Vauxhall Insignia EcoFlex - tips/help anyone?

[Napalm]

So, have a brand new Ecoflex which seems pretty good for mpg but am keen to see if anyone has any specific tips for me, as the gearing on this car seems very different to anything I've driven before.

Specifically, I'm keen to work out the most efficient RPM when cruising on the motorways (the bulk of my mileage, if not my time...London traffic is a b*tch!).....I've been trying to keep the RPM at about a 1000 around town in 3rd/4th/5th and only changing up at about 1100-1200rpm max........then on the motorway I guess the idea is to get upto 6th gear as quickly as possible and then...........? what RPM would be best...? 1000 seems very low, even for a diesel no........?

(I'd love to try FAS but not sure it's a good idea....lol)

[MikeMarsUK]

Well, if you're in 6th, 1000rpm would be far too slow on the motorway (around 30 - 35mph?).

Just stay below 60mph and you should be fine.

[Napalm]

Don't think so, 5th gear with no touching the accelerator (think that's about 900rpm) gets me to at least 35mph on a flat road easily.........will try 6th on friday and let you know!

[Karl]

Just be careful not to bog down the engine too much. When accelerating in a turbo diesel you want to keep the revs around your peak torque RPM. Under revving can be just as bad as thrashing it.

On the motorway put it in 6th and keep the speed down. If possible try and safely draft another vehicle, that's where you will see a massive MPG gain.

I'd be interested to see how you get on, let us know your results.

[Karl]

Oh, and welcome to the website btw!

[Napalm]

Thanks

Have no idea what my peak torque rpm is, that's the problem! Any idea where I'd find that info?

[Napalm]

ah ha, found this:-

http://www.autoinsider.co.uk/features/i ... 201&page=2

says "it delivers peak torque between 1750 and 2000rpm" so I'm guessing limit my RPM to that when accelerating yes?

[Karl]

I would recommend to stay around the 1700 to 2500 band to ensure that your are not bogging it down too much. That's still low enough to save fuel and should give you the power you need to make sure you are not always accelerating.

There is a good thread here that might help you out a bit too http://www.hypermiler.co.uk/forum/viewt ... p?f=7&t=68

[frv]

Welcome to the forum from me too!
I haven't driven the Ecoflex but it may be similar to my FRV so like Karl says, if you aren't bogging the engine down you should be OK with low revs if you have plenty of torque. I'm quite often dawdling along at 1000 to 1500 revs on fairly flat roads and it's not stressing my diesel.
I get it into 6th as soon as possible and am quite often doing 30 in top gear no problem.
It's just a question of trying out different speeds in different gears and listening.
Let us know how you get on.

[MikeMarsUK]

Don't think so, 5th gear with no touching the accelerator (think that's about 900rpm) gets me to at least 35mph on a flat road easily.........will try 6th on friday and let you know!

Sounds like it comes with a really 'long' gearbox. My modified gearbox is 1000rpm = 35mph in 6th, and 1000rpm=30mph in 5th. Now I usually do 1750rpm @ 60mph on the motorway (it used to be 2100-2200ish in 5th, before the 6th gear was added + 5th was changed).