Aside from running a dyno on the car, would it be fairly accurate/correct to say that if the car was running on less than full power, then for any given speed (constant, not accelerating), the RPM would be higher than if it was at full power?

For example, I notice that on a level stretch of road, my 5AT (w/ navi) is at about 2000 RPM @ 70mph. Now, suppose there is a loss of power.. Would this loss of power present itself in requiring higher RPMs to maintain 70mph?

I guess the reason I'm asking this is because I wonder if I'm getting used to the car.. When I first got it (a month ago), it felt quite powerful, and now, it still feels quite powerful, but maybe a tiny, tiny bit less.. I wonder if its just that I'm used to it now or maybe even psychological..

 

Try driving a different (slower) car for a while, then switch back. You will think your car is soo fast. I use to not ride my very fast motorcycle, and then getting back on it, it seemed twice as fast. I definitely think that it is psychological.

 

I would think this would only show that your torque converter is slipping. As far as I know, the TC locks when you're cruising, so I'd expect the RPMs to be the same at the same speed whether you've lost power or not.

 

Stupid me, I accidentally posted this in the base 3G TL forum.. Should be in the Parts & Performance section.. 8)

But yeah, I hope its psychological.. You know the school of thought where sometimes you can "convince" yourself that there is a problem, when there might really not be one. I think I need to spend more time with my car so I can feel it out more.. Damn work..

 

If you are going the same speed but your RPM's are higher then I would target a problem with the tranny. I tend to side that the feeling or illusion is psychological.

 

Phew.. I think I'm alright.. In fact, let me ask, do you guys actually experience "better" performance after the first 600 miles? It may be psychological, but for some odd reason I feel that the car handles a bit better (not as stiff), steering is a bit more fluid, and the car seems a bit more "peppy"... Let me know if I'm just imagining things.. :P

 

I dont know if I noticed anything increase except for the mpg, but as the car "breaks in" performance should increase slightly...look at the Car and Driver/Road and Track articles about the performance tests done on cars when they were new and again with several thousand miles on them...the difference is large enough that you could conclude that once the mileage increased the engine worked a little better...even considering the differences in test conditions and driver I think the difference is large enough.

 

Yeah, I have about 800 miles so far, so I guess I'm just starting to experience the car out of its break-in (or whatever the official way to call it is) period.. I look forward to many more..

 

the torque converter does lock up when cruising, as in most automatics.

you can see this for yourself... get going about 55mph and cruising... then give it a little gas, and you'll see the tach jump up a little, about 800rpms maybe if i remember right.... then real quickly tap over to the "manual" mode, and it will still be in 5th.... what happened was the TC was locked, and it unlocked when you gave it a little gas... this was very noticable in my 98 chevy blazer (www.adamcantor.com).