How do I know if I'm in too high a gear uphill?

[Angus]

I like to save gas and drive in top gear as much as I can. It's never been explained to me in any detail when I should gear down going up a hill. The expressed reason for this has been to achieve/maintain the power you want, but I understand it can also damage the engine if you don't. I've tried Googling things like 'car gear uphill', and it seems that "lugging" is one of the danger signs. Does that mean if my car is not lugging my engine isn't taking on any damage? And how do I know if it's lugging?

I tend to drive my 2006 Civic at 80-85km/hr (~50mph).

[Kardon]

Hmm chinese roadbl... uhh I'd just make sure you still have alittle but of power, you know when your car definitely needs to be downshifted when decelerating, don't let it get that low when you're trying to go up an incline. Its not dangerous to give your motor alittle gas once in a while, it keeps things nice and healthy and clean.

[UndrgroundRider]

Originally posted by Angus
I like to save gas and drive in top gear as much as I can. It's never been explained to me in any detail when I should gear down going up a hill. The expressed reason for this has been to achieve/maintain the power you want, but I understand it can also damage the engine if you don't. I've tried Googling things like 'car gear uphill', and it seems that "lugging" is one of the danger signs. Does that mean if my car is not lugging my engine isn't taking on any damage? And how do I know if it's lugging?

I tend to drive my 2006 Civic at 80-85km/hr (~50mph).

What gear you should be in is different for every car, every hill, every engine. Cars with lots of torque don't need to rev as high.

The main thing you are trying to avoid is any hesitation or lugging when you accelerate. If the engine doesn't rev freely the instant you press on the accelerator pedal, then you probably need to be in a lower gear.

The reason for this is really to improve the life of the rod and crank shaft bearings. When an engine is producing power that would normally increase its RPM, but the car is not accelerating, that power gets absorbed by the drivetrain, which causes increased wear.

To better understand this, picture an engine in a shop that is completely disconnected from any wheels or transmission. It's just spinning freely at 2000RPM. To maintain this 2000RPM we'll say 10% throttle is required. If we increase the throttle to 20%, the engine RPM should also increase. Now picture holding that engine back at 2000RPM despite increasing the throttle to 20%. That's basically what's happening when you lug your engine going uphill. It's also the same effect as breaking while pressing the gas.

This doesn't just apply to going up hills. It's never a good idea to lug the engine.

[Nissan_Fanboy]

If I'm going 60, 4th gear around 2200RPM i think, thats usualy how i drive, and theres a hill i will downshift into 3rd and bring the rpms to around 2800RPM's.

I found that when i had my revs lower, my car got worse gas miledge because it felt like it lugged.
When i drove with my revs above 2500 the whole time when just casual driving, it felt like it was burning better and not lugging it and i got 36mpg out of a tank once, where as before i got 26-28mpg.
It all depends on your car i guess.
Torque FTW

[djayz]

Pick a nice RPM range to stick between so that at the low end of the range you can press the gas a little and go and at the high end the car moves but not quickly.

Ideally a Civic would be fine between the 2000-3500 range for most driving including uphills.

[Angus]

Ok, well, today I was going up some of the typical hills on my regular commute, and each time I did I stepped on the gas, and began to accelerate. I didn't notice anything that I would call "lugging", but I've yet to hear how I would notice lugging. Does this mean I'm ok? At 80km/hr my rpm is about 2100

[Kloubek]

Again, rpms depend on the engine and the torque.

Lugging would generally be indicated by:
a) Not having any power when you press on the gas
b) A slight shudder
c) A lower humming noise, or perhaps a slight rattle
d) All of the above

[ExtraSlow]

You are in the right gear if you are able to accelerate up the hill. If you press the gas pedal down and you don't accelerate, you need to be in a lower gear.
The exact gear and RPM that are needed will be very different from car-to-car.