Mitsubishi recommended up shift speeds

In the 2015 owners manual on page 5-38 and 5-39 there is a chart with recommended up shift speeds for "the best fuel economy and performance in using your manual transaxle".

They are as follows:

Acceleration conditions:
1st to 2nd- 15mph
2nd to 3rd- 28mph
3rd to 4th- 36mph
4th to 5th-45mph

Under cruise conditions:
1st to 2nd- 15mph
2nd to 3rd- 19mph
3rd to 4th- 33mph
4th to 5th- 45mph

How accurate do most of you fellow efficient drivers find this to be? I must say that I find shifting very smooth at these speeds and their corresponding rpms, even for "cruise" conditions. The acceleration end to me seems to be winding out 2nd a bit too far.

I tend to skip gears when I can, most often skipping 2nd to 4th or 3rd to 5th. Will that get me a bit better mpg or would running straight through the gears as instructed be best?

I almost always run all the way through the gears when accelerating. I also drive for efficiency. Keeping the engine in its minimum BSFC (brake specific fuel consumption) is best. However, there really isn't a big penalty for revving it up a bit more or less.

As I read on ecomodders it's not the higher revs so much as the sudden stops in speed and going over the best cruising speed. I think on flat land my mirage does best 45-50mph in 5th, but with the hills here 55mph is a little better to keep it from bogging on steep hills. Accelerating onto a interstate at 3-3.5k vs 2.5k isn't going to help much and create a hazard if it's busy. Driving stop light to stop light at 3.5k shifts will hurt fuel economy, when you know there is a potential to slow down or stop (traffic lights ect.) then driving slow and easy is the best choice, it's all about driving smart and knowing when to use the power and when to drive easy.

Are either of you aware of more specific info on the deceleration fuel cut off?

Do the injectors stop every time the throttle is released during a coast?

The european spec Space Star 1.2 tells to shift back under...
31 kph in 3rd
41 kph in 4th
46 kph in 5th gear.

So I shift up at...
15 kph in 2nd
30 kph in 3rd
40 kph in 4th
45 kph in 5th gear...
and shift down at the same speeds when I need to accelerate again.

If I don´t have to accelerate, the car can roll at...
10 kph in 2nd
20 kph in 3rd
30 kph in 4th
40 kph in 5th gear.

I don´t drive fast and accelerate hard, so this is the most efficient way to drive.

^^^^^^^^^^^
I think you are missing a decimal point on your last fuel log entry. The tank will not hold over 300 liters. Our shift points are almost identical.

regards
mech

Does it not irritate anyone else that they used MPH and not RPM for this?

I could never lift and speed shift this thing like Ronnie Sox and hit all the MPH numbers they want, and I guarantee it wont be the most FE way... lol

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TFCfan2021

Are either of you aware of more specific info on the deceleration fuel cut off?

Do the injectors stop every time the throttle is released during a coast?

---

On my manual it seems like dfco works when downshifting down to about 1200 rpm. Not sure about the cvt.

regards
mech

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Basic

Does it not irritate anyone else that they used MPH and not RPM for this?

I could never lift and speed shift this thing like Ronnie Sox and hit all the MPH numbers they want, and I guarantee it wont be the most FE way... lol

---

it did at first, but now I am really getting used to the speeds.

to make it easy, I made my shift points 15, 25, 35, and 45.... or just whatever the hell I want depending on the scenario, there has been plenty of times where 25 won't carry me into 3rd and I have to wind 2nd out a bit longer, for example.

I typically shift between 2500-3k, but I'll wind it up to 4k in first and second if I have a passenger.

Isn't that what the rev limiter is for??
Run it out to 6500 now and again, stretch its legs already... I bounce off the limiter now and again and my overall/lifetime MPG is still 34, that's awesome!!

Idk... most times i feel like if I am not getting atleast 50mpg+ I am doing something wrong.

I ordered a ultragauge and it should be here by Saturday. Can't wait to start using it.

I gotta add: for MPH = shift point; if there's one you have to experience it's: 3rd to 4th @ 78MPH. The engine is absolutely singing, there's a wonderful intake whine (it's almost like a gear whine) and the 3-pot is giving it all it's got, for a 74HP 'beast' it's about as good as it gets. IMO

Try it some time

^ I agree.

From 10+k miles experience.

Maintaining speed, no acceleration.

5th down to 30 MPH (1500 rpm)
the rest of the gears down to the same rpm (1500)

Very very slight acceleration can be done from 1500 but it would take at least 30 seconds to increase your speed by 20 mph.

