Gears - low end?

[crazypete]

Here's a trick that I've learned. Most people drive their cars all wrong. All wrong completely.

Most people drive around trying to use the lowest rpms possible. Fuel usage is a function of engine load, not revolutions. Try this. Drive using gear instead of power. What I mean by this is gently let the car spin up to 3k, shift to 2200, run it to 3k, shift and so forth. Notice how high the pedal is. You barely have to put it in to make the car go. Now shift to a higher gear and notice that you have to put the pedal much more just to maintain speed.

I noticed this with my saab 9000, which only had a 2.0 turbo. When my firends drove it, the clutch would be chattering almost and the turbo was spinning away as they were trying to drive around at 1200 rpms. When I drove it, the turbo was silent most of the time using the gear method above. It's easy to use a boost guage as an engine load indicator.

Ok, then I have pulleys, synthetic fluids bumper to bumper, 400 lbs of weight reduction, good ignition system, open exhaust and a casual driving style.

Hope this helps