Town Driving With A Diesel Engined Car & 6 Speed Gear Box

tonycarew

I have just bought my first ever diesel engined car which is 1.8ltr's and has a six speed gear box.I have previously only driven petrol engined cars for the last 25-30 years.
As such I,m finding it difficult to accustom to the low revving engine and find myself changing up into 4th or 5th gear and thus labouring the engine when driving about town.
Also when driving at 40mph would 4th or 5th gear be advisable.
As I said previously I'm a total diesel novice.Any advice/tips/hints would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Tony.

Rolandtheroadie

My 2 litre Mondeo was fine with 4th at 30 or 40 but didnt like 6th gear under 55 mph.

As long as it didnt sound like it was labouring, i'd happily sit in 5th as 40 too.

Inactive

Just use whichever gear feels correct for the speed/conditions.;)

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

Well you already realise that more power is available further down the curve, and that you're changing up too early.

Doesn't sound to me as though you need any advice. As for what gear you should be in, you should be in whatever gear provides you with the most power at whatever rpm your engine is at.

davetrousers

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers! wrote: »

As for what gear you should be in, you should be in whatever gear provides you with the most power at whatever rpm your engine is at.

What an unusual thing to say.

cyclonebri1

As a small engined 6 speed diesel driver, or simply someone who has bought a diesel for the first time, the following is true;

You will rapidly become aware that zilch power is available if you are "off" turbo. ie, typically the diesel turbo kicks in at something like 1500 to 1750rpm. You can feel it, it's when the throttle actually works.

Keep the engine above this band otherwise it will be flat and giving no real performance and also using more fuel than it should.

That's about it really;)

rev_henry

Your car instruction manual should have a table showing what speeds you should do in what gears. Have a look at that.

cyclonebri1

rev_henry wrote: »

Your car instruction manual should have a table showing what speeds you should do in what gears. Have a look at that.

..................but not whilst you are driviing......................;)

daveyjp

Cyclonebri is spot on. Use whichever gear keeps the engine turning at about 1500 rpm - this is how most of the good 6 speed diesel autos I've driven have been set up. As a result 30 mph is 3rd with a change to 4th at about 32 mph.

The Mondeo auto I drove a few weeks ago did the 3-4 change at about 29 mph and it was a royal pain as it hunted constantly in 30 limits.

Remember labouring the engine uses more fuel, it also means more gearchanges to drop down the box as speed drops off, then another to go back up the box. Diesel dual mass flywheels aren't cheap so keep changes to a minimum.

I suspect 3rd in 30mph limits will give excellent flexibility as pick up from 20mph in 3rd should still be possible - very handy for urban streets. It also means should the limit increase from 30 3rd gear will give excellent acceleration.

movilogo

Diesel engines produce more torque than petrol engines. So, you can often use higher gears in diesel at lower RPM.

Also, you can't (or don't need to) rev diesels as high as petrol.

Don't worry - within few days you'll be accustomed

somech

movilogo wrote: »

Diesel engines produce more torque than petrol engines. So, you can often use higher gears in diesel at lower RPM.

Also, you can't (or don't need to) rev diesels as high as petrol.

Don't worry - within few days you'll be accustomed

i think you'll find modern diesel engines are flat as hell at low rpm hence why nothing happens until the turbo spools up, where as a petrol engine has more of a spread of power and will pull from low rpm:)