Is it bad for the car to shift early? I've heard the Max can go from a stop in 5th gear, and I'm not necessarily talking about that. Just shifting earlier to keep the rpms low, save gas. I know that hurts acceleration, and we've talked about how early people should go into certain gears. I'm just wondering what specific damage or extra wear this might do to the engine, transmission, or something else? Thanks.

 

The tachometer has a red line and you should stay below it. The tach doesn't have a low-rpm "red line" and maybe it should. Keep your engine spinning above 1500 rpm.

Traveling at an engine speed below 1500 rpm won't hurt the transmission at all. However, it is unhealthy for the engine because the oil pump output is proportional to engine speed. If you "lug" the engine you are forcing it to run with marginal lubrication volume and pressure.

Cruising at 1500 rpm is acceptable. Gradual acceleration from 1500 rpm is acceptable. If you are "noodling along" at 1500 rpm and need quick acceleration, don't floor the gas pedal. Shift down two gears and then nail it.

 

So how is the engine lubricated enough when idling at 550 rpms?

 

because at idle you have no demand to move place on the engine and very little lubrication is needed when compared to flooring it at 5000rpms...

 

Exactly. Idling is a special case. The engine is not doing any hard work, and consequently its cooling and lubrication needs are minimal.

 

Very little load is placed on the engine at idle.

 

Makes sense. Thanks for the info.