hey all, my brother just picked up a 2000 5 speed wrangler. I taught him how to drive it a few days ago and he got it in his head from the internet that its normal to always be at 3-3.5k rpms. because of this, he is doing things like intentionally driving around the town going 15-20+ mph in first gear with the engine screaming. He seems to think there is some magic number to when to shift and doesnt feel any issue when hes at 4k rpms pulling out of a stop sign in first gear and stays in first until he should be in third, engine SCREAMING. i want him to understand that he needs to just do what the car wants to do and shift when it wants to shift, go by the feel.. not just do what someone in a forum or reddit said they do. does anyone have any advice on how to go about this? im worried about the damage he may be causing by exclusively being 1 gear under where he should be, and running it so heavy 24/7. thanks.
Brother-in-law's first manual
- Thread starter subaruenthusiast
- Start date
You must be the brother of the guy who posted the thread “New to Manual…” kinda funny you’re on here now. I read a lot of the advice. Mostly good along the lines you described. The power band for the TJ is 2750-3300rpms. I’d say a bit higher than most. It needs those rpms or it will lug. Clearly one can drive around town at 2100rpm’s, but there won’t be much get up and go. They are anemic. FWIW, you can drive these i6’s all day long at 3500rpm and it won’t harm anything. I’m regularly in the 2800 range around town.
thanks for your reply and the information! its good to know that they're tolerant to that kind of use, i also did some reading around on here and gathered that yeah 3k+ is the general range, and i totally get that - my concern is just my brother fixating on the number of the rpms and not actually how the car is responding yknow. I never had a jeep but i did have a 1988 ford escort 2 door and loved that thing, although I am used to shifting much lower. and i hear you on the lack of power at the lower rpm range, I just wonder if that extra power is really needed cruising around a quiet mountain town at 25 mph on flat roads haha. The big thing is im trying to have him not fixate on this 3000 number, as you said optimal conditions are 2800+, and there isnt anything wrong with that, its just the concept of shifting based on the numbers on the dash instead of the all the variables put together and how the vehicle *feels*.
am i tripping that driving 15-20 mph in first on a flat paved road is not the move? I know that any of my understanding of manual cars come from a lil sedan and that jeeps are a lot different, but it just felt very bad. thanks so much
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I hope he’ll fall into a comfy rpm range. Nothing wrong with toodling around 2200-2800rpm. Like you said, it’s not a number, it’s feel mostly. If he’s fixated on a number it’s no fun anymore! Also, you probably noticed these Jeep’s can rev a bit loud. It’s because there’s no sound deadening in the tub like most cars. Whole threads are dedicated to solving that problem! Main thing is to learn to drive a manual and have fun.
Tape a piece of paper over the tach and drive it for a week. I'd bet the bank he will gravitate to a lower rpm range. Wind it out if the situation calls for some acceleration, but for the most part it will be more comfortable and return better mpg shifting somewhere lower than where he is...
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TheYonderGod
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I was just gonna ignore this but Jeez that's a lot of exaggeration and missing details and fixating on one reply that kind-of, sort-of agrees with you. I'm not gonna argue with you but ill add some info for everyone else in the thread.
I was not pulling out from stop signs at 4k rpm
All of this criticism was from one short drive where I'm just trying to have fun and try new things. Everyone says to shift by feel, how am I supposed to know what it feels like to rev it out a little more if I've never done it? You've never even felt "how the car responds" at around 3k rpm, it feels great. You couldn't figure out how to maintain speed uphill on the way home after I bought it.
Don't pretend you weren't acting like the way you wanted shift is the only way and saying everyone on the forums who said you can shift at 3k is an idiot.
You forgot to mention how "if you ever can hear your engine, you're in the wrong gear" and "3k rpm is going to destroy your car and break your first gear" and how when I was following your instructions you had me merging onto the highway in 5th gear at 40mph while there was a truck rapidly approaching from behind.
You didn't mention how I have 33s on 3.73 gears(I am planning on fixing that btw).
You didn't mention how this is not my daily driver, it's supposed to be a fun vehicle for off-roading, I didn't buy it for idling around town, yeah I took you to get groceries in it that time, that doesn't mean I can't practice and get a feel for other scenarios.
I was not pulling out from stop signs at 4k rpm
All of this criticism was from one short drive where I'm just trying to have fun and try new things. Everyone says to shift by feel, how am I supposed to know what it feels like to rev it out a little more if I've never done it? You've never even felt "how the car responds" at around 3k rpm, it feels great. You couldn't figure out how to maintain speed uphill on the way home after I bought it.
Don't pretend you weren't acting like the way you wanted shift is the only way and saying everyone on the forums who said you can shift at 3k is an idiot.
You forgot to mention how "if you ever can hear your engine, you're in the wrong gear" and "3k rpm is going to destroy your car and break your first gear" and how when I was following your instructions you had me merging onto the highway in 5th gear at 40mph while there was a truck rapidly approaching from behind.
You didn't mention how I have 33s on 3.73 gears(I am planning on fixing that btw).
You didn't mention how this is not my daily driver, it's supposed to be a fun vehicle for off-roading, I didn't buy it for idling around town, yeah I took you to get groceries in it that time, that doesn't mean I can't practice and get a feel for other scenarios.
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