I have a 2000 Neon Highline with a 5spd manual.. I just installed a new tach and it has a shift light, so I was wondering, which rpm for the stock SOHC 2.slow L 4cyl be the best to shift at if I were trying to pick up speed rather quickly?? I'm not talking about gas conservation either, I'm saying if it were on a drag strip(closed course of course ) where would I want that needle when the light comes on??

 

i read that it's at it's max hp @ 5500rpm... that's what I have it set to, but idk if that would be correct....

 

Find a spec sheet and shift at the RPM where max torque is achieved. You are going to want the light to come on just a bit before so you have time to react and make the shift.

EDIT: Here's from Motor Trend:You are looking at ~4,600 RPM

 

Thanks

 

shift the car at 6200 rpm...! the best rom for shifting.... if u feel the car a lil slow when you get the an upper shift, shift at 6400!

 

Yeah, scratch that peak torque thing, actually. There is actually a formula to find the optimal shift points. The torque is part of it, but there is more. That peak torque just shot into my head as the answer, but it completely makes sense that it is incorrect. I needed to be thinking of torque across the board.

Here's a pretty good post somewhere else explaining it, simply:
http://www.rx7club.com/showpost.php?...63&postcount=7

 

well... in drag racing you just don't need to how the car acelerate in a gear, you need to know what going to happen when you engage the upper gear, where is going to be the powerband... is more like, shift high for get a good power on the upper shift, but not to much for loose power in that gear.... In a 2.0 DOHC engine the best shift point is at 7100 rpm, yeah is pretty high, but the car run a lot better... but if you use an 2.4 DOHC N/A you have to shift at 4800 or 5000 rpm, beacuse the torque is higher than the hp!...

 

Yeah, that is what I wasn't thinking of at the time. It's the "optimal" torque point in the current gear that is going drop you into the next gear's powerband, as you said. You just don't want to under, or over, shift it. Using that formula in the link, you could figure out the best point for each gear.

 

When I used to drag race I used to shift somewhere between about 6200-6600. I would just shift when I could feel the power really dropping off. If you shift to low your car will bog/chug for a bit which isn't a big deal for normal driving but it is when you're going for time.

 

you are right slowneon hehe!.... on my 98 sohc i shifted at 6700, i was using dohc pcm, and the car responded really great, but just 1th, 2nd, and 3th, as darthroush say, the car not always have the same "perfect shift rpm" at all gears!