Two questions-New to driving stick:
1.What's the best technique for changing gears? At 3,000 at 4,000 etc- this question is for the good of the car and the fun of driving it.
2. What is the best driving technique to influence better MPG's

thanks all. this a great forum. no matter how my MPG is or will be the RX 8 is cream of the crop. I just want to drive.
regards,
swoozie

 

The horsepower peaks at 8500 rpm, so that's where you want to shift if you're trying to accelerate quickly - just floor it and shift at that point. To get better gas mileage, you would want to shift around 4000 rpm - not flooring it. When it comes to gas mileage, it's all a matter of how much you're having to open the throttle to move at the pace you want. Shifting earlier is not always better, because it means you have to give it more gas to get up to the speed you want.

Welcome to driving stick! You'll never go back...

 

Actually the optimal shift point is a more difficult thing to calculate. It's probably higher than the point of highest hp.

 

If you're talking sraight line accel, yes, go to redline, pretty much. You want to ride the hump in the hp curve. Go past max hp to redline (9000), then shift into the lower rev point, thru max hp again, up to redline again, shift, & so on.

Draw a "lazy D", where it's lying on its flat side. Follow it with your finger. Up, around, and down, straight back, repeat. That's kind of what you're doing with the hp curve when you shift like I'm telling you.

 

If you want better MPG makesure you keep this stuff inmind that I am copyingand pasting from an old post:

3750 RPM secondary port valve opens
6250 RPM auxiliary (3rd) port valve opens
7250 RPM variable fresh air duct
7250 RPM variable intake valve opens (shorter path timed for dynamic charging at high rpms)

What thatmeans is that as long as youguys shift at 3750 RPM the second port wont open and so the car should be using less gas. WhenI want to save gas I usually never let the RPMs go above above 3500. I have automaticthough so I have to go into manualmode whenever I want to prevent it from hitting 4000 RPM b/c my foot doesnt know the difference.