Hi all,
>IMHO, not quite, drive your car at ALL speeds in 4th gear and see how long
the
Obviously if you use the Overdrive at all speeds in 4th gear you are causing
additional wear to the engine as you are lugging the thing, it's like being
in 3rd when you should be in 2nd etc. There is a range where the motor is
comfortable pulling lower rpms to achieve the same MPH, outside of this an
Overdrive is practically useless, BMW states this fact in their Owners
manual. It's how you use it, thats the important thing. The statement I took
issue with relates to Freeway conditions (constant speed). If you are doing
75mph on a freeway lets say for 500 miles, and you are in a car with
Overdrive vs a Car without. I am saying that the car with Overdrive will
achieve better Fuel Economy and result in less wear in the engine. It
doesn't matter how miniscule the less wear or less fuel consumption, if
there is lower RPMs and the engine is working easily to propel the vehicle
and is not lugging, you will be saving wear and tear on the motor and
achieving better MPG.
Why on earth would Car manufacturers around the world make these things if
this was not the case? They wouldn't waste their money developing the
things. An Overdrive, *properly* used (key thing here), must save $ at the
pump and result in less Engine wear - even a teensy amount less wear is
still an amount, and over x thousand miles that must add up.
Now if I ever get my blasted O/D working again... <VBG>
Cheers,
Neil.
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