How often do you redline it & a story of newfound joy

[blue2000s]

Originally Posted by Frodo

I tend to agree with landrovered here. I don't know the science like some folks out there, but, to me, it seems like the Boxster has such a good torque curve that it feels totally unnecessary to wind out to redline in first.

As he said, when "in a hurry" I'll typically run up to 4500-5000 rpm in first, then shift. She just pulls so strong in second when I do that it just seems silly to delay that shift. I too save the redline (or near-redline) shifts for the middle to higher gears.

Like I said, I really don't know the science here...this is kind of a 'butt dyno' kind of thing for me.

Your butt dyno needs recalibration.

[Frodo]

Originally Posted by blue2000s

Your butt dyno needs recalibration.

Oh Great! What's THAT gonna cost me??

[blue2000s]

I put the gear ratios of the 986 6-speed together with the torque curve of the 3.6 non x-51 engine. Attached is the resulting torque vs road speed curve. You always have more torque in the lower gear at redline than the next gear up for any given road speed.

If the curves crossed each other, that would be the shift point you'd want to make. If they don't cross, as with the 3.6, redline is always going to be faster.

6th gear at a redline of 7200 RPM should be about 176mph.

[Mark_T]

Originally Posted by Frodo

Oh Great! What's THAT gonna cost me??

LMFAO!! Spoken like a true Porsche owner!


I try to never let my revs drop under 3000, selecting a gear that keeps the steady-speed revs in the 3000 to 3500 range. I ease it away in first, shifting around 4 or 5, and then wind it out through the rest of the gears. It is not uncommon to get a reminder from the rev limiter that maybe I should shift now.

I seem to average about 25 to 28 imp. mpg.