Lugging, and UP SHIFT indicator...

[Slurp812]

I notice that the up shift indicator seems to want me to shift up quite soon, ~1700 rpm when accelerating slowly. Coming from a 5 speed manual, I tend to drive in 4th on the 35 mph streets. All the while the up arrow indicating I should be in 5th. I am concerned about the lugging so I ignore that silly indicator most of the time. Anyone else even look at that thing?

 

[sidewaysallday]

I just ignore it. It's the "please shift so you get the best MPG" light. I will usually shift ~2500 in normal acceleration and still average ~28 MPG (mostly city driving).

 

[Capri to ST]

I also ignore it, it seems to want you to shift at a crazy low rpm for best mileage. Lugging the engine is bad for it. I was cruising at about 45 in 5th and it was on. I don't find it helpful, although I did notice that when you accelerate hard it comes on later.

 

[Spaceman_Spiff]

I followed it when I got the car, within reason, that is. Ignored on hills, but on normal (flat-ish) terrain I got really good mpg's. Now that I know the car better, I don't pay any attention to it.

Sent from my Spaceship

 

[Flaco]

Ignore it all the time.

 

[Bretley]

Ive seen that the mr230 flash turns it into a real shift light. Not sure the exact rpm, but im sure it turns on around 5500 or so. Gonna ask my tuner if he can change it next time i need a tune.

 

[silverblueBP]

The only shift "light" I pay attention to is the max rpm light [emoji23] That shift light is for grannys that care about fuel milage. And if you care about that, then you need a plain stock Fiesta.

 

[Zormecteon]

I used it to determine that the lowest rpm that the designers want you to operate the vehicle is 1500... I drove with very light throttle until the light came on then upshifted and observed the rpm in the next higher gear; 1500 rpm every time. . this tells me when its time to downshift to avoid lugging the engine. After that determination, I don't use it anymore.

 

[Quisp]

On a 45 mph road I get better mileage in 5th.

 

[Intuit]

................ Coming from a 5 speed manual, I tend to drive in 4th on the 35 mph streets. All the while the up arrow indicating I should be in 5th. ..............

Our manual is a six speed, but they didn't add another gear beyond five as one may assume, but instead, they added a gear below first to make a sixth. So the final ratio between the old five and the new six are going to be the same/close.

Observed the same behavior with the shift light on my prior vehicle. Automatic trans vehicles often teeter back and forth between OverDrive and Drive under the same conditions. While the ECU does have the ability to calculate current engine load, it doesn't have terrain data.

As long as the engine has been running for a time and is sufficiently "warmed up", will have no problem being in sixth at 50mph on steep hill. I'm usually in sixth when cruising around 40mph, unless the engine is "cold" or it's on a steep hill.

Use your ear and engine vibration to determine what is and isn't "lugging" or is unacceptable. There is typically a notably stronger engine vibration with high load on a cold engine, versus warm one. The intake/exhaust note is also a little different. So I will change my shifting accordingly.

We're in a valley so grading can change pretty quickly. In addition there are drivers that don't compensate for minor changes in terrain... and so drift up and down in speed, resulting with a constant and annoying back-and-forth shifting.

 

[fn-2187]

I just ignore it pretty much, no wait...always. Should've bought the base Fiesta if your concerned with that just like [MENTION=6822]silverblueBP[/MENTION] stated.

 

[KentRatke]

Yeah, it's nice to have the upshift indicator go away. The MR230 tune disabled it on my vehicle.

 

[scotman]

I would not recommend that you intentionally lug the engine. Direct injection engines could misfire and damage the engine. This is especially possible if the engine has more than 40k and or is running on low octane fuel.