LS3 30mph are you in 3rd or 4th gear

[TOO SS]

My dealer who is an avid Corvette owner says to always keep the tach above 2000 rpms. At 30, that usually is second. He says the higher the rpm, the better the oil is getting hot as it is needed in this engine. He's owned many Corvettes, knows the engines.

[Jarhead]

Originally Posted by mhood

Bingo! If I'm cruising the drag and not being cute with it, she's a three gear car: 1st, 3rd and 5th. I've been known to be in 5th at 40mph. If the tach is above 1000 rpms or so, she will idle along just fine. If I want to jump all over it (which I never do while cruising in town), I can drop back 3 or 4 gears.

This is pretty much what I do too. I keep it above 1000 - 1200 for crusing along. I use whatever gear to keep it in that basic range, Inside town limits etc. It's an awesome feeling to downshift to 2nd and just rocket past anything I decide to.

[DMAX]

2ND

[2SSmeCamaro]

2nd

[v6sonoma]

I would say either 2nd or 3rd.

[8kids2hummers1camaro]

Depends on the mood. Went a week just trying to see what mpg I could hit by keeping rpm's low.....my wife blue the experiment with one drive....she's got a rather heavy foot.

Car handles just fine cruising on low rpm's.....and as others have said, the car isn't being hurt shifting 1st to 4th....but you might not like how she sounds....not to mention the fact that breaking her in a bit hard with be a good thing in the long run.

best shift for mpg's and lack of "lugging" sound 1st - 3rd.

[OnkelMatze]

while cruising, when the rpm drops below 1500 I shift into the next lower gear

[Jarhead]

I usually take off from a stop in second, power up to 45-50 shift to 4th, power up to 60-65, drop it in 6th and cruise. If I'm on a hill I'll use 1st, second and then to 4th and 6th.

Now, if I'm in a "spirited" mood I row thru in order till I reach my "safe speed" and cruise from there. I find that in 6th at 65 mph, my rpm's are at 1500 roughly.

I havent reset my MPG average since mid Feb. it reads 18.6 mpg. So what ever I'm doing is OK with the gas mileage perspective. I seem to be getting 290 to 315 miles per tank, using right at 15.5 to 16.5 gallons when re-filling.