Whats The Best Gear To Use For 30 Mph?

[waxxy]

whats the best gear to be in when travelling at 30 mph?when i took my driving lessons years ago i was told its best stick in the gear that corresponds to the mph so if your travelling 30 mph you should be in 3rd gear to get the best economy out of the car your driving but all my mates say driving in 4/5 gear while travelling at 30 mph will give best economy?id like to know this so im getting every last bit of economy out of my new car because as it is im not really getting any extra travelling out of it compared to my old 15 year old astra which ive just traded in for the yaris 1.0 tr..im putting in roughlly about 17 pounds of petrol in my car and with the price of petrol thats about 16.5 litrers when i started my car this morning it said the fuel i had left in would allow me to travel 153 miles..i drove to work and back which is about 6 miles in total and took my wife to work and drove back which is about 5 miles total so ive only drove 11 miles today but my computers now saying ive got 124 miles of petrol left ..thats not correct.

ive took my mates advice and drive in 4th gear but it seems petrol gets used up quicker so whats best?

another thing ive been told to use only normal unleaded petrol because thats better for the yaris compared to the other 95 unleaded petrol at garages .i dont think this is true but thats what the guy at the garage i bought my car from said.

can anyone give there opions on it ..thanks

[MsB]

Going too slow for the gear can be as uneconomical as revving the wotsits off it Found the best 'rule' is to stick to approx 2.5k revs 'cruising' at 30/40 which isn't either over or under revving the engine so you should get the best economy :)

Hope that makes sense

[★★★★★™]

Going too slow for the gear can be as uneconomical as revving the wotsits off it Found the best 'rule' is to stick to approx 2.5k revs 'cruising' at 30/40 which isn't either over or under revving the engine so you should get the best economy :)

Hope that makes sense

i agree, i have started changing gears and kept the rev around 2.5k at lower speeds and have noticed the car is much more economical

[Bibbs]

Arround town (under 30mph) it's not the speed or revs that really eats the petrol, it's the accelerating and decelerating.

So leave bigger gaps, use the brakes as little as possible, and don't hammer the throttle.

Try and not follow the car infront bumper to bumper, but leave a gap so when they brake for a corner, you don't have to.

They'll then accelerate away on the straights, let them.

Over 50/60mph, areodynamics comes into it. Where it's best to go slower than usual and tailgate trucks etc. (but that's not exactly safe).

[gar]

the best option is to drive in the most responsive gear.... to a point! if you are in a 30mph zone, with winding or roads or slowish traffic, 3rd, smoother, easier flowing 30mph, try 4th or even 5th if clear enough.... as you go up in the speed stakes, say 40, use the same principle, exept using 4th in twisties, 5th on smooth. use the best gear to get to the desired speed, say national limit, single roads, (60mph) then cruise in 5th unless, again, it gets twisty.... note the 60 limit, this gets overlooked by most peeps, they see the national speed limit sign and want to go 70! this is reserved for duel carriageways and motorways, NOT single lane country roads!

AHM!

[carlowlad]

Arround town (under 30mph) it's not the speed or revs that really eats the petrol, it's the accelerating and decelerating.

So leave bigger gaps, use the brakes as little as possible, and don't hammer the throttle.

Try and not follow the car infront bumper to bumper, but leave a gap so when they brake for a corner, you don't have to.

They'll then accelerate away on the straights, let them.

Over 50/60mph, areodynamics comes into it. Where it's best to go slower than usual and tailgate trucks etc. (but that's not exactly safe).

Well put Bibbs. This alone will save a good bit of juice. Red traffic lights are a great leveller so it's wasteful racing up to them.

I drive a diesel yaris and i find 4th is better at 30mph. The car lugs in 5th and uses a bit more fuel too. Plus, mechanically it's not good for an engine. I've heard from a few reliable sources that if you are just above lugging you will do well in the mpg stakes. But the gains are small and the long term risk of damage from metal to metal contact in the engine is higher. Safer to keep it in 4th.

3rd is just too high imo. Responsive, yes, but it's not a racing circuit is it? Keeps OPEC happy though..................

Also, if the car in front is slowing down, just lift the throttle instead of braking. This cuts power to the injectors, with obvious savings of fuel AND brakes. It helps to watch the second (or more) car in front of you, so you react at the same time or earlier than the guy in front of you.

I've been doing this for a few years now and i hardly know i'm doing it anymore. I get 800 miles plus from a tank.

