Quote:
Originally posted by muffle:
It's important not to shift so early that you "diesel" the engine. Lugging is very hard on the engine. It's ok to coast downhill with no throttle at a super low rpm, but if you're trying to apply throttle and lugging it, you are degrading engine life.
You are very correct. It is definitley important to listen and feel out your engine more than watching your rpm. If you destroy your engine the money saved in gas won't help much. It's pretty easy here in Fl since it is so flat but I still generally find that I need to stay around 1500 RPM or more to keep it from dogging.
YOu make a good point that we should all be watching if shifting early to save gas.