Oh no, REALLY?? You mean I might loose 2 or 3mpg??? Man, thats really going to put me in the poor house now.

Riddle me this: You have to step on the gas to accellerate to higher speed right? If I shift to 5th, I get there faster, if I stay in 6th I get there slower. Either way, your using gas...and your splitting hairs...

But I could give a shit less about mpg. I drive 5 miles to get to work. Dosent concern me...

 

it's a 4 banger honda. Why are you worried about mpg anyway? Either way it's going to be good

 

I don't think think anyone is saying that the mpg isn't good on the highway, but just that it could be better. Which bothers you more? Downshifting to pass or getting worse mileage? Since the car already has decent gas mileage I'm sure Honda decided to give better passing power in 6th year (and took into account the amount of torque/hp required for steady cruising), so that's the way it is. If you really want a longer 6th gear either get a different car, change out 6th gear or the final drive, or write a letter to Honda!

 

 

The fancy "detect EPA test mode" may work for city--frequent gear changes---but how would it really work on the highway? the AT is locked up in 5th, and the MT is in 6th. Only difference really would seem to be gearing, i.e. engine RPMS.

I understand your concern there, but there's another effect for engine efficiency, pumping losses.

At 2500 RPM versus 3000 RPM the throttle position will be more open of course (as there are fewer engine cycles per minute so you need more fuel per cycle).

With the throttle more open, less of the power of the car is going to be producing turbulence and wasting energy in the pumping of the air through a small throttle opening, likewise less loss to the coolant pump and accessory belt to a secondary degree.

Then you can go to the bottom line, experimental evidence. In almost all cars, if you lower the RPMS for highway driving, the net fuel mileage goes up.

The people on Mustangs who swap the gears in their rear differential for higher RPMS gain off-the and midrange acceleration, but they all say that the highway mileage goes down. True the V8's in those are pretty different from a honda I-4.

but the EPA figures for mileage are lower on the MT than the AT.

 

You know, it's funny but I never hear of AT owners having to shift into 4th to make a pass at highway speeds. I think you guys are underestimating the engine.

Oh, and OF COURSE you don't give a shit about highway mileage if you don't drive on the highway...

 

Huh?? Your confused. I've been saying all along you can pass and accelarate fine in 6TH. How does that statement make me underestimate the engine?

 

I'm not confused. Your argument for not making sixth gear a taller ratio was that you'd have to shift all the time going up hills and/or in passing situations.

I'm saying that the auto TSX owners HAVE a taller top gear ratio than us 6MTers, and they don't feel the need to shift. PROOF that it's possible to improve the gas mileage without losing the ease-of-use.

Make sense?

 

Yes, makes perfect sense. Although I havent seen anyone post what RPM's an AT runs at 70mph. If its only a couple hundred difference less, then yea of course they wouldnt have to shift to pass.

 

the corvette has some pretty sweet gearing.. i drove my parents 04' around yesterday. got to 80 km/h in first and highway driving in 4th at ike 3K rpm.
my parents say they dont use 6th gear ever. i used it on the hgihway cuz im used to fuel saving in the tsx.

 

2400 RPM @ 70mph. Which translates to ~600 RPMs less. They still don't have to shift. And they get better gas mileage (which really shouldn't happen anyway).

 

Oh really?? Here is a quote for you from the same post you just linked:

however, the 6MT is better at highway passing while in top gear since it's already around peak torque when cruising at 70mph in 6th. This is really moot since mashing the throttle on a 5AT at this speed induces a quick and smooth kick-down to a good passing gear.

Like I said, you would need to shift in a AT to pass in certian situations. Probably not as often for the 6MT.

 

Another quote about downshifting in a AT, do I need to continue?:

Yup. the SS makes a big diff for sure. As a MT owner I am also very envious of the taller 5th gear in the AT, although its sometimes nice not to have to downshift on the highway to pass.

 

What the computer controlling the AT shifts thinks and what's absolutely necessary are two very different things. There are ways to make the AT hold the gear it's in (sportshift). I bet that an AT held in 5th won't require a shift. But that doesn't matter.

So you prefer not shifting. I prefer better gas mileage. We're never going to change each others' minds. So this is silly. Let's drop it.

 

I just came back from a 900km trip (~10 hour drive) and on the HWY I noticed my TSX (5AT) cruising at 120km/h (75mph) at 2500 rpm. I passed a quite a few big rigs going down to Windsor, Ontario on HWY 401 using my 5th gear and was quite surprised how well it could accelerate on this last gear. Going from 110 to 130 km/h didn't take very long (almost got pulled over!). On the other hand, I wish the lockup clutch would remain engaged for a longer period when accelerating. When it disengages, the gear doesn't change but rpm jumps from 2500 to ~3300-3500. It was my first time driving around in Windsor and I did not see a single TSX while I was there! I guess that's why a lot of people were checking out my PWP TSX!

 

All this talk about Rpms and what not...forgive me ahead of time but could someone tell me exactly what the redline is on the tsx it is 7500 if im not mistaken got cought a little off guard when going through the gears and not paying attention and i was in the redline but it didnt cut off on me. Still geting use to the car only 3 weeks old, guess im still in my SiR mode where it would cut off just at the tip of the redline 8200, not use to it acctualy climbing into the redline i guess.

 

a) Your car is only 3 weeks old and you are reving to 7500? I hope you have at least 600 miles on the odometer before doing that.

b) fuel cutoff is around 7500, so u probably just missed it.

 

1500km, and if you think about it correct me if im wrong arent the engines run hard before they even put them in the car to begin with? my tsx had 80km on it and was a showroom car built in june 03, those 80km as far as it was speculated were possibly put on by testing the car out on the track but then again i could be wrong. thanx for the confirmation about the redline though.

 

The car comes out of the factory with no miles on it. The engine is not run hard and the car is never put on a track. (If you had 80 miles on it, there is a good chance you car was used for test drives at the dealership).

You need to break the car in yourself, which at minimum is keeping the revs under 4000 for the first 600 miles (1000 km's).

 

THANK YOU! I'm glad someone with an AT spoke up about 5th gear passing.

I'm done here.

 

Sorry to resurrect an old topic, but the official redline for the TSX is 7100, not 7500. I didn't know if anyone actually stated that. It looked like no one did.

 

Redline = 7100rpm. Fuel cut is at 7400.