Normal acceleration I go to 2500 rpm.

Other traffic influenced acceleration I go to 3500 or higher depending on the situation.

regards
mech

I basically shift at 2400 rpms. A little higher going up hill.
Or,
1-2 10 mph
2-3 20 mph
3-4 30 mph
4-5 40 mph
I will skip 4th if i am rolling down hill. The car will cruise without lugging at 35 mph in 5th.

http://mirageforum.com/forum/showthr...cifications%29

Under load, between 3,000 and 5,000 rpm.

even with cargo and driver + 4 passengers I never rev more than 2500. when I am driving alone I shift at about 2000 rpms as the computer tells me to do :)

i just noticed now that when im on 3rd gear @40-45 i get good FC but when on 4th @40-45 its slower and sometimes not getting good FC. is it normal? or its just the way i drive? hehe

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mitsumi

i just noticed now that when im on 3rd gear @40-45 i get good FC but when on 4th @40-45 its slower and sometimes not getting good FC. is it normal? or its just the way i drive? hehe

---

Are all other conditions the same - temperature, road grade (uphill, downhill) wind speed & direction, weight?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Eggman

Are all other conditions the same - temperature, road grade (uphill, downhill) wind speed & direction, weight?

---

yes, since im driving the same route everyday from home to office, office to home. i dont have other tools to monitor the temp etc.

Environmental factors aside, it's been pointed out somewhere here that engine efficiency varies with it's speed and loading. I remember it was referred to as 'brake specific fuel consumption.'

Let's see - where did I read about this:
BSFC for 1.2L or 1.0L engine?

There's a few other threads that discuss fuel consumption.
Speed vs. mpg/mileage/fuel economy chart - Mirage 1.2L 5-spd and CVT
An interesting observation on fuel economy

Hope that helps! :)

Forgive me if this is already common knowledge, or even incorrect... This is (essentially) my first manual transmission.

I used to shift around 2000-2250 RPM, and it just felt like it bogged down a bit, but I was trying to get good gas mileage. Lately, I've been shifting right around 3000 RPM, and it feels less bogged down, no jerkiness when shifting (jury is out on whether it was/is bad clutch technique on my part, or the RPMs), and because it doesn't feel bogged down, it feels a bit more "powerful". Like I could accelerate faster if need be, at higher RPMs. In spite of all of this, I haven't noticed any hit in gas mileage.

Does this make sense/sound right?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by wellswebdesign

Forgive me if this is already common knowledge, or even incorrect... This is (essentially) my first manual transmission.

I used to shift around 2000-2250 RPM, and it just felt like it bogged down a bit, but I was trying to get good gas mileage. Lately, I've been shifting right around 3000 RPM, and it feels less bogged down, no jerkiness when shifting (jury is out on whether it was/is bad clutch technique on my part, or the RPMs), and because it doesn't feel bogged down, it feels a bit more "powerful". Like I could accelerate faster if need be, at higher RPMs. In spite of all of this, I haven't noticed any hit in gas mileage.

Does this make sense/sound right?

---

Yes, with such a small displacement there isn't much torque below 2500 rpm. Gotta spin up some rpm's to get some usable power/torque from the 3a92. Torque peak isn't until 4000 rpm so don't be afraid to make it sing a little.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by inuvik

Yes, with such a small displacement there isn't much torque below 2500 rpm. Gotta spin up some rpm's to get some usable power/torque from the 3a92. Torque peak isn't until 4000 rpm so don't be afraid to make it sing a little.

---

I had been upshifting at 2500 rpm for my first 2 years of owning this car (I thought this was getting the best fuel economy)

But this week I tried upshifting at 3000rpm and actually I think I am getting even BETTER fuel economy numbers. I know that must sound counter-intuitive but that is the results that I am seeing.

I just hit 15,000 miles on the odometer and just did an oil change and tire rotation. I surprise even myself at how little I drive seems to be about 7000 miles per year that I drive. So the car is going to last me a very long time I will see if I can hang on to this Mirage for 10+ years. I mean even if I buy a second car and hang on to the Mirage since the price I could sell it for USED is such a joke that its not even worth selling (in my opinion) may as well just drive it into the ground or give it away (I may just do that if my business gets more successful..... I mean give the car away like in the movie Pay it Forward)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by fc321

I mean even if I buy a second car and hang on to the Mirage since the price I could sell it for USED is such a joke that its not even worth selling (in my opinion) may as well just drive it into the ground or give it away (I may just do that if my business gets more successful..... I mean give the car away like in the movie Pay it Forward)

---

I'll take it. No need to drive it into the ground. :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by fc321

I had been upshifting at 2500 rpm for my first 2 years of owning this car (I thought this was getting the best fuel economy)

But this week I tried upshifting at 3000rpm and actually I think I am getting even BETTER fuel economy numbers. I know that must sound counter-intuitive but that is the results that I am seeing.

