I wasn't refering to 4th gear' date=' was talking about 5th and even worse 6th.

In 5th gear you cannot slow down quickly to 20 then be back up to 27-30 safely, you just cant do it - hence little control over your speed.

As for saying the engine feels fussy and overloaded in 3rd, have to disagree there, it's just about right, sits just under 2K[/quote']

Hi

The idea is that you dont slow down quickly to 20 and then back up again in 4th / 5th. You should be able to anticipate the need to slow down and select gears as appropriate. Remember, we are talking originally about 30mph here. Of course, if we are waiting for an overtake, 3rd at 30 would be ideal, but we really dont need the performance "headroom" if travelling at a constant 30mph.

I also stated the engine feels UNDERloaded. It feels this way because it is. Thermal efficiency, internal friction and pumping efficiency all fall when the engine runs above the speed REQUIRED for the needed power output. So to run along at just under 2K when the engine only needs to run just over 1K to supply the power is sure to be wasteful.

After years of tuning, fettling and setting up engines (not just chipping, but getting the oily bits out and turning, polishing, milling and grinding 'em) then drivig said engines and plenty of others, it makes me cringe listening to someone driving along in 3rd when 4th will do and 5th could be used. It just demonstrates a lack of understanding of what is going on under the bonnet to me.

When I am driving my Fabia, I can comfortably and consistently achieve Skodas claimed combined 52mpg average. I drive quickly, but effectively and efficiently to do this. Of course, once my learners are in it, they tend to hang onto the lower gears for longer while they contemplate the change, but once "educated" they can get similar fuel consumption figures. On the mileage I cover, the differnce between 3rd ad 4th at 30mph could equate to around

Try a google on eco-safe driving and see what comes up.

Thanks for clarifying, Chris Found this on Google so I'm 4/5ths of the way to being a good eco-driver

Will work on my cruise control technique and see if I can make it 5/5

Chris

edited: not worth getting a slapped wrist for.

Good on you Chris GB, keep up the hard work

3rd everytime. It sits at 30 at around 1950RPM, giving me more control than I would in 4th.

4th cruises nicely at 30, but for me 3rd is the more appropriate gear.

Hi

Wether you prefer 3rd or 4th or 5th at 30mph is purely a matter of choice, but to claim that doing 30mph in the higher gears is to not have control is just not true for drivers who can do this. Having said that, for drivers who cannot control the vehicle properly in the higher gears, they demonstrate partial control by selecting the lower gear, rather than no control by wandering all over the place speed wise, so it is preferable they stick with 3rd.

The notion of "control" needs defining in this instance. For me, control is all about getting the vehicle to do what I want it to do in the way I want it done. So if I am after driving at a constant 30mph, control is the mechanism where I select the most appropriate gear, use the throttle to regulate the speed and use my observational skills to recognise in advance any need for a downchange or change of speed. However, I can see that for others, control may mean that they ar in a one gear fits all kind of drive and are willing to compromise economy and noise for the convenience of not having to change gear when they want to accelerate and slow. This is really convenience rather than control though.

Now if I want to make more noise than I need to, want to use more fuel than I need to and want to increase engine wear, then in 3rd I am acheiving all these goals, so I am in control. However, if my intention is to maintain a constant speed, but I am unable to do this in 4th or 5th, then I am in partial control using 3rd to make up for my lack of throttle control technique. This would be partial control because although I can regulate the speed, I am unable to do this without wasting fuel and running the engine faster than it needs to be run. So for me, running 30mph in 3rd (in this particular vehicle) is a demonstration of compromised , not improved control.

To give a parallel example, if there were a bend that a large number of averagely skilled drivers safely negotiated at 60mph, but some felt they needed to be doing 40mph to retain control, would you say that they were demonstrating control by slowing down? Of course you would, because you have recognised that they are compensating for their lack of cornering skill by reducing the speed of the car. However, you could not claim they had more control, but less, hence the need for compromised speed.

The Fiesta that I taught in before would absolutely not run 30mph in 4th when I got it and took a Ford firmware update to get it to run at that speed in 4th. It was still marginal then, so for that car, 3rd was acceptable. The problem was the step from idle to throttle on, which seemed to occur in such a way that you were forever on / off the gas to maintain 30. If it dropped below 30 a fair bit of gas was needed, once you got to 30 the tiniest lift of the pedal had the speed dropping as the fuel was cut. Perhaps some Fabias are like that as well, in which case I can see a need to drive in a lower gear.

Chris

PS, dont know what you edited out of your last post on the thread, but PM it to me for a laugh:)

A lot of this depends on car, conditions, driving preferences etc.

As always, each to their own

Also if your doing less than 1500rpm and it's vibrating then you'll know the dual mass flywheel is f00ked

I agree with all those who said 3rd gear was too low a gear for most situations when maintaining speed. Its also a lot thirstier than using 4th, I dont even see why people argue about this, that is a FACT.

@ Scoobychris, I'm afraid you are wrong when you say the only changed ratio of the new boxes is 6th... my mates Ibiza TDI has the same ratios as the older Fabias and he could do almost 60 in 2nd... I could not manage even 50 in 2nd in mine. He could also exceed 80 in 3rd where as I only just got past 70.

And for those whinging about the Fabia in traffic, well its not that bad... you can get significant pull from 1500 upwards with smooth throttle control. Maybe you should try driving a high revving 16v petrol like mine, where there is little pull under 2500 rpm full stop. The best car I had for that was the Golf 8v GTI, which would happily pull even from 10 mph in 3rd.

@ Scoobychris, I'm afraid you are wrong when you say the only changed ratio of the new boxes is 6th... my mates Ibiza TDI has the same ratios as the older Fabias and he could do almost 60 in 2nd... I could not manage even 50 in 2nd in mine. He could also exceed 80 in 3rd where as I only just got past 70.

Ah yes indeed you are right! I'd been corrected before and told it was just the 6th gear ratio which had changed, but this post (by me ) makes me think otherwise

Chris