question re: Gas Mileage,4th and 5th gear

Your 5th gear RPM's will be lower than 4th gear at the same speed.

Patrick ?Ô

I think you mean your 4th gear rpm is 3000....

You have your rpm's reversed, but anyway, the answer depends on if you have a head wind or tail wind.

If I have a tail wind, 5th on level will give me decent mileage likely. If not a hurricane on my ass, I use 4th and get 5 mpg better than 5th for an average highway run.

It comes down to how much gas pedal is needed. In 5th, I have to floor it for wind or hill changes, in 4th I only have to twitch the pedal.

But in my case I have 3.31 gears turning 33's and 4th gives me 2300 rpm at 65 mph which results in 23 US mpg.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

snipped-for-privacy@geocities.com wrote:

yep, I was back asswards on my gear/rpms and I apologize.

I thought I read here somewhere that my straight 6 somehow did better on gas if the rpms were higher. That was what I was trying to question. Now,if you want to flame me for not being a gearhead, go ahead.

Nah, I think I'd rather flame you for not quoting what you're replying to so the rest of us know what you're talking about. :)

You should play around and see. My engine's 'sweet spot' is between

2300 and 2500 rpm. I get the best mileage there with tons of instant pull if needed.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

snipped-for-privacy@geocities.com wrote:

You have that backwards, the higher engine speeds come in the lower gears.

5th gear will spin at 2000 while 4th spins at 2500.