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Cruising at 30 M.P.H. in which gear?

9.6K views 51 replies 36 participants last post by  Frankenbike  
#1 ·
While driving in the city I have situation where I am going 45MPH then cruise down to 30 MPH speed limit. At this point I am usually in 5th gear and take the long stetch at 30ish in 5th (maybe going 32-33 at most), unless I need a quick burst Ill downshift of course. I am dealing with an issue that is easiest to demonstrate in this situation, however I would like to ask other ST owners, when you are going 30MPH for more than a short block or two distance, what gear do you usually stay in, especially if you are coming from a higher speed? I'll explain more of my situation based on the responses, but I don't want the responses to be sways by my situation other than what I have present above.

Thanks!
 
#2 ·
5th most likely. A little too slow for 6th.
 
#4 ·
45mph 4th gear,going down to 30mph grab 3rd gear and hear that ecobeast purr:D
 
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#7 ·
Noise when applying quick gas going 30MPH in 5th.



Thanks for the replies. A bit more of my story. When I am cruising in 5th and I jab the gas and let go real quick, I can hear a clunk from the front driver front of the car. I have 65k miles on my ST over two years now, and the noise has been getting a but louder the past 20k. It seems like play in the transmission.

I took it to the dealer to see if it was a concern and they couldn't duplicate the problem, so the next day I drove with their tech and duplicated it by driving 30 MPH in 5th doing hitting the gas real quick then letting go. In the end, they told me I am driving it wrong I need to be in 3rd gear or 4th going 30... I can reproduce the noise in many gears at many speeds, sometimes just by engaging the cluth from nuetral, I just choose to demo it at 5th gear and 30MPG cause the engine is quieter and you can hear it better. At no point in the test drive did they tell me I was 'driving it wrong' or 'abnormal'. I was not asked to reproduce the noise under different circumstances. In teh end they said it is normal if I drive it that way... I'm under warranty bumper to bumper for 100k, so Ill monitor it, but I wanted verification from the forums (even those I figured I wasn't driving it wrong for 65k miles) that others do cruise in 5th at 30mph when driving it casually. The first response stated this, the others have stated lower gears but driving more aggressively, which I do to.

Thanks for the responses, if anyone else wants to chime in do so.

Also if anyone can slow to 30 MPH in 5th gear, then jab the gas causing the engine to engange then go back to 'engine braking', do it a few times quickly so the car switches momemtum, and see how loud of a noise it makes from the drivers wheel area, if it makes a noise at all. I think its just play in the transmission, but it seems to be getting louder on my car over time (I never noticed it at all the first year I had it).

Thanks!
 
#6 ·
If I'm just cruising on a leveled road I stay in 4th. The little 2.0 has plenty of torque to not bog down in my observation.
 
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#16 ·
^this
 
#17 ·
Just went out for a spin during lunch and I often cruise in 5th at 30 if I'm in a 25 zone. Anyway, I revved to just over 2k with boost and got off the throttle with no clunk. I even went on and off the throttle several times really fast like a rookie and nothing. 12,900 miles.
 
#22 ·
4th gear. I have to drive through a 25 mph section on my way home. 4th keeps the rpms right below 2000

Tappin with my S5
 
#25 ·
Why are people in such a high gear at 30?
 
#29 · (Edited)
I don't care if my car gets 10mpg, lol.. the power is there if I want it. Anything higher than 4th at 30ish feels like it's lugging to me. Under 30, over 20 I stay in 3rd. Under 20 gets 2nd.
 
#31 ·
Considering at the ST Octane Academy we were hitting 90 in 3rd gear I find it funny to read our street comments.

However I'm usually a "shift at about 2,300 person", it all depends where I am and what's ahead of me as to if I am high or low in gear selection at 30MPH
 
#33 ·
you guys really have that slow of speed limits? out here if you don't cruise atleast 80 you get run off the road. Rural LA county is not for the faint of heart I guess. even in school/park zones people cruise around 60.