cracked head he wasn't telling you about. Nothing kills a sale quicker than blowing a head gasket on a test drive.

 

I don't drive a taco but I do drive a 6MT. Around town I shift around 3k rpm. Merging onto the interstate I'm hittin 7.5k through 2nd and 3rd at the very least.

I think motor's would rather be at 2-4k rpm than below 2k rpm when delivering power, especially NA V6's with linear power bands. Why ask the motor to deliver power at a sub optimal rpm?

 

Around town I shift around 2500rpm. Accelerating onto freeway I'll hold it longer. It does get noisy above 2500pm till about 3500rpm, then it seems to really be happy above that
Around town I tend to shift into 5th gear when I'm above 65kph and cruising. I shift to 6th when I'm above 80kph and that keeps the RPMs just over 2000

 

Entirely possible.

I noticed his tail lamp/interior light fuse was blown (he played dumb and acted like he didn't realize the interior was supposed to light up), fluids all looked like they hadn't been changed in years, front end noises that sounded like ball joints.

He kept saying "it must just be bulbs" about the tail lamps. Tried explaining to him that it's unlikely that they all blew at once, it was probably the fuse, and that I have never seen that fuse blow in anything so I'd suspect a short or water where it shouldn't be or something similar. Brushed that off, told me he would "have his guy swap the bulbs."

 

Eek avoid those sales at all cost.

I speak from experience unfortunately, as I unknowingly purchased a vehicle with a cracked head. Looking back on it, the reaction I got from the owner when i floored it on the test drive should have scared me off but it didn't occur to me at the time. Nothing like overheating at 35mph the day after a purchase to let you know you fucked up

 

It sure does! That's the sound I subconsciously use to tell me when to shift.

 

Yikes! Bad luck there!

She ended up buying one from an older couple who had a brand new one of the same model in their driveway parked next to it. They were selling it privately because they didn't like what the dealer offered them on trade when they bought the new one. Bought it new, meticulously maintained. In the year she has had it, I've replaced two oxygen sensors for her. Trouble free beyond that.

 

That's the best situation for buying a car. Old owner, kept meticulously clean inside and out. As long as they kept up on routine maintenance you get a slammin deal!

 

3000

 

3k