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 What's a good, safe Cruising speed for 998 Spyders?
I recently read a Facebook post where people listed their average cruising speed for their 1330 (some up to 90mph). I have heard these Rotax engines are high rpm engines. What is a good, safe cruising rpm for the 998. I do about 70mph at 5000 rpm’s. Just curious because I do not want to shorten the life of the engine.
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Just don't run too low on oil, and you'll never cruise that engine to death. Redline is 8500 to 9000 rpm! And I used to hear that people wanted to cruise it above 6000, which means staying in 4th gear until about 65mph. I didn't do that, but it won't hurt that engine!
The thing to remember is to not cruise or accelerate much at less than about 3200 rpm... and that is to avoid shortening the life of the centrifugal clutch, not an engine concern. The automatic downshift while slowing will prevent lugging the engine. I converted that to watching the speedometer, like so: 2nd in the 20s (mph), 3rd in the 30s, 4th in the 40s, 5th in the 50s. Don't run higher gears at those low speeds... this will keep the clutch in "lockup," to prevent undue wear.
Enjoy your 998!
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Very Active Member
998's like high revs. It don't get happy till its over 5500. That is about 60 mph in 5th. As mentioned earlier, red line is up by the 9000's. You can cruise all day at 75 or higher and will never burn it out. Keep a check on the oil, and maybe add some ear plugs. Oh, and if it matters, it will use a bit more gas. Gulp, gulp, gulp.
 
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Active Member
My 2012 used to like 70 mph. I didn't even have to look at speedo, it would just settle in and go.
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As already mentioned. The 998 doesn't start making HP until you get to 5,500 RPM. You can run them all day long at whatever speed you're comfortable with. If you're using a blended oil. Make sure you change it at the service interval of 4,500 miles. It doesn't last much longer than that.
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Very Active Member
I shift my 998 RT at 6000 in normal running and cruise at 5000 to 5500 and it will run at that all day long. I change oil every 4500 mi, full synthetic. I have 70,000 mi on my RT and usually burn about 1/2 qt between oil changes which is normal.
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65 to 70 in fifth is a happy spot with the cruise turned on.
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