newFitOwner

I drive a 2013 Fit, manual transmission. I shift by sound. When accelerating, I shift up when RPMs reach 3000. When decelerating, I have developed the habit of blipping the accelerator pedal to get 3000-4000 RPMs before engaging the lower gear. It's so automatic that I can't even remember whether I do this (1) while still in the higher gear, with clutch pedal down; (2) in neutral, with clutch pedal down; or (3) in neutral, with clutch pedal up. Maybe all 3, depending on whether I've been coasting in neutral before downshifting. This seems to have served me well in my last car (Tercel), which I never had to change the clutch or syncros on, and hardly ever the brakes (can't even recall if I ever did) before retiring it.

I've read conflicting information online about how long to drive gently for before driving with high RPMs. Some estimates ballpark the warmup time at 15 minutes -- that would be a pain, as it is half my drive. I have three questions about this.

(1) Is shifting up at 3000 RPM "gentle" enough?

(2) Is blipping the RPMs into the high 3x00's harmful?

(3) I hit th highway in less than 5 minutes, where I drive in the high 3x00's. Is this harmful? I don't drive erratically or with a high speed difference with the traffic in adjacent lanes, but I do drive in the high speed lanes. I don't look forward to being confirned to the slow-lane.

I used to think that, with the consistent viscosity of synthetic oil, 30 seconds of stationary warmup was enough (it's way more than required). But with what I've read, I'm wondering whether that warmup time is just to get moving, and whether I'm stuck having to stay in low RPMs for quite a while after that.

claymore

3000 is not High RPM. do what you have been doing with no worries.

newFitOwner

My current habit sometimes causes high 3x00 RPM (getting toward 4000 RPM) when down shifting. Would that be "high" as well? I posed this question in the context of not knowing whether synthetic oil needs many minutes to warm up before doing my normal thing.

shipo

There is no such a thing as a time related warm up period. If you start your car and let it idle, then yes, fifteen minutes may be appropriate, but on a cold winter morning that is pretty much the dumbest thing you can do for the health of your engine and your oil. Given your engine runs on either 5W-20 or 0W-20, once the temperature gauge is up off the minimum mark and starting to rise, which should take only few minutes (like three to five depending on how cold it is), you're easily good to go for 4,000 RPMs; and maybe a couple of minutes more for higher RPMs.

newFitOwner

Unfortunately, I don't have a temperature gauge. I have only a cold coolant indicator, which might be good enough as a signal of when I can drive hard, i.e., when it is not illuminated. My oil is synthetic, so that is more fluid in the cold. Good to hear your estimate of 3-5 minutes to drive at 4000 RPM. That's about how long it takes me to get to the highway. Thanks.

shipo

No worries on not having a gauge, when the blue light goes out 4,000 should be no issue. A few minutes after that, drive as you would drive any other time.