is always keeping the RPM low bad for the engine in the long run?
#41
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true or not?
Originally Posted by camaro194
Everyone should have for the first 1200 miles.
Peace!
#42
Originally Posted by roast
low rpm driving is perfectly fine so long as you don't lug the engine.
#44
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Originally Posted by 06 350Z
Sorry for the newbie question, but how low of a rpm is consider to be "lugging" the engine?
You can easily cruise at 45 mph in 6th gear without lugging, but if you need to accelerate or go up a steep hill you would want to downshift to a more appropriate gear. If you have to floor it just to accelerate a little - you're lugging the engine. If the engine starts running rough and sputtering because you're in 6th gear and doing 15mph - you're lugging the engine.
Our Z makes a lot of torque at low RPM so you almost have to try to lug the engine.
Oh, and the notion that running an engine hard somehow prevents or cleans out carbon deposits is borderline humorous. I feel compelled to ask these people if they even know what carbon deposits are or what causes it.
#46
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Originally Posted by roast
anything at or below idle is definitely too low.... i would say just a little above idle would be the lower limit. lugging is basically any time you're in too tall of a gear for your speed. you will know it because the engine will run rough and you will hear it struggling.
You can easily cruise at 45 mph in 6th gear without lugging, but if you need to accelerate or go up a steep hill you would want to downshift to a more appropriate gear. If you have to floor it just to accelerate a little - you're lugging the engine. If the engine starts running rough and sputtering because you're in 6th gear and doing 15mph - you're lugging the engine.
Our Z makes a lot of torque at low RPM so you almost have to try to lug the engine.
Oh, and the notion that running an engine hard somehow prevents or cleans out carbon deposits is borderline humorous. I feel compelled to ask these people if they even know what carbon deposits are or what causes it.
You can easily cruise at 45 mph in 6th gear without lugging, but if you need to accelerate or go up a steep hill you would want to downshift to a more appropriate gear. If you have to floor it just to accelerate a little - you're lugging the engine. If the engine starts running rough and sputtering because you're in 6th gear and doing 15mph - you're lugging the engine.
Our Z makes a lot of torque at low RPM so you almost have to try to lug the engine.
Oh, and the notion that running an engine hard somehow prevents or cleans out carbon deposits is borderline humorous. I feel compelled to ask these people if they even know what carbon deposits are or what causes it.
I think it is important to understand this because lugging is hard on the valve train and doing this a lot can damage your engine. As you point out, it isn't a common abuse problem with the Z since this engine has so much torque.
--Spike
Last edited by Spike100; 12-12-2006 at 07:06 PM.
#47
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Originally Posted by hardrock905
Good point.
Along these lines........I just read an article in Popular Mechanics about car myths. Contrary to popular belief, it is not necessary to warm your engine before driving even when extremely cold due to the efficiency of modern engines and modern oils.
Along these lines........I just read an article in Popular Mechanics about car myths. Contrary to popular belief, it is not necessary to warm your engine before driving even when extremely cold due to the efficiency of modern engines and modern oils.
Please define "Extremely Cold" and what's a "warm up" for Popular Mechanics?
Warming up an engine for 10 minutes is silly. But we need a couple of seconds for the oil pressure to get up. Then, another couple of minutes for it to comme down at idle. Engines get warm faster when loaded, so yeah, start, wait a bit and drive.
A "regular cold" temperature in Montreal will be -10C (I leave the maths to you to get to F). That's not a problem to most engine.
A "Seriously Cold" in Montreal will be something like -20C. That's cold. And let me tell you that, even running 0w20 synthetic oil, you don't want to take off within a minute of starting the engine. Oil pressure will be stratospheric at idle, plus the engine will turn pretty roughly. Transmission will not shift properly either...
We sometime get below -35C. Then, you need some planning, winter engine oil and a really good battery to get the car to start.
So, unless "Extremely Cold" for Popular Mecanic is -10C, they are wrong on that one...
#49
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Originally Posted by hardrock905
Good point.
