ZL1 is Happy at what RPM range
 

Ok, I know people haven't driven their ZL1 YET, but for those that are in the know with the LSA motor, what RPM range is this motor happy at?

I never owned a vehicle with a SC or Turbo, so I have no idea what is a safe range to cruse in.

In my previous cars I would cruse between 3000 - 4000, then step on it and shift at 6000 with a redline of 7000.

I know the mpg won't be pretty, but then again it's not pretty to begin with.

Thanks!

If your talking about a cruising RPM, based off my LS3 I'd say 2K. The power band comes in around 4K.

With the supercharger I would think the tork would come in alot lower than 3-4K rpm. So cruising around at about 2000-2500 rpm is probably good.

Maximum grunt (torque peak) occurs at 3800 rpm on my CTS-V (manual).

Best regards,

Elie

What's happy? LSA should be able to lope around on the freeway at less than 2K. Fuel cut-off is about 6200 or so, and it is making power right up to it. I think you're going to have to give circumstances before anyone can comment more, like racing, just driving, or whatever.

the correct answere is about 800-6200. anything below and it start to feel a little melancholy and anything above that it and starts to get a bit pissed off.

That's a high rpm to be crusing at with a V8, unless you're traveling at pretty high speeds, or have a really low rear end ratio. I'd expect the LSA in ZL1 not to be much different than the LS3. The supercharger wouldn't affect the speed the engine is comfortable crusing at.

Happy would be driving down the freeway...i.e. 60 mph...would you be in 6th gear, 5th, 4th etc. I know the lower gear will cause higher gas consumption, but then again you don't want to be lugging the engine either....So Happy would be the point between lugging the engine - overly revving the engine in the higher RPM range while driving down the freeway, blvd, back road etc.

I guess a better way to ask this is:
If I'm driving at 35mph what would be the appropriate gear to be in?
If I'm driving at 60mph what would be the appropriate gear to be in?
etc. etc. etc.
Key word being "appropriate".

Thank you!

Yeah that's what I thought hence my question.
Sorry I wasn't clear on this...those rpm ranges were in a 4cyl bimmer and a 6cyl porsche.

In my '95 with a T56, I'd cruise at those speeds in 5th and 6th, respectively. The gear ratios were the same, but I had OEM 3.42s (not 3.73s) and shorter tires, at 26" (not +28").

I'd say, if you're maintaining the same speed, keeping RPMs from LSA between 1600-1800 should be great for MPG and putting-along. GM small-blocks make great low-end power. 1800 is not lugging at all for these motors. Don't expect to pass anyone at those RPMs, but I've taken a lot of mountain grades at high elevations in my '95, with considerably LESS power (and weight, lol) so I suspect ZL1 isn't going to be too different;)

JMVHO - obviously - I don't have one, so these are just educated guesses only ;)

Thank you very much...your educated guess is better than mine at this point. I hear you on the weight...oh sorry, you were talking about the car's weight...:D

61mph is 1700 in 6th

36mph is 1600 in 4th
35mph is 2000 is 3rd

with the torque this car will have any highway cruise should be in 6th. www.f-body.org/gears/

1st 2.66
2nd 1.76
3rd 1.3
4th 1
5th .8
6th .63

3.73 gear
305/35-20 tire size.

Mahalo for the info...the link doesn't work though...:(
Yeah this is going to be a Torquey one!

fixed it.