tink1698

Recently purchased a 14 with 7 speed manual transmission. Any suggestions on recommended shift points? I attempt to keep the rpm's around 1500 when driving. Is this about right? Please advise. Thanks!!

Elite275

There really isn't a set rule it's simply how you want to drive the car. Mine isn't a daily and only driven on weekends and when I'm out blowing off steam, so I baby it until it's at operating temp where the valve springs and everything are all nice and warmed up and then it's aggressively driven.

On road trips you'll find it's easy to cruise at 1500 or less in 6th or 7th. I usually only use 7th on long stretches of very flat highway where it won't lag.

tink1698

Thanks!! From your information, I believe I am operating correctly. Appreciate your response.

tblu92

I agree driving 55-60 MPH the engine would lug too much in 7th gear and the mileage would actually go down I would only shift into 7th when cruising at 65-75 MPH
as far as what RPM to shift at when up shifting thru the gears is a tough call---best is yo nor allow the engine to lug at all so that depends on many factors--kind of a seat of the pants call---

lancekl

Isn't that what a tachometer is for?

Bill Dearborn

As the manual states don't let the rpms drop below 900 in any gear.

Bill

3 Z06ZR1

No right or wrong just don't lug the RPM's.
That is the beauty of the manual! When just cruising sometimes. I skip gears a lot you can go 1st to 3rd or 2nd -4th and really still have plenty of go. The lt4 power band is full of torque. the lt1 is good as well but not as much as the lt4 So no need to use high RPM either unless you want to or racing.

I would recommend getting the MGW shifter.

MindBend

Shift when you feel torque tapering off. I don't even look at tach....just listen and butt feel. (of course, in my race car, i do the same....listen).

I second the MGW shifter recommendation--just did mine and it's AWESOME. Takes a sloppy/inaccurate feel and turns it to surgical precision...love it. DISCLAIMER: I have NOTHING to do with MGW other than being a very happy customer. The dollar:performance ratio is perfect!

dovervold

Here you go: I shift 2nd at 40 mph, 3rd at 70 mph, and 4th at 105. Of course this is spanking the rev limiter and pulling rubber in the first two gears

Little Red Corvette1

Friendly guy

I'm old, 66. ( laughs all )

You shift a manual in a high performance car by sound and feel. You don't watch a tach and shift at any predetermined rpm. The tach is a nice decoration if you really know how to drive a manual. When to shift depends on what you are doing. If you are on a quarter mile track ( or perhaps a mile ) ( heavens forbid anywhere else etc ) you shift when you feel the car is not pulling any more. This means you have passed the primary power band of the engine. I like to shift my old muscle cars with the gas jammed on the floor and then jab the clutch the instant I ram the shifter into the next gear. ( I enjoy 2 to 3 the best. I also had/have drive line loops on all my muscle cars and never have missed a shift like this from the time I was 18 to the present. ) We called this "power shifting". It has it's dangers. You need to work up to it and understand the risks. I like it.

If you are in traffic just don't lug the engine. If you want a little bit of "spirit" but are not driving the car full bore....well, shift at some nice comfortable spot in the power band at which you have had some nice sounds and feels from the car.

The power band for any engine can be found in the tech specs.

I'm shopping for a new vette, my first in fact. Right now I'm leaning toward a Stingray but might go for a Z06. I'm also looking at a Challenger Hellcat. Heck, I've probably had most of my go around at life by now....why not go all the way.

By the way. I think the "rev matching" nanny is a disgrace. First thing I will ask the dealer is how to disable it....permanently would be good. I am fairly sure Hellcats don't have rev matching. But, I think the buyer profile for those beasts is probably different than the vette. ( you can fill in the blanks on this opinion, basically I think some people buy vettes, even Z06's, who are probably scared speechless to ever use even a fraction of the power of the car )

Happy shifting! You are clearly serious, IMO, since you bought a manual trans. I'm not so sure about those ( 77% ) who are buying automatic vettes. Another gratuitous opinion of mine is that a car like the Z06 should not be offered with an automatic. I'm biased because I'm old. Cranky too sometimes. I don't think real sports or muscle cars have automatic transmissions and I don't care if they are a bit faster in some version of contest etc.

Bill Dearborn

Not sure why you would want the dealer to remove rev matching. It is a driver selectable option that really works well. It hits the right rev level on each downshift. Instead of popping the throttle while the clutch is in and listening for the proper amount of noise it hits the correct amount of rpms for the next lower gear you have selected. No sudden acceleration or braking from the rear wheels while you are on the brakes slowing for a turn. Just proper gear selection without any muss.

As you said the buyer profile for Hellcats is different since the two cars aren't competitors in the market place. If you think a Hellcat works instead of a Corvette go for it. If you want a sports car that goes around corners, stops and goes then the Hellcat isn't in the mix.

You want to look at BMWs, Porsches, Audi's, Ferrari's, Lambo's, etc. Those are the cars that compete with the Corvette. The big reason the Hellcat isn't in the mix is it is fat. It is approximately 1000 lbs heavier than any of those. 1000 lbs is hard to overcome in cornering and braking which is where the Hellcat suffers. Yeah, you can add more HP to overcome the weight in acceleration but then you have to stop all that weight from the same speed everybody else is going and drop it to a lower speed than they need to go around that next corner. That might be why I haven't seen any on the track this year.

Bill

theplatinumog

Is this chart accurate? I stretched my z51's legs a bit today. At the top of 4th I was only doing 130ish. Maybe I was not as deep into 4th as I thought.

thrilled

The power,or speed shifting now they call it no lift shift.You can see it on
YouTube.

aj98

1st will take you to almost interstate speed before you redline, 2nd to well above interstate speed.....

but if you want to be nice and conservative, touring, weather, and econo mode, shift every 10mph.

That's a little low for sport and track mode though.

dovervold

Disagree. 1st will get you to 45ish (not interstate speeds). 2 nd will get you to 70ish. 3rd is about 100 mph at red line. Z51 7 speed. Maybe you need to go out and actually run the first 3 gears to 6,500. Cheers

aj98

Point taken.

I said 1st to near interstate speed b/c in VA, state law says if the interstate goes through an area with population > 50k the interstate speed is maxed @ 55. (Effectively, 60 mile radius from my house is max 55)

outside those population areas, max limit is 70.

Elite275

I think it depends on whether you have a Z51 or not. Mine is a base and the interstate speed logic applies to mine. I'm in 2nd from a 60 roll and shift around 84mph or so into 3rd. Not sure what the mph is going into 4th but I have to shift right before the end of the quarter and trap around 126 with my current mods.

I do agree with the last statement....get out and run the car a bit to redline and see how it feels.

Bucknut2006

I would suggest shifting at redline. It's really fun.

MikeLsx

You must be new to manuals. not because its a bad question, but because manuals arent driven by shift points.

They are driven by feel, and it happens to be situational most of the time.