---

I have cruised my 5 speed manual Mirage regularly on the freeway in 5th gear at 4000k rpm or more... the car is meant to - look up the owner's manual for the top speeds the Mirage can do in each gear. It's designed to take lots of revving. My dad is well past 70 years old and used to go about 80km/s an hour, 50 miles an hour, in 3rd gear in my Mirage lol

My Mirage regularly gets 5 L/100 km's (50 MPG) gas milage even in the Canadian winter. Unique car, not that fast but goes better not sticking to 2000 rpm :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dspace9

I have cruised my 5 speed manual Mirage regularly on the freeway in 5th gear at 4000k rpm or more... the car is meant to - look up the owner's manual for the top speeds the Mirage can do in each gear. It's designed to take lots of revving. My dad is well past 70 years old and used to go about 80km/s an hour, 50 miles an hour, in 3rd gear in my Mirage lol

My Mirage regularly gets 5 L/100 km's (50 MPG) gas milage even in the Canadian winter. Unique car, not that fast but goes better not sticking to 2000 rpm :)

---

Thanks, thats good to know. But I do feel kind of like an idiot to have been upshifting at 2500 rpm for 2YEARS and thinking I was hypermilling. Durp

So now its 3k upshifts for me from now on.......

I just do it all by ear and don't drive any manual transmission cars by the tachometer on the dash at all. I remember my friend's base model Accent didn't even come with one back in the day, and way back with my old VW Rabbit... a bunch of stuff was broken so that was by ear too

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dspace9

I just do it all by ear and don't drive any manual transmission cars by the tachometer on the dash at all.

---

Same here! I started driving manuals when I was about 10 years old. My grandfather once sent me to town. I hopped in my uncle's old International pickup (one ton model with duel wheels on back) with a 4 speed on the floor, and I drove into town (fire department). This was long before cell phones, and my grandpa's haybine had backfired catching the hayfield on fire. Later that day when the fire was put out, my grandpa asked me if I had my driver's license? It was at that point that I reminded him that I was only 12 years old.

I am in my mid-50's now. To this day, I have never bought or owned a automatic vehicle. I can't say that I have ever looked at a tachometer while shifting. I don't even think about it. I do used a tachometer on a motorcycle, because it's easy to lose count (am I in 5th gear or 6th?). A simple glance at the tachometer, and you know.

I like having a tachometer on a car, but I can't say that I really look at it much. Tachometer or not, it wouldn't change how I shift a manual in the least.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dspace9

I just do it all by ear and don't drive any manual transmission cars by the tachometer on the dash at all.

---

I once almost blew up the engine of a rental car. It had an excellent noise isolation, and I didn't hear the engine. On the highway I noticed the tacho was in the end of the red zone, and I realized I was driving 120km/h in it's 2nd gear.

I also was going by ear but if going by ear that would mean 2500 rpm (that is what sounds normal to my ears) but now discovering that 3000 rpm is a more appropriate shift point I have to "re-educate" my ears.

I have been baby-ing this car too much and maybe even getting carbon deposits in the engine (thats bad) because I have babied it too much with upshifts at 2000 - 2500 and going up to 5th gear even at 35 mph (56 km) but now learn you should not be in 5th gear until 40 mph (64 km)

The only good news is I am only at 15,000 miles on the odometer so hopefully have not harmed the car too much but I even admit to lugging the engine (out of ignorance) for example I would shift into Neutral when coming up to a stop sign (rolling stop, not a full stop) and then would go into 3rd gear to resume my journey when I saw no other cars coming. Out of simple lazyness and ignorance I had no idea I was lugging the engine by doing this in 3rd gear rather than going to 2nd gear

I have thought about getting a scan gauge to compare fuel efficiency in different gears.
Not so much for starting and stopping but different gears in situations like hill climbing.
Is it better to try to climb a hill at 45 mph in 5, where it's all the engine can do, or more efficient to shift down into 4th or 3rd, where the engine has more rpm and to divide the work load across.
like most things I'm sure it's a complex algorithm of weight/ load vs angle vs speed vs rpm
Just wasn't sure if any of you gentlmen have played with this?
Something like it's more efficient to stay between 2000 -3000 when climbing
Rather than letting it drop below 2000?????
Don't know if any of you have played with this?
Thanks in advance.

