When to shift?

[Ridenour]

In lots of autos, when you floor it and hold it there at WOT, it will bounce of the rev limiter on each shift.

[T38]

Where to shift also depends upon what you are trying to do, I think. For example, if you are only trying to get to highway speeds and smoke the guy next to you while doing it, it may be worth holding the shift past peak because the shift comes a few MPH before your target speed, and coming off the gas for those few seconds isn't worth the shift. On the other hand, if you are on the quarter mile and the skies the limit, then, yeah, you probably want to make the shift.

Case in point, one of the guys I work with was comparing the car made by one mfg and a car made by another. They were geared radically differently because in the US, the dealers talk 0-60 times, but the other car (European...I think) was geared for better 1/4 mile times. In the US car, even though the gearing restricted acceleration, you got better 0-60 times because there was only one shift in that range. With the other car, you had to shift twice between 0 and 60 (like my Talon), so 0-60 times suffered a little, but in the 1/4 mile, the European car would smoke the US car because the gearing maximized torque.

In my car, peak HP is 6200 RPM, redline is 7000. On my way to work, there is a road where I top at 55MPH (State Troopers *AND* local PD are located on this road, so I keep it slow, lol). If I run to redline on this road, I only have to shift twice, then into 5th at 55MPH, and my time to 55MPH is optimized, even though a mostly stock non-turbo Talon gets a little doggy above 6200 RPM (no comments about a NT being doggy at all RPMs from you turbo guys! ).

[ssjohnson98]

its still a fr car, vtec, a lilmore horsies and a little reshaping dont make it a sports car. its a sporty coupe, just like a civic

[alphaboo]

I honestly don't know the best way to shift an automatic. I usually out it in drive an let the auto do it's job and when I need some extra speed I shove the trottle to the floor to push it into a down shift.

However I do assume it is similar to a manual. Listen to the engine. Ignore the tach after you get use to the way the engine sounds and then after that listen to the engine. The engine will always tell you when it wants to shift up.