[kaitai]

Don't know whether this has been covered before but need some info...

Sold my mildly modded Eunos Roadster which was pretty economical yet fun to drive as a daily commuter car...

I'm now left with my modded Stagea as the daily driver and I need to find the most economical Autobox setting
as I do about 50+ miles round trip a day.


My work route consists of mainly country lanes...

Wondering whether its more economical with the overdrive
and power button off for country lanes??

May sound silly but I always find the car very sluggish at low revs with the OD button on and I end up putting a lot more weight down on my right foot to get up hills

Considering the way I drive at the mo, I can see myself doing 150 quid in petrol each week ;-)

 

[Aitch]

The OD does two jobs really, it adds an additional (usually electronic controlled) gear and because of this the driveability changes. As the gearing reacts differently, so we drive differently, which creates the second part of the job.

OD is designed to add "legs", so on small bendy roads I would expect the best efficiency with OD off during spirited driving, but on during more relaxed driving, motorway etc.

The power mode is always going to be less fuel efficient, regardless of roads conditions, unless you drive carefully, no kickdown etc, but then you wouldn't need it on anyway.

Aitch

 

[kaitai]

The OD does two jobs really, it adds an additional (electronic) gear and because of this the driveability is changed, as the gearing react differently.

OD is designed to add "legs", so on small bendy roads I would expect the best efficiency with OD off during spirited driving, but on during more relaxed driving.

The power mode is always going to be less fuel efficient, regardless of roads conditions, unless you drive carefully, no kickdown etc, but then you wouldn't need it on.

Aitch

Cheers for the info...

Confirmed what I thought already so I reckon I won't be saving much no matter how what buttons I press

Better hope my new daily driver gets here soon!!!

 

[D-Sleazy]

I agree with Aitch.

Overdive on (i.e. no warning light) and power option off will give better fuel economy.

 

[kaitai]

I agree with Aitch.

Overdive on (i.e. no warning light) and power option off will give better fuel economy.

I need them to build a motorway to work!!

 

[Gee]

Hello

I have an Auto Gtst and used to do a 56 mile round trip to work, which used to cost around £55 a week, so your fuel bill shouldn't be that bad. If I drove like a dick then I could double fuel costs, and just used to weight the time difference against the cost. I used to stick to 60mph with OD off and Power button off, also remember if you floor it the power setting will come on automatically. (Basically the power button just holds it in gear longer). I also get better mpg using super, as well as the other benefits.

Gee

 

[kaitai]

Hello

I have an Auto Gtst and used to do a 56 mile round trip to work, which used to cost around £55 a week, so your fuel bill shouldn't be that bad. If I drove like a dick then I could double fuel costs, and just used to weight the time difference against the cost. I used to stick to 60mph with OD off and Power button off, also remember if you floor it the power setting will come on automatically. (Basically the power button just holds it in gear longer). I also get better mpg using super, as well as the other benefits.

Gee

Problem I have is that the route I drive is mainly the A22 between Uckfield and Crawley/Gatwick...

Trying to stick to a steady 60mph is near impossible as there is a lot of traffic peak times and different gradients...

To make things worse, the car is pushing just over 400bhp at the flywheel..


Different story when on the motorway as I can keep the revs steady and maintain a constant speed. Best I got was a little over 400km to the tank but this included having a bit of fun with GTS-t on the way home

Think I'll have to find another daily commuter quicktime!!!

Interesting that you use 55 quid a week as I'm thinking about running a manual 4dr GTS-t as a daily commuter.

I can live with 55 quid a week compared with what I'm using right now.

 

[RS V FOUR]

As before Overdrive on power button off definately (for economy)

Standard Stageas are incredibly tractable and have really smooth pick up.

As yours is tuned you can expect it to be a lot less smooth in take off hence the need for a heavier foot.

On standard Stageas you can try it with the car in snow mode ( you have 3 modes - power,std & snow)
Snow means the car pulls away in 2nd ...better ecomomy (only if the engine will pull away smoothly)

 

[360auto]

are you saying it,s quicker acceleration from 0mph without o/d
so i should of left o/d off initially when drag racing at shakespeare,
only apply o/d when she changes to 3rd gear.
if yes do you think i might of got into the 13sec, best being 14.222
sorry for the slight hi-jack, but will be good to know for general usage.

 

[kaitai]

are you saying it,s quicker acceleration from 0mph without o/d
so i should of left o/d off initially when drag racing at shakespeare,
only apply o/d when she changes to 3rd gear.
if yes do you think i might of got into the 13sec, best being 14.222
sorry for the slight hi-jack, but will be good to know for general usage.

I think the consensus for quick acceleration from standstill is OD off and power button on. I generally leave the power/snow button in neutral and just play with the OD button at roundabouts. Just so difficult to judge on a mix condition road.

Next week will be the the first full week that I'll be driving my Stagea to work everyday...think a bit of experimenting is in order.