And i don't tailgate trucks. It IS dangerous.

[stantheman1]

whats the best gear to be in when travelling at 30 mph?when i took my driving lessons years ago i was told its best stick in the gear that corresponds to the mph so if your travelling 30 mph you should be in 3rd gear to get the best economy out of the car your driving but all my mates say driving in 4/5 gear while travelling at 30 mph will give best economy?id like to know this so im getting every last bit of economy out of my new car because as it is im not really getting any extra travelling out of it compared to my old 15 year old astra which ive just traded in for the yaris 1.0 tr..im putting in roughlly about 17 pounds of petrol in my car and with the price of petrol thats about 16.5 litrers when i started my car this morning it said the fuel i had left in would allow me to travel 153 miles..i drove to work and back which is about 6 miles in total and took my wife to work and drove back which is about 5 miles total so ive only drove 11 miles today but my computers now saying ive got 124 miles of petrol left ..thats not correct.

ive took my mates advice and drive in 4th gear but it seems petrol gets used up quicker so whats best?

another thing ive been told to use only normal unleaded petrol because thats better for the yaris compared to the other 95 unleaded petrol at garages .i dont think this is true but thats what the guy at the garage i bought my car from said.

can anyone give there opions on it ..thanks

I wouldn't worry too much about fuel economy as your engine probably hasn't loosened up just yet, you should see some improvement in the fuel consumption after approx. 2000 miles. As for the miles left indicator, this is calculated on the present average for your latest journey, in theory you could have been on a long motoway journey averaging 57 mpg and the display says you have 170 miles left,but when you start up the next day and only travel 4 miles at an average 32 mpg the display will reflect this as it thinks that is what you are going to for the remaining fuel in the tank and it will display approx. 95 miles left. I hope that makes sense.

[Cyker]

Arround town (under 30mph) it's not the speed or revs that really eats the petrol, it's the accelerating and decelerating.

So leave bigger gaps, use the brakes as little as possible, and don't hammer the throttle.

Try and not follow the car infront bumper to bumper, but leave a gap so when they brake for a corner, you don't have to.

They'll then accelerate away on the straights, let them.

Over 50/60mph, areodynamics comes into it. Where it's best to go slower than usual and tailgate trucks etc. (but that's not exactly safe).

Very good fuel saving advice!

That'll save a lot more than almost anything else.

Gear choice tends to depend a lot on gearing and engine torque.

For 30mph, less torquey engines will run better in 3rd gear, whereas more torquey engines will happily run in 4th. e.g. a 1.0L Yaris would probably struggle to do 30 in 4th, whereas a D4D willl be able to do it easily.

3rd will always be better for acceleration from 30 to 40 tho'.

[danbamford]

some of this advice seems pretty good, but to the post above, my yaris doesn't struggle at all doing 30 in 4th.

[Raeman]

My SR will happily sit at 30 in 4th.

Anyway....Who drives at 30??

[carlowlad]

My SR will happily sit at 30 in 4th.

Anyway....Who drives at 30??

Those of us that fear penalty points on our licence!

Mind you, 30 mph is a bit of a draw on fuel compared to 40. Well, in a diesel yaris at least...... I much prefer 40 in 5th. The thing hardly sniffs diesel at that speed!

[Raeman]

I didn't mean that i speed everywhere, sometimes i do drive at 30, down my street i drive at 20.

What i meant was that most drivers never drive at 30mph. It's usually 35 (in a 30) or 45 (in a 40) ect...ect....

Sometimes driving at 30 just increases road rage. The person behind you drives too close and gets irate at you.....then you get irate for him driving too close!

[carlowlad]

Very true. Quite often 30 is too slow.

[s m smith]

Sorry,but if you need to ask what is the best gear to use at 30 mph, are you sure you past you're driving test and have a license to drive

[Raeman]

Sorry,but if you need to ask what is the best gear to use at 30 mph, are you sure you past you're driving test and have a license to drive

That's what i was thinking!

