'12 'Rolla "S" Manual - Engine RPM at Highway Speed?

buck

New Member
#1
As my title suggests I'm curious about what RPM you guys typically cruise at on the highway?

I'll state now I don't have the automatic but instead have a 5 speed manual.

Mine seems to hit 3k RPM right at 70mph. I never drive faster than 68 anyway but were I to venture onto the interstate where the speed limit is 70, I feel the car would be suffering undue stress cruising at 3.2-5k RPM. I understand it's a tiny 4-banger. My Geo Prism was like that but worse. 70mph meant 4k and higher.

And as a side-question, anybody know the exact RPM when the vvt-i or however it's spelled kicks in? Sorry, I'm just not up on all the new technology.

Thanks guys. Really appreciate any info!
 
#2
When the vvt-I kinks in I do not know. However vvt-i will not lower rpm. I have a 13 with the 5 speed and cruising at 100kms/h I see about 2700ish rpm. 100 I think is around 60miles so what u see sounds right for your speed.
 
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buck

New Member
#3
Sorry, I was under the assumption that VVT-i was like v-tec or other similar technologies. I decided to do a little research. It turns out that it never "kicks in" but is constantly adjusting the valve timing based on load/RPM.

Anyway. what made me wonder was it seems like the car gets significantly (6-7mpg) better gas mileage at 68mph versus 70mph.
 
#4
Well, the faster you go the worse the mileage. If I recall correctly studies show the sweet spot for highway mileage is 55. I'm by no means a speed demon but not even I go 55 if I can avoid it lol
 

buck

New Member
#5
Well, the faster you go the worse the mileage. If I recall correctly studies show the sweet spot for highway mileage is 55. I'm by no means a speed demon but not even I go 55 if I can avoid it lol
Oddly enough, if the in-dash readout is to be believed at all, I get the same MPG doing 50mph as I do at 65mph. Then when I venture close to 70mph it drops about 3mpg.

I realize the readout is a general idea kind-of-thing. I know it will vary greatly depending on umpteen number of different factors.
 
#6
Yes it does depend. I make a habit of looking at the readout, I think mainly because my last car did not have it, but by no means do I placed bets on it lol. I do know with my 50 bucks that fills the tank (Canadian) I get about 560ish kms. Just yesterday I filled up and it was one day short of two weeks
 

buck

New Member
#7
Yes it does depend. I make a habit of looking at the readout, I think mainly because my last car did not have it, but by no means do I placed bets on it lol. I do know with my 50 bucks that fills the tank (Canadian) I get about 560ish kms. Just yesterday I filled up and it was one day short of two weeks
Yeah. There's a big highway around my city that has a speed limit of 55mph (just under 100km). I noticed if I drive 62mph I can average 40mpg +/- 1. It's a road where you have to be doing at least 70mph to get a ticket, as I've gone by cops doing 65 numerous times and never even been looked at twice. This is probably due to the fact that not a single driver obeys the speed limit. If I was to drive 55mph I'd probably get rear-ended.

At any rate I managed to get 166 miles out of half a tank of gas, roughly. That's if the half-mark on the gauge is actually ½ a tank.
 
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