Along these lines........I just read an article in Popular Mechanics about car myths. Contrary to popular belief, it is not necessary to warm your engine before driving even when extremely cold due to the efficiency of modern engines and modern oils.
Along these lines........I just read an article in Popular Mechanics about car myths. Contrary to popular belief, it is not necessary to warm your engine before driving even when extremely cold due to the efficiency of modern engines and modern oils.
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Originally Posted by bailey bill
Ahhh, the old "Italian tune-up" myth. And it is a myth.
Engine deposits are an inevitable by-product of combustionl. Hard driving will neither prevent or "blow out" these deposits. And low RPM will not increase the accumulation. The will accumulate at a pretty steady rate, no matter what.
So, no, low RPM driving will not harm your engine in any way...its just boring as hell.
Engine deposits are an inevitable by-product of combustionl. Hard driving will neither prevent or "blow out" these deposits. And low RPM will not increase the accumulation. The will accumulate at a pretty steady rate, no matter what.
So, no, low RPM driving will not harm your engine in any way...its just boring as hell.
On another note, all low-rpm driving isn't bad, unless you lug it, which you comment on later. It is still good to open the car up.
And finally, why buy a Z if you are gonna drive it like a granny?
#54
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Originally Posted by Kolia
Ooooh...
Please define "Extremely Cold" and what's a "warm up" for Popular Mechanics?
Warming up an engine for 10 minutes is silly. But we need a couple of seconds for the oil pressure to get up. Then, another couple of minutes for it to comme down at idle. Engines get warm faster when loaded, so yeah, start, wait a bit and drive.
A "regular cold" temperature in Montreal will be -10C (I leave the maths to you to get to F). That's not a problem to most engine.
A "Seriously Cold" in Montreal will be something like -20C. That's cold. And let me tell you that, even running 0w20 synthetic oil, you don't want to take off within a minute of starting the engine. Oil pressure will be stratospheric at idle, plus the engine will turn pretty roughly. Transmission will not shift properly either...
We sometime get below -35C. Then, you need some planning, winter engine oil and a really good battery to get the car to start.
So, unless "Extremely Cold" for Popular Mecanic is -10C, they are wrong on that one...
Please define "Extremely Cold" and what's a "warm up" for Popular Mechanics?
Warming up an engine for 10 minutes is silly. But we need a couple of seconds for the oil pressure to get up. Then, another couple of minutes for it to comme down at idle. Engines get warm faster when loaded, so yeah, start, wait a bit and drive.
A "regular cold" temperature in Montreal will be -10C (I leave the maths to you to get to F). That's not a problem to most engine.
A "Seriously Cold" in Montreal will be something like -20C. That's cold. And let me tell you that, even running 0w20 synthetic oil, you don't want to take off within a minute of starting the engine. Oil pressure will be stratospheric at idle, plus the engine will turn pretty roughly. Transmission will not shift properly either...
We sometime get below -35C. Then, you need some planning, winter engine oil and a really good battery to get the car to start.
So, unless "Extremely Cold" for Popular Mecanic is -10C, they are wrong on that one...
#56
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Originally Posted by hardrock905
That's your opinion. I am just staing what the article said. For more answers, contact popular mechanics and/or see the latest issue.
I'll check out the article this week. I'm guessing the "no need to warmup" recommendation isn't as straight forward as your post let it seem. That's all
There is a median between idling for ever and turning the ignition then shifting to D in one movement...
The engine might not need it. But did you ever wonder why the injection and ignition mapping is different between warm and cold engine operation?
#57
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Originally Posted by Kolia
Nobody is calling you names or anything. Don't take it personnally!
I'll check out the article this week. I'm guessing the "no need to warmup" recommendation isn't as straight forward as your post let it seem. That's all
There is a median between idling for ever and turning the ignition then shifting to D in one movement...
The engine might not need it. But did you ever wonder why the injection and ignition mapping is different between warm and cold engine operation?
