TooMuchGroove

Assuming I wont hit a stop light again for an arbitrary distance, is it more economic to accelerate with as little rev as possible or should I try to get to low end of a higher gear more quickly?

LowRyter

I don't know but I remember reading years ago in Road & Track: Floor it to max torque rpm and shift quickly (max throttle but low revs). Again, I can't verify. IIRC that was a test done by BMW back in the '70s.

But the real way to increase gas mileage is to use as little brakes as possible. Coasting and cornering. Keep momentum.

919cw313

Hammer down. All the time.

FAUEE

Considering you can pretty much start off in 4th gear, I think you can get to higher gears very quickly and that's the best way to keep revs down and i.prove fuel econonyy.

Vet Interested

Buy a Prius...

airmed2

Unless you're in critical gas mode and searching for a gas station, I'm not sure why (in a Corvette/high performance/big engine car forum) that would even be a fleeting thought. Why do you ask?

K-Spaz

X amount of fuel is used every time your engine revolves. For every 2 revs, 6.2L of air:fuel mix goes in with a nominal mix ratio of 14.7:1. If the engine revolves less for the same distance, it uses less fuel. It's pretty simple math really.

Some of us really dgas about how much it uses. I'd like to think I'm the cheapest sob on the forum and yet I still don't care, other than the entertainment value of keeping the mileage as high as I can make it. If I want to stand on the throttle, I stand on it.

Garry in AZ

Actually, the math is not quite that simple. The fuel injectors are controlled by pulse width modulation, meaning, the computer can vary the amount of time each injector opens at any given RPM. The injectors pulse width is determined by engine load.
As an example, take an average fuel injected car, with only the driver in it, and drive a steady speed (RPM) on a given piece of road. Measure or monitor the cars fuel economy for that run.
Now take the same car, on the same road, at the same RPM, but fill it with passengers, and hook on a trailer. The fuel economy will decrease, because the engine is under a greater load, and the pulse width will be increased.

K-Spaz

The op isn't going to be hauling five people and a trailer with his Corvette.

I would anticipate that load levels will be relatively low anytime he is looking to increase fuel economy.

That said, if all else is equal, regardless of the load in most situations, less RPMs per distance traveled will result in the best fuel economy.

Garry in AZ

"That said, if all else is equal, regardless of the load in most situations, less RPMs per distance traveled will result in the best fuel economy."

With respect sir, I agree with you that my example had nothing to do with the OP's question. I was not talking about a Corvette, hence the clarification, "take an average fuel injected car". I merely was pointing out that your blanket statement about fuel and RPM isn't accurate. Load is a HUGE factor in fuel economy. Anyone who has watched a vacuum gauge fluctuate with slight changes in load, like going up a hill will understand that.
The fact is, at any given RPM, an engine will use more fuel if it is under a greater load. As the load increases, the throttle must open farther to maintain the same RPM. Otherwise, you are completely eliminating the volumetric efficiency part of the equation, which is a large part of any engines fuel economy. Certainly a slower turning engine could use less fuel, unless it does not have the horsepower at that RPM to handle the load, in which case the throttle is opened to maintain the RPM, and fuel economy decreases.

I'm not trying to convince you to change your beliefs, I'm only trying to point out the error in what you termed "pretty simple math". It's okay if you disagree with me. I would agree with you, but then we'd both be wrong.

Reckedhim

It's a corvette. Who gives a **** about gas mileage?

TucoTom

I think the OP has a KIA and is trying to rile up this Corvette forum.

BackInBlack05

Well....to "fool" EPA, GM did the 1st to 4th thing. So I'd gather mild acceleration in 1st until the shift light comes on, then 4th.

C6 Snowboarder

I think if you add a vacuum gauge and do what ever it takes to keep a high vacuum you get the best mileage - does not matter when you shift but dont ride the clutch,

keep on suckin!

72GACRZR

What is this "ECONOMIC" which you speak of, the Corvette must be the first to reach or exceed the speed limit on the green light.

jrose7004

I really wouldn't worry about it!

Bruze

I know what you're saying and agree.

To the OP: For best mileage -- always drive downhill.

captain vette

if your goal is to save gas, the less the engine rev's the better. But as many says i really dont care.

K-Spaz

At least someone here gets it. I wasn't even going to respond because it's so retarded but, I just can't help myself.

He thnks the trick to these discussions is to move the goalposts and then claim you're correct. It's easier to read something the way you want to read instead of simply understanding the basic premise. That way you can argue.

In a discussion about efficiency, and after a statement like, all else being equal, somehow the reasoning becomes: No,no Spazzy, that's not true. If I have one car doing vastly more work then the other, with more load on it, I will have to hit the throttle and it will allow more fuel air mixture into the engine at the same speed because there will be less vacuum. Look at what a genius I am, we now have two completely separate situations and I've compared them such that you're wrong! No sense comparing doing the exact same thing as is the very basic tenets of efficiency.

Next thing you know he will think up some other situation that virtually never occurs and expound upon that for a while. I can't wait to hear how when you've reached the limit of power production of the engine and are forced to downshift, now generating more power, that somehow enters into this discussion in a way contrary to what I said.

dr_gallup

This.

While accelerating it's best to use more throttle and lower RPM and of course top gear during steady state. The brakes are the biggest gas waster, turns all the nice kinetic energy into heat. But unless you're AOC pushing the Green New Deal, who cares while driving a Corvette? And if you do care, get a Leaf.