 

[kaitai]

Er.......
Well I have to TOTALLY disagree about overdrive....
It is just 4th gear, but because it is less than 1:1 gear ratio it is called overdrive.
On or off effects NO OTHER aspect of performance of the gearbox in any way whatsoever apart from 4th not engaging.
Some of you MAY have noticed what feels like a 5th gear that seems to slip in at higher speeds on a light throttle that drops the revs by about 800prm, this is in fact TCL 'torque converter lockup' the only way to improve economy over the 'normal' setting would be to manually control the solenoid that enables TCL earlier, but it would need to be a clever system or you'd have no torque converter slip at all, and that could be very very bad....
Anyway I am impressed at your imaginations, keep it coming.
Andy.

I don't think we're debating whether the OD button makes a difference in performance of the gearbox More the performance of the car.


The OD button does make a difference to the performance of my car as I can go through the gears in a very short space of time. Obviously not having the OD on means the 3rd gear is held longer allowing me to have better acceleration.

We all know that an auto car is the most economical when cruising on the motorway at a constant speed with the OD on.

I'm just wondering whether I should have the OD off on
my journey to work as the gradients as constantly changing.

Or leave the OD on and just let the box do its own thing by kicking down when it needs to...

 

[Aitch]

..on some (like ours) the OD provides 5th.

You may wish to try http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overdrive_(mechanics)

Just looked for something to explain OD rather than try myself, I'd be here all day, this does a reasonable job, I believe Skylines use the Aisin system.

Aitch

 

[D-Sleazy]

I feel another horse to water moment....
Still can't make the thing drink though...
Oh well......

 

[kaitai]

..on some (like ours) the OD provides 5th.

You may wish to try http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overdrive_(mechanics)

Just looked for something to explain OD rather than try myself, I'd be here all day, this does a reasonable job, I believe Skylines use the Aisin system.

Aitch

Thanks Aitch..

Nabbed off wikipedia....

This was all that I needed ....

"Generally speaking, overdrive (OD) is the highest gear in the transmission. Most automatic transmissions have three speeds and overdrive (fourth speed). Overdrive allows the engine to operate at a lower rpm for a given road speed. This allows the vehicle to realize better fuel efficiency, and often quieter operation on the highway. When you switch it on, you allow the transmission to shift into overdrive mode after the certain speed is reached (usually 70+ km/h ~ 45+ mph) depending on the load). When it is off, the transmission shifting is limited to the lower gears. For normal driving conditions, operation of the overdrive should be enabled only if the average speed is above 70 km/h (approx. 43 MPH).

It may be necessary to switch it off if the vehicle is being operated in a mountainous area.

The automatic transmission automatically shifts from OD to third gear when more load is present. When less load is present, it shifts back to OD. Under certain conditions, e.g.: driving uphill or towing a trailer, the transmission may "hunt" between OD and the third gear, shifting back and forth. In this case, switching it off can help the transmission to 'decide'. It may also be advantageous to switch it off if engine braking is desired, for example, driving downhill. The vehicle's owner's manual has information and procedures regarding such situations."

BTW

"bb-gtst" Whats the output of your car???

I'm interested as I'm curious as to what my Stagea will do on the 1/4 mile

I've got 2 factors against my car getting quick times and thats the weight plus Autobox.... Maybe we should get together at Pod one day and have a little race

 

[Mike_B]

This thread is very helpful, as a turbo and auto virgin and new owner of a Stagea, I was wondering why I couldn't find the 4th gear.

This has explained it to me.

Although mine is standard, I have put some Fuel system cleaner and Tesco 99 in mine .

 

[sharpy r33]

The automatic transmission automatically shifts from OD to third gear when more load is present. When less load is present, it shifts back to OD. Under certain conditions, e.g.: driving uphill or towing a trailer, the transmission may "hunt" between OD and the third gear, shifting back and forth. In this case, switching it off can help the transmission to 'decide'. It may also be advantageous to switch it off if engine braking is desired, for example, driving downhill. The vehicle's owner's manual has information and procedures regarding such situations."


Thanks for that. This may explain my auto box hunting question on another thread. I tend to drive with overdrive on all the time and sometimes at higher speeds it keeps shifting down then back up. Ill try it tomorrow with overdrive off and see if it stops doing it.

 

[360auto]

hi kaitai

267hp at hub. i,m running emanage ultimate and e01 on way (2 weeks i hope)
so should be able to increase boost curve. could,ve had more, but wanted safe/daily drive set-up. (around 20hp more if i recall)
and yea i,m up for a race

bruce

 

[kaitai]

hi kaitai

267hp at hub. i,m running emanage ultimate and e01 on way (2 weeks i hope)
so should be able to increase boost curve. could,ve had more, but wanted safe/daily drive set-up. (around 20hp more if i recall)
and yea i,m up for a race

bruce

Hmm..will be a close

Mine is a little over 400hp at the fly so this is equates to around 340-350 at the hub???

My Stagea is more overweight than your liner so methinks it'll be interesting :grinno:

Let me know when you go next !!!