I'll check out the article this week. I'm guessing the "no need to warmup" recommendation isn't as straight forward as your post let it seem. That's all
There is a median between idling for ever and turning the ignition then shifting to D in one movement...
The engine might not need it. But did you ever wonder why the injection and ignition mapping is different between warm and cold engine operation?
The article is titled something along the lines of "your dad was wrong". It gives a few "myths" about autos that don't really hold up any longer.
Whether you agree with the articles claims or not, it's still fairly interesting.
And the article was pretty much straight forward about the no need to warm the engine topic.
I never said I agreed 100% with what was stated, just posting what the article said.
I myself let my engine run for a while before taking off. The colder it is, the longer I let it idle. But I don't let it run for "minutes" usually.
#58
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Originally Posted by Kolia
Ooooh...
Please define "Extremely Cold" and what's a "warm up" for Popular Mechanics?
Warming up an engine for 10 minutes is silly. But we need a couple of seconds for the oil pressure to get up. Then, another couple of minutes for it to comme down at idle. Engines get warm faster when loaded, so yeah, start, wait a bit and drive.
A "regular cold" temperature in Montreal will be -10C (I leave the maths to you to get to F). That's not a problem to most engine.
A "Seriously Cold" in Montreal will be something like -20C. That's cold. And let me tell you that, even running 0w20 synthetic oil, you don't want to take off within a minute of starting the engine. Oil pressure will be stratospheric at idle, plus the engine will turn pretty roughly. Transmission will not shift properly either...
We sometime get below -35C. Then, you need some planning, winter engine oil and a really good battery to get the car to start.
So, unless "Extremely Cold" for Popular Mecanic is -10C, they are wrong on that one...
Please define "Extremely Cold" and what's a "warm up" for Popular Mechanics?
Warming up an engine for 10 minutes is silly. But we need a couple of seconds for the oil pressure to get up. Then, another couple of minutes for it to comme down at idle. Engines get warm faster when loaded, so yeah, start, wait a bit and drive.
A "regular cold" temperature in Montreal will be -10C (I leave the maths to you to get to F). That's not a problem to most engine.
A "Seriously Cold" in Montreal will be something like -20C. That's cold. And let me tell you that, even running 0w20 synthetic oil, you don't want to take off within a minute of starting the engine. Oil pressure will be stratospheric at idle, plus the engine will turn pretty roughly. Transmission will not shift properly either...
We sometime get below -35C. Then, you need some planning, winter engine oil and a really good battery to get the car to start.
So, unless "Extremely Cold" for Popular Mecanic is -10C, they are wrong on that one...
About the math for Celsius and Fahrenheit… They intersect at -40, and that is really cold. I’ve personally seen this temperature while in Calgary. I did get my rental car started, but who would want to drive it right away? You can’t get it into gear, there’s ice on the inside of the windshield, and your breath frosts everything. This scenario has a requirement: warm-up time. I’m in Minneapolis, Minnesota where the worst we see is minus 20 F. We always do a warm-up. In fact remote car starters are big sellers here so you can warm the vehicle before you even get into it. I don’t really know if just taking off immediately in sub-zero temperatures could damage the engine, but this is a mute point since you can’t immediately drive the vehicle in a safe manner.
--Spike
#60
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Originally Posted by Xoulrath
You need to give the engine some gas from time to time. This prevents carbon deposits from building up in the engine. Carbon deposits are bad. Taking your car to 5K or 6K rpms a few times a week is good.
Carbon deposits will form fairly quickly if you drive daily and never get on the engine hard. This will cause reduced gas mileage, poor emissions performance, and of course, reduced horsepower. It could also lead to premature engine wear if you fail to have routine maintenence that would help prevent carbon deposits.
Carbon deposits will form fairly quickly if you drive daily and never get on the engine hard. This will cause reduced gas mileage, poor emissions performance, and of course, reduced horsepower. It could also lead to premature engine wear if you fail to have routine maintenence that would help prevent carbon deposits.