mb1

iTrader: (2)

I know this is a weird question, but I just wanted to know if my car is okay. I have only depresed the gas pedal on a car all the way once before. It was a 740il. That thing picked up and hauled ***. In my 5spd 98 I was driving in third, and I decided to see what would happed if I floored it....... nothing. I pressed the gas all the way down and the rpms started to climb very slowly from 2800 to about 3500. Is it supposed to do that, or was it supposed to pick up and go? I know if I wanted to go fast I should've downshifted, but is it supposed to accelerate so slow? I also tried it in all the other gears(2,3 and 4th) Same thing. Thanks

Nine7Max

you we're probably in to high of a gear. When you're in the right gear, then downshift and punch it you should haul ***.

mb1

iTrader: (2)

This is my first 5spd, so I don't know how they behave. So you're saying that the car will not accelerate well at all, unless I downshift?

BlkStnValyMaxima

iTrader: (1)

You will notice much better accelleration if you downshift. Say you are doing 40 MPH in 3rd of 4th gear. Downshift into second and push the throttle all the way down. You will notice a major increase in accelleration.

dave

automatics usually automatically downshift when flooring the gas. learn to do this yourself. have fun.

tomj

Here is a little example of the Max's potential for ya. Don't try flooring it when you are going 40 mph in 4th gear. Your rpms are only 2k. Try cruising along in 2nd or 3rd gear (or even better 1st) at 3k rpms and then floor it. See what happens. Oh, and make sure your headrest is pulled fully up. After 3k rpms you are getting into the full torque and hp range.

BlackMax62

yeah the 5 speed is great after 3K rpms..anything under that the max is a bit sluggish...my favorite thing to do is to just ride out third girl to about 80 mph from 3k to about 5k or so...with the CAI on there it sounds great...have fun

sabe

Sonic

Automatics are very strong too, usually in the 0-80 range. About 80, they are dogs until about 105.

2DMax

iTrader: (2)

I don't htink the power band starts till it hits 3.2K or 3.3K RPM .....

mb1

iTrader: (2)

What RPM range do you all usually stay in when daily driving?

Ants97SE

When just cruising I try to keep it around 2k or 2.5k. When I need to go faster, I'll just downshift into the gear I want. Just make sure you don't throw it into too low a gear at a high speed. That messes things up just a bit.

Afty

Autos downshift for you when you floor the accelerator. That's why you took off in the BMW. In a 5-speed you need to downshift yourself, so you have to do a little planning before you speed away. The nice part is that you can choose how much power you want. Say you're crusing at 40 mph in 4th gear, and you really want to go. An auto would probably only downshift one gear, giving you decent acceleration, but you have the option of downshifting to either 3rd or 2nd, with 2nd giving you a healthy dose of speed.

The downside is that you do have to think a bit before you shift, but after a while this becomes second nature and a lot of fun.

Dave B

The true powerband of the 4th gen starts at around 4000-4200rpms and ends at 5600. Take the car to 4000 in 2nd and cruise like that for a second, then floor it. If it doesn't snap you neck, there's something wrong with your car. Make sure you are on a flat surface too. After you add and intake and full exhaust, 2nd gear and 3rd at WOT from 4200rpm is very impressive. My buddies stock 94 Z28 can't even get away from me from a 40mph roll-on to 120mph.

The 740IL you drove downshifted when you floored it. If the car stayed in a cruising gear, it too would feel slow. The older early 90s and such 740s aren't very quick. They are fast in that they've got good topspeeds, but 0-100 is rather slow because of it's heavy weight and high gearing.


Dave

mb1

iTrader: (2)

So is cruising around at 4000 rpms bad for the engine? Should I not do it often?

dwapenyi

iTrader: (3)

Just master the technique of downshifting quickly. Normally I'm in 3rd gear at 40-60 mph anyways, mellow cruise mode. I normally shift at 3K rpms or so. If I need some decent pickup, down to second. On the highway when cruising at 80 mph in 5th, you can go down to 3rd and blast the hell out of any situation! 3rd gear REALLY rocks at 80 mph.


Oh, and small correction, cruising at 4K rpm is un-neccessary, unless you're in 5th gear That's just around 100 mph.

DW

Lordrandall

iTrader: (4)

Not too good for the engine, and really bad for your MPG's.

got rice?

iTrader: (2)

The BMW has enough torque to accelerate in a higher, taller gear. The smaller displaced Maxima 3.0L doesn't have the same torque so you won't be able to have the same acceleration in top gear. Just look at C&D tests that show a car's acceleration from 50-70. This is both an indication of torque & gearing. Autos don't count in the comparison since they downshift one gear, thus, have better gearing.

On smaller engines, downshifts are a must to get the thing moving since there is no torque until 4000-4500 rpm, which is why their final drive is generally higher (shorter gearing) than on larger displaced vehicles, which use lower final drives (taller gearing).