Higher engine load and lower rpm are usually the way to go.

This is a brake specific fuel consumption map. It basically shows your fuel use divided by the power it outputs. So, smaller values are better. The vertical axis is torque (controlled by your gas pedal), and horizontal axis is rpm. Sadly, we don't have one for the Mirage's 3A92, but most engines are pretty similar. As you can see, at low throttle inputs, engines get very inefficient.

Attachment 13271

That's a cool graph! I've heard about BSFC, but never seen that graph. Pretty cool visualization.

So, we don't have that for the 3A92, but we DO have dyno charts showing the stock torque curve. And we've got my acceleration tests, which back it up. Both of those show a "double hump" torque curve, similar to the Saturn engine, only with the peaks at higher RPM. Which makes sense because it's a smaller engine.

The lower torque peak area is 3500-4500 on both the dyno and the acceleration tests for the Mirage, whereas the Saturn engine has the same peak occurring at around 2000-3500.

Personally, I've found my best MPG by babying the throttle and short-shifting at 1800-2000 rpm and keeping the speed below 45-50. But, the car FEELS best when you let it rev to 4-5k.

I think based on the info presented, we can assume (never assume) that the Mirage engine has that "sweet spot" of BSFC right there below the torque peak. Which means we should be aiming to accelerate the car between 3500 and 4500 rpm with "moderate" throttle. In other words, the car is designed to be most efficient right where it feels best!

https://mirageforum.com/forum/attach...9&d=1450907140

https://mirageforum.com/forum/attach...5&d=1528188168

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Space Wolf

I once almost blew up the engine of a rental car. It had an excellent noise isolation, and I didn't hear the engine. On the highway I noticed the tacho was in the end of the red zone, and I realized I was driving 120km/h in it's 2nd gear.

---

Ha funny what they fix with cars and then some sort of unintended consequence happens.. so cadillac quiet interiors means you can blow the engine pretty crazy. I have had my mirage over 5000 rpm in 5th gear, (late at night around here you are 10s of km's away from another car on a big freeway. I have been to Holland and in that way not the expanse of land!)

Wouldn't recommend driving the mirage that fast for anyone, even in safe conditions---in a sense anyway--- but it shows what the motor car do and manual transmission cars sound healthier at idle, like they like the ride

Thank you guys for the feedback, really will steer me and others in the right direction. What got me thinking the other day was when I looked at the built in Mitsubishi fuel efficiency reading on the digital cluster and noticed Ive been getting a pathetic 38 mpg in the city. And this is with no a/c turned on. So I decided to investigate and find out what the heck is going on.

And what was going on is that I was coasting in Neutral way too often into a stop sign instead of engine braking in gear. Because it is a form of mental lazyness, I just go into a mindless state and coast in Neutral

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dspace9

My Mirage regularly gets 5 L/100 km's (50 MPG) gas milage even in the Canadian winter. Unique car, not that fast but goes better not sticking to 2000 rpm :)

---

My CVT isn't getting 5's anymore, it's now up into the higher 6's. 32KM round-trip commute (16 miles) daily and that's about it. I fully expect into the mid-7's in the dead of January. I can't wait for summer to come back.

EDIT: $/L of fuel has been getting cheaper though. Stock value of Canadian oil producers/pipelines has been tanking though since August or so, it's more than a wash...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by craigq

My CVT isn't getting 5's anymore, it's now up into the higher 6's. 32KM round-trip commute (16 miles) daily and that's about it. I fully expect into the mid-7's in the dead of January. I can't wait for summer to come back.

---

-10 C dawn this morning in southern ontario, near Sarnia, up to about -2 and sunny by noon. Cold morning, I let my Mirage warm up in the sun and took off for my errands around 9 AM, and I was getting in the neighbourhood 5.5 fuel economy. That's zooming around country roads going 85 km/h- I would never would get 5.5 on the 402 or 401 freeways in the winter.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by fc321

And what was going on is that I was coasting in Neutral way too often into a stop sign instead of engine braking in gear

---

I always shift down in the same way as I shift up you know in a sense. I find the manual sometimes with hills and stuff you have to downshift but most of the time driving is staying in the same gear or going through the gears... up or down. I see why people get automatics mostly but the advantage of the stick is more traction and control of things overall in the driving experience