What is considered Lugging?

Phillyp17

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I know our cars have weak rods and lugging the engine can cause premature wear. I keep thinking I am driving wrong and think that I will cause premature damage to a fairly new car (15k miles). I am currently stock except for some cosmeticand I’m getting paranoid to even mod it. My questions are;

Is 50% throttle in 6th gear at 75mph at around 3k rpm considered lugging?

Is 100% throttle in 4rd gear at 40mph at around 2.5k rpm considered lugging?

Is 100% throttle from a dig considered lugging?

I would say that I granny shift daily besides doing some pulls here and there. Please share some wisdom if any!
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skorj

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Lugging is essentially where more throttle does not give you more acceleration. Example: cruising in 6th gear, uphill, trying to pass a truck. Say you are at 25% throttle and go to 50%, yet the car does not accelerate at all. That would put you into a lugging condition.

You risk lugging the engine especially in overdrive gears such as 5th and 6th (overdrive being gear ratios less than 1:1), but it can occur in any gear if you are pushing the engine beyond its capabilities. Shifting too low/early could definitely cause lugging, you are keeping the engine below its powerband.
 
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Phillyp17

Phillyp17

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Lugging is essentially where more throttle does not give you more acceleration. Example: cruising in 6th gear, uphill, trying to pass a truck. Say you are at 25% throttle and go to 50%, yet the car does not accelerate at all. That would put you into a lugging condition.
So like this weekend I was traveling back home and I was cruising at around 85mph. I would accelerate in 6th gear but I feel the car accelerating. That’s where I’m getting concerned because you would think Honda wouldn’t think that that is an issue if people were to daily the car, no?
 

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I wouldn't consider those scenarios lugging. There are other things to consider such as being on an incline and not downshifting. The owners manual is kinda weird in how it recommends you shift from 5th to 6th at 39mph... like Skorj mentioned, it's generally a bad idea to floor it in 5th and 6th gear - those should primarily be used for cruising.
 
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Phillyp17

Phillyp17

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I wouldn't consider those scenarios lugging. There are other things to consider such as being on an incline and not downshifting. The owners manual is kinda weird in how it recommends you shift from 5th to 6th at 39mph... like Skorj mentioned, it's generally a bad idea to floor it in 5th and 6th gear - those should primarily be used for cruising.
That’s where my concern is. Because when I would be cruising down the highway in 6th gear and I need to speed up, I’ll drop a gear or two to speed up quicker. But is speeding up at let’s say 50% throttle in 6th gear considered lugging? That’s mainly my concern.
 


skorj

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That’s where my concern is. Because when I would be cruising down the highway in 6th gear and I need to speed up, I’ll drop a gear or two to speed up quicker. But is speeding up at let’s say 50% throttle in 6th gear considered lugging? That’s mainly my concern.
There's not really a hard rule. It comes down to speed, incline, ambient conditions, etc. I've had times where I could make a successful pass in 6th gear, but for most highway conditions you really want to drop to 4th gear for any acceleration/passing. Most likely you aren't going to severely stress the engine just giving it a bit more gas in 6th, but the safest plan is to downshift to where you have more power available.
 

fabrizzio71

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That’s where my concern is. Because when I would be cruising down the highway in 6th gear and I need to speed up, I’ll drop a gear or two to speed up quicker. But is speeding up at let’s say 50% throttle in 6th gear considered lugging? That’s mainly my concern.
Here’s my general rule: rather than amount of throttle, I base my engine load decisions on boost and rpm.

2-2.5k I generally won’t go above 3psi
2.5-3k I’ll take it to maybe 6-8psi
3-3.5k 8-12psi
3.5k-6.5k Full boost

I do this also for clutch concerns as the clutch is more likely to slip under full boost at lower rpm.

I’ve floored the car in 1st-4th but you have to be going really fast to floor it in 5th. Top of 4th is over 110mph. Hope that helps.
 

Jpierro79

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This is completely opinionated there’s no hard definition. It’s generally stated that lugging is pushing an engine as hard as possible below its natural power band. Per example the type r reaches peak torque about 4000 rpm. It’s also when vtec activates. Still cam timing is in phase for power about 400 rpm power lower than that. Tune can play a role on lugging. In power output with a turbo car the exhaust cam timing will be set negative while intake cam is set positive. The reverse is actually what you get during what’s called spool cam timing. Up to 3380 rpm the type r uses a cam spooling charts to build boost. After that it switches to power timing. Decreasing intake cam timing forces more pressure to build up in the charge pipes intake and intercooler. Increasing exhaust timing at same time pushes more exhaust out of the cylinder for gas velocity and less is used to make actual power. This builds boost pressure faster. When intake cam goes into positive cam timing the intake valves opening early allow the cylinders to fill with pressurized air more easily. Then the exhaust is kept close till later to allow power to push the piston down. This is also relevant to engjne speed as the faster you spin the engine the more you’ll have to change cam timing. Then at 4000 rpm the vtec exhaust is activated further allowing more gases to pasa through the turbine and builds up to 3-4 psi more at that point using the same aircharge.

The type r does not have vtec on intake cam cause forced induction doesn’t need a giant lift. Plus too high of intake port volume will create poor turbo response between shifts. I’m not talking lag cause at 5000 rpm between shifts lag is no longer an issue.

so now you understand some other factors that go into power output of an engine and you can make an educated opinion on lugging.

There is one more thing to point out and that is compressor surge. It’s a fluttering sound you hear during lower rpm Under higher boost pressure. Basically the compressor wheel can’t push any more air in at that rpm and begins to chip the air I would consider this lugging also. In case of type r it’s about 3000 rpm is where you hear it. Only tuned cars will experience this.
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