Not sure where to ask this, but I'm thinking tuners may have the best idea.

With the 6 speed manual, doing just normal cruise around town we can pick the rpm that we use to hold speed. My question, is what is the best rpm for the best gas mileage. 2000k, 2500k, 1700k?

Secondly, when doing normal, tame acceleration, what shift point will give the best gas mileage?

Not earth shattering, but I'm curious.

 

The lower the better...

 

Lower is not always better you need to be at an rpm where the engine is comfortable pulling at speed.
Sorry OP I realize that did not answer your question.

 

i heard rumors that 74 is a really great speed for saving gas without driving too slow.. never tested it myself though

 

Don't be sorry. You have hit on the essence of my question. Generally, Jay'Z is right, lower is better, but only to a point. What I'm wondering, is what that point is?

 

well what i do is shift close to 2,200 and it drops down to the line below the 2000 are and that gives me around 22 mpg with 75% city 25% high way but i use to shift around 1,700 when i first got my car and i got around 20 or so

 

How do you even drive like that??

Anyway, I think what is more important is to be smooth with your inputs,
and not open up the throttle too much.
The closer you are to steady state throttle input, the more the car is trying to maintain 14.7:1 A/F ratio.
More than that, and the car thinks you want to accelerate and gives you a richer mixture.

Also, when you are driving try to anticipate the traffic and lights ahead of you.
If you see a light changing ahead of you (even if its far away), stop accelerating/maintaining speed and let the car coast down slowly (within reason).

 

Engine load, and RPM with that load...? I think you want to be cruising lean, and not accelerating rich?

I've never heard of anyone "hypermiling" in a 350z

 

You can tell because you will be ******* the motor or attempting to accelerate with insufficient torque. The drive train will shake like the dickens.

 

I also have no idea how you guys are driving around with traffic and shifting at 2200RPM... I'd have people honking behind me like no tomorrow because I wasn't accelerating fast enough.

from what I have gathered, shifting on the HR at least should be done around 3000RPM at least. and I wouldn't cruise around with less than 2000 either unless you're in 6th on the highway... I shift around 3500 and get 18.5ish mpg probably 70% city 30% highway as well, but I do also have fun on on ramps etc... so not too bad considering i'm not driving like a grandma .

and +1 on davids post... accelerating without torque and any sort of drivetrain rattle utterly kills your MPG. Strike a balance, if anything more so on the higher RPM side.

 

and they say us american's are angry....lol

 

There's no such thing as a "universal best mileage rpm." Shift between 2K and 3K and you should get good mileage.

I do 60% highway with 40% city and I get 23-24mpg. I usually shift between 3K and 4K, depending on my mood and gear. I travel 375-400 miles before the low gas light comes on from a full tank, at which point I have another 50 miles until completely empty. And that's with me getting on it every other day out of boredom.

 

The Owners' Manual suggests the speeds/rpms you can shift at in order to drive economically. Avoid "lugging" at all costs.

 

Best advice so far. I never thought to look at the owners manual.

Update: I checked and the '06 owners manual just gives general advice about upshifting as soon as possible on level roads.

 

The trick here is to stay at the speed limit and keep your speed as steady as possible in the highest gear (lowest numerical) per speed (Use your common sense). Slowing down and speeding up again really ruins it for MPG

 

There were two times I drove my Z and was simultaniously concerned about the MPG it was getting.

I used its OEM gauge to monitor situational MPG (e.g. city / highway) on the way to SC install and then again on the way home. My findings were that mileage slightly improved after my tune and under normal driving conditions but then mileage declined exponentially as my pedal pressure increased.

If you listen to your engine you'll be able to determine its sweet spot. The best mileage is found between lugging and rapping.