[Cyker]

Well unless things have changed they don't generally teach you stuff about driving for fuel economy :P

Not to mention it's different in almost every car:

The car I learned in (1.0L Corsa... !Removed! awful car!) would struggle if you tried to drive it at 30 in 4th, and if the road was even slightly inclined it'd stall instantly

My old 1.3 fiesta could do it fairly easilly, although it didn't like inclines much either, but my D4D Yaris I tend to drive all over the place in 4th (Eats all but the steepest hills! Also, when I'm in anal hypermiling mode, I've rolled up to the lights in 4th all the way down to 25mph, then the lights have changed and the car in front of me goes and I'll slowly accelerate to follow it, going from 25 to 40 all in 4th gear! )

Curiously, I was driving my dad's Ford Focus 1.8 TDCi and that was a bugger; Can't comfortably do 30 in 4th; The engine complains like hell. I think the car is geared much different to any of the cars I've driven before as it runs about 500rpm slower at a given speed compared to my Yaris and my brother's 'Rolla, probably because it can't rev as high. Very nice to cruise on the motorway with it 'tho!

[waxxy]

lol..yes ive passed my test but i dont know nothing about how to get the mythical mpg spec out the engine its supposed to do more than my old astra but s it stands its using roughlly the same ..and my mates keep saying always drive in 5th gear but i think thats wrong ..

it does seem happiest in 3rd or 4th if i get a good straight stretch of road and when i drive to the trafford center it loves 5th gear and keeps at a happy pace and last weekend (when the cops wernt looking) i got 90 out of it !! and it wasnt shaking like the starship enterprise !!! now my old astra used to shake so bad youd get scotty calling you up telling you the dylithum crystals were gonna blow so youd have to knock it back to 70..and before anyone starts ribbing me about the 90 mph i did it by accident i was just keepping up with the traffic and i didnt notice the speed until my wife shouted !Removed! hell were going 90 !! and i turned round and the baby was stuck on the back window like a garfield doll lol....

im impressed at how speedy the 1.0 actually is. it starts off like a lawn mower but after a few minutes and its had its sugar puffs its roaring away and nippy as hell.

[reece]

How many miles have you done in it waxxy?

[waxxy]

its only done 532 miles from brand new and only owned it 4 weeks today ive just got a letter from toyota a few mins ago saying how long ive had it.

[Cyker]

LOL! I did something similar in my Yaris D4D when I first got it; My Fiesta would get to 60 then run out of power, and if you went above 60 the steering would get terrifyingly twitchy, but in the Yaris it sort of sneaks up on you if you're not keeping an eye on the speedo

Luckily that digital dash is very easy to glance out the corner of your eye once you get used to it. One thing I'm curious is where you can get a HUD mod for it; A friend of my brother's had a much older Yaris (From when they still used letters for the registration date ) and it had a HUD for the speedo; I actually thought it was a standard feature for a long while!!

[reece]

its only done 532 miles from brand new and only owned it 4 weeks today ive just got a letter from toyota a few mins ago saying how long ive had it.

You really don’t want to be doing 90mph in it with such low mileage, the engine isn’t bedded in or loosened up yet. Your engine will be wrecked before you’ve had time to enjoy it, being a 1 litre it will be screaming at that speed :(

[Blue84]

Arround town (under 30mph) it's not the speed or revs that really eats the petrol, it's the accelerating and decelerating.

So leave bigger gaps, use the brakes as little as possible, and don't hammer the throttle.

Try and not follow the car infront bumper to bumper, but leave a gap so when they brake for a corner, you don't have to.

They'll then accelerate away on the straights, let them.

Over 50/60mph, areodynamics comes into it. Where it's best to go slower than usual and tailgate trucks etc. (but that's not exactly safe).

Sorry,but if you need to ask what is the best gear to use at 30 mph, are you sure you past you're driving test and have a license to drive

Good words Bibbs, I've learnt to drive exactly like you describe, definately makes a difference.

S M Smith what is wrong with a fellow owner asking a question like this? It's a valid question and everyone can input their views on it! I've been driving for nearly 6 years and still pick up tips and new things all the time. It's also passed your not past you're!

As for the original question, I do a lot of 30 mile roads and where it's pretty straight, flat and free flowing I put mine into 4th gear for 30 which is what the majority of my drive to work is, but otherwise I usually stay in 3rd and then near to 40 go up to 4th...sometimes over 40, it depends really on the particular roads I'm driving on. Economy wise it's very similar to each other, probably fractionally better in 4th. I like to keep a bit of power ready when the roads aren't so straight or free flowing as it makes it easier to drive instead of changing from 4th to 3rd all the time. if you are on a busy road with lots of obstacles i.e traffic lights for example.

So, I'd say 3rd but mine is on 50K now and I average 42mpg constantly which is fine as I also do 5 miles on a dual carriageway too daily :)