"Do's and Do Nots" for new Spyder owners...

[Peter Aawen]

Rosebelle, this 'driving in the optimum rev range' thing isn't unique to Spyders with the 998 motor; you might benefit from spending time reading 4WD forums in Aus, or talking to truckers, heavy transport drivers, earthmover operators, & even taxi drivers - most of whom who have learnt that instead of dropping into your highest gear as soon as you get moving & ignore the lugging engine, you really do need to try to run your engine at its most effective & efficient REVS for the majority of the time & simply use the gear selection to allow you to drive at the road speed you desire atm!! It doesn't matter what the engine is, that's how you get the best overall fuel economy in the real world rather than when on an economy run under un-realistic conditions; and that's how you minimise your maintenance & repair costs too!! Modern vehicles rarely suffer too much mechanically from being driven in their lower gears instead of overdrive, altho that may have been an issue some decades back, it isn't nowadays, with modern manufacturing & tolerances, etc. In fact, many modern auto's even refuse to select their highest gears until specific speed & throttle load conditions are met, so they almost always run in their lower gears! But still, the number of newbie operators who either destroy engines, gearboxes, &/or clutches thru just picking their highest gear too early might astound you; & that IS in these automotive industries that make a big deal of teaching their new operators to always run/drive in the efficient REV range for the engine rather than just going for the high gears straight away & then letting the engine lug along below its efficient minimum, or for that matter, running the engine out beyond its greatest efficiency at the top end!!

Even most recreational 4Wheelers have managed to learn this; engines have an efficient rev range, & driving under or over that 'best for power, torque, & fuel economy' rev range just to stay in their 'overdrive' gear too much will cost in the long run - maybe largely in excess fuel costs, (yes, they've learnt the hard way that running in a high gear too much & lugging the engine as a result only wastes fuel!) but often also in maintenance & repair costs as well as in their vehicle's long term reliability, especially for their clutches & over-drive gears!! In reality, most Vehicle manufacturers give us gears because it's too hard for them to develop an engine that runs at its most efficient across its entire rev range, or to develop an engine that will deliver power & economy across the entire speed range that the users want or desire from the vehicle!! The only vehicle manufacturer that's managed to get around those problems that I'm aware of is Tesla, & guess what?? Their vehicles run engines that are always at their most efficient so they don't have any other gear choices at all!! You either go forwards, backwards, or stop! But they can drive as fast or as slow as the operator wants (weeeellll, I hope you get the drift! )

How do you think truck engines & gearboxes manage to reliably reach the millions of kms they do between major overhauls? It sure ain't thru lugging their engines along along at 600 rpm & effectively idling with 15th gear selected behind an engine that's designed to run at it's most efficient between 1200 & 2400 rpm, nor is it thru spending most of their time running in their highest gear 'cos it's more economical to get it into their top cruising gear quickly' - it just isn't economical or viable to do that when you are driving in the real world! Conditions & posted speed limits don't always permit that, so they run their engines in the engine's most efficient REV RANGE, & select whatever gear will give them the ability to move efficiently & economically at the road speed they currently want - so for the vast majority of their driving, they aren't going to be in their highest gear! And in the long term, doing this pays off handsomely in reduced fuel bills, reduced maintenance costs, and reduced repair costs!

Some of us have learnt the hard way that running in the engine's efficient rev range rather than dumping it into top as soon as we are moving actually works with our V-twin Spyders, & some of us have learnt that it isn't always necessary to repeat others' mistakes to learn the very same lessons.