Sometimes I idle at 25mph in 6th gear. Why not?

Depending on the cruising speed in the city. Most of the time I only have a chance to shift up to 5th gear.

Once I got over the gas mileage, I stopped going higher than 4th gear. It makes the highway really fun, I swear!

page 5-19 (starting and driving) of the 370z manual says:
"for normal acceleration in low altitude areas (less than 4,000 ft):
gear change: 5th to 6th @ 33 mph.

i would change it to 6th gear @ 40 mph but i don't normally use 5th gear.
I would go 1-2-3-6.

6th gear @ 40 mph produces 1500 rpm, which is same rpm that my automatic mercedes runs at when traveling at same speed.

the guy on this video only used 3rd and 4th gears
(i could tell because the z shows what gear it is in) :)

YouTube - Impreza WRX STI Spec C vs. 370Z Nismo vs. Cayman S PDK vs. BMW M3 M-DCT vs. Lotus Exige Cup 260 (HQ)

I was about to say the same thing. The manual recommends shifting
from 5th to 6th @ 33 mph for max fuel economy.

Though obviously if you are about to stop shortly after reaching 33 mph
it doesn't make much sense to shift all the way to 6.

Agreed, gas prices are still stupid around here, and I appreciate every mile I get, but I usually save 6th for 45+, and like I said, if you're in a hurry, a quick throttle blip downshift can be achieved in less than a second. Or a SRM downshift for you fancy sport drivers.

my last car was a mercedes c320 with 6 spd manual
and i think that engine would not run well in 6th gear at 40 mph.

I think larger engines such as the one in the 370z can handle it because i do it all the time and there's no sign that the engine is laboring.

Car runs fine in 6th at 45, and stays at 1.5k rpms, thats my happy fuel economy zone.

Waking up a dead thread but I tried this today. Read mpg at 32 with 41mph avg! Found new cruise mode :tup:

Was completely skeptical, especially with this transmission. Tried it, engine/tranny ran very smooth to my surprise. Just don't try to pass anyone at 40mph 6th gear :rolleyes:

Edit: here's a pic. I couldn't snap the 32 mpg cuz I was driving and waited until I stopped.

Everyone always mentions wanting to have extra power available in lower gears in case of the unknown. But does anyone here actually have a story of not being able to escape an accident because of too high of a gear? I'm not doubting anyone, it just seems somewhat paranoid to me and really more of a personal preference than a practical thing.

I do the 1,2,4,6....for light traffic situations

I don't get the whole thing about driving any car, let alone a sports car at low revs.

I keep mine at or above 3K all the time, and the car feels great. Gas milage is not something you should worry about if you have a sports car. I get 18.5/19.0 MPG in LA traffic.

Im getting 13-15 mpg i think ive mentioned that a 1000 times because i do all city driving work is 5 miles away.. However the few times ive been on the freeway ive gotten 25-30 mpg that is nuts... I wish i could hit 6th gear more often, unfortunately i barely even hit 5th in the city.

Long trips and things like this. Its my daily driver. Sometimes you wanna push, other times you want economy. I like the fact I can choose. Also I cant drive the car very hard on base (rules, regulations, work reputation) so its perfect for that.

Id say I drive the car like you 70% of the time. 30% now, I cruise around. :driving: