Hi gang. Merged an empty road this morning, looked at the odo (570 miles), and thought 'what the hell, after 2 months and tons of heat cycles from 10-mile trips, this thing is broken-in'; it's time to start exercising it . So I floored it for a second until it shifted to 2nd gear.
The reason for this post is tranny upshifted to 2nd at 5,500 at best; quite short of its 6,200 redline, even though the tranny switch is set on 'PWR'. I remember reading magazine tests where redline in 1st gear is lower than the rest; is this the case with our cars??
Could you please post at what rpms your car upshifts?

Take care, and I wish everybody here a happy Thanksgiving.

JC

 

It may just be that with the lack of WOT's to date, your ECU has programmed itself into sort of a "gentle mode". If so, the response time and RPM's may improve with additional WOT's.

 

I guess it makes sense. Even though the engine is already broken-in, I want to wait until the 1K mark to really hammer it (a top-speed run), at which point I'll find out about upshift rpms on other gears. Other than that, I only do brief WOTs every once in a while to keep the engine 'healthy'. One other recommendation I've heard is to run the engine at elevated rpms every once in a while for a few miles, like 55 or 60 on the freeway in 3rd gear (3,500 rpms or so), to prevent carbon build-up.
The question I have is if it does the engine good to run it hard (high load) every once in a while, or if running at high rpms at low load (like freeway on 3rd for a few miles) is enough.

Well, only one guy out of 50 who read my post responded (thanks buddy); I expected more 'active' membership here on this subject.

Later.

 

Hey Guys, WOTS a WOT?

Flatfoot

 

That's why nobody replied
Wide Open Throttle. Now we're talking, huh?

Good evening.

 

I havent thought to check the shift points at WOT. I'll try to get you some info tomorrow for feedback.
Note: 2002 w/40K miles....


Weny

 

Thanks a lot Weny.
First and second would be fine; don't want you to get arrested for that .

Happy Thanksgiving people; drive safely.

JC

 

Now I know wot a wot is. I can't answer your question though because I haven't really punched mine yet.
To me, the SC just doesn't seem like the kind of car to drive hard.
Flatfoot

 

Just one thought here, which is the most basic survival rule for motorcyclists IMO.
There're only 3 things you can do to avoid an accident: BRAKE, ACCELERATE, EVADE. And you have a fraction of a second to decide what to do. Most people on the road don't know how their vehicles react at the limits (WOT, ABS-invoked braking, evasive maneuvers), let alone all THREE of them. As a motorcyclist, you can't afford not to know (plus be able to execute it; much harder than in a car), but it also could mean having an accident or not in a car.
Get to know your vehicles gentlemen, even if it means driving them a little 'hard'. How do you know if you can overtake that semi, or safely merge in front of that fast-moving vehicle trying to avoid an obstacle, if you don't know how long it takes for your tranny to kick down, and how hard the car accelerates at different speeds? The times I floor my car are to experiment in different scenarios, to develop that 'feel' in case you ever need to make a quick decision. It's good to 'exercise' your engine every once in a while; our DOHC engines are designed for high-rpm operation, and are very modestly redlined at 6,200 rpms. And please try locking your brakes too; freaking out when trying to avoid an accident is not the best time to try.
Food for thought guys.

Happy thanksgiving.

JC

 

WOT shifts at a little over 6K.

 

My 02' shifts right at 6,000 rpm with it floored.
I drive it hard once and a while and it's learned
what I want it to do. It is not quite the 345 hp
3300 pound C5 Corvette I had but quicker than
a lot of cars I've had.

 

Thanks guys. My GS4 also shifted right at 6K, but don't remember if redline was 6 or 6.2K, like our car.
I also think that by flooring it every once in a while it keeps the engine more responsive, due to the 'intelligence' feature.
I also had a vette, an '03 coupe with the A4 2.73, but this one felt just like the GS4, due to the ultra-high gearing. Owners say the 3.15 gears feel like a different car, and the 6-sp is another step up. I'm very happy with this car, and don't feel I gave up much performance for the quantum leap in luxury.

Hope everybody had a great Thanksgiving.

JC