Noticing New Sounds

ebhaynz

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You shouldn't do that my man... The only thing you are doing accelerating in 6th gear is lugging the engine. If you want to accelerate, drop a gear or two, that way you are not putting a lot of stress on the engine, the turbo and the clutch.
Thanks for the tip but I gotta ask is it really that harmful to the engine to accelerate and extra 10mph(from 70-80) in 6th gear? I know the Si is a sporty performance oriented car and I know a lot of folks like to do a lot of downshifting..personally I just don't downshift very much at highway speeds. Hopefully I don't have a serious bad habit but maybe I do.
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The story I've heard is the amount of throttle in 5th or 6th is the issue. I do the same thing when on the highway, where I'll go faster in 6th if I need to but usually not more than about 1/3 throttle. If I really want to move it's down into 4th and see ya.
 

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Thanks for the tip but I gotta ask is it really that harmful to the engine to accelerate and extra 10mph(from 70-80) in 6th gear? I know the Si is a sporty performance oriented car and I know a lot of folks like to do a lot of downshifting..personally I just don't downshift very much at highway speeds. Hopefully I don't have a serious bad habit but maybe I do.
5th of 6th I would limit the throttle to 20-25% if possible, as aighead said, if you want to move and accelerate, do it in 4th ;) You can also search ''lugging engine'' on google and it's going to show you what it is, you want to avoid lugging the engine as much as possible for reliability of the drivetrain in the long run
 

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Thanks for the tip but I gotta ask is it really that harmful to the engine to accelerate and extra 10mph(from 70-80) in 6th gear? I know the Si is a sporty performance oriented car and I know a lot of folks like to do a lot of downshifting..personally I just don't downshift very much at highway speeds. Hopefully I don't have a serious bad habit but maybe I do.
Yeah its not great for your engine. But its absolutely awful for the clutch in these cars.
 


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fabrizzio71

fabrizzio71

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If you have exhaust-ish sounds like this:
  • raspy
  • vaguely gurgley
  • kind of sounding just short of contact noises, such as...
    • grinding
    • clattering
  • when letting off throttle
  • also when applying it lightly from idle at stop or crawling speed, that subtle space between 'gas' and 'go' if being really light with throttle
My experience is those together can be a sign of exhaust-line movement or separation. Could be a hanger tore or cracked. It doesn't need to make the car vibrate at an idle standstill either. There's also flex pipe problems, or a join/weld is leaking during normal movement and is working up to that big promotion to hole. A change in force to the engine and exhaust causes failure signs at distinct times. I've noticed sounds when the engine moves- sudden throttle and when letting off throttle. It's hard to assign it to something, because the engine lifts or settles separately from the car moving.
If you get the car in the air or jack a side up and take the underbody panel off you can inspect fairly easily. If something is failing it's likely where the drive shaft, exhaust, and engine are having a crowded party.
If something sounds like it's about to start hitting or flowing... It just may be working it's way there.
Thanks, I appreciate the reply. Of course I would hope a year old car wouldn’t already be developing an exhaust leak or issue, but it’s certainly possible. I also find it interesting that I spend a lot of time in the rev range which the noise is more prominent. I moved to the side of a small mountain in May, and the mountain road I live on is ideal for third gear between 3-4k rpms with lots of curves.
 
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fabrizzio71

fabrizzio71

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Lugging your engine is akin to trying to suck a large volume of liquid through a tiny straw, or in the engine’s case sucking air. But as revs increase, the size of the straw gets wider and can handle the volume without too much pressure. I wouldn’t consider 3.5k rpms and above lugging the engine. The gear doesn’t matter as much as the engine speed. Of course high rpm in a high gear means you are going pretty fast...but say on a race track, there would be nothing wrong with full throttle at 4k rpm in 5th gear.
 

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Engineering Explained has a good YouTube video on lugging
Thanks! I watched the video(Jason is always great) and based on what I'm doing it doesn't look like I'm lugging my engine(accelerating from 70-80mph in 6th gear) much, at least nothing near as bad as accelerating from 40mph in 6th gear.
 

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I just don't like how if I'm on cruise-control in 6th gear and want to accelerate just one click upward that the car decides to accelerate to a +3 PSI to do it. The first time I saw that, I went: "Nope, not doing that again."
 

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I started noticing a weird oscillating sound when I peg the gas around corners. I think it's the LSD working, but I don't remember it ever making noise before.

Upgrading to the 27Won motor mount I've noticed a ton of transmission/gear sounds that I can hear now being transmitted directly into the cabin through the mount.
 

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Thanks! I watched the video(Jason is always great) and based on what I'm doing it doesn't look like I'm lugging my engine(accelerating from 70-80mph in 6th gear) much, at least nothing near as bad as accelerating from 40mph in 6th gear.
Yeah it does seem like it could be a stretch to call your use lugging. Either way, I can't speak to the high speed kind of lugging for MT because I don't drive MT. But the physics is similar.
I can speak to the going faster or passing at speed aspect that others have recommended reducing gears on MT to do. At the speeds described I'm cruising at or below 2k rpms with my CVT. So for passing, I often shift to 'S' right after throwing my signal on so that my rpms are primed for better throttle response. I don't want load commanding transmission changes to support my call for throttle to get the power I seek. I'd rather have my cvt get inefficient and shift to higher rpms when I'm still cruising under minimal load, at my command, and let the engine apply my throttle and give me power. I feel it's less stress on components, less delay once I commit to passing, and safer because I've more engine braking and an eager throttle if the situation goes to poo.
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