Sweet spots in the V6 power curve

[Rising_Suns]

To all,
Now that I've owned my LS for some time now, I've had the opportunity to familarize myself with how the car perfoms over the entire power curve and in every gear. To those of you who are new owners, this may be of some help to you, in maximzing your driving exeprience;

First, for those of you who have auto's, it should be noted that pushing your gas pedal down to Wide Open Throttle does not neccessarily give you the most power in this car. I know it sounds crazy. One would think that the further you push the pedal down, the faster you should go. This is not always the case in the V6 Galant. Often times, you will get better acceleration at 2/3 throttle at 4200 rpm than you will at Wide Open Throttle at 5000rpm.

Watch your rpm's. Generally speaking, as you creep beyond 4600+ rpm, you will begin to notice SIGNIFICANT losses in power, due to the highly restricted breathability of the car. This is why the car has a hefty 250 ft.-lbs. of torque, but only a conservative 235 HP. Your optimum range is roughly 4,000rpm~4,700rpm, and if you ever see a torque curve from a dyno run, you'll see the how the curve actually slopes down significantly in the higher rpm range.

Now for the fun part: the sweet spots! First, it should be noted that you will get your best performace on 1/4 tank of gas with 93 octane.

Sweet spot #1: Get up to a cruising speed of roughly 45 mph (this seems to be the optimum engaging point for 2nd gear). Now at this speed, depress your gas pedal down to 2/3 throttle. Your auto should downshift into second gear (for manuals, just downshift to 2nd), and hold it there. Your 2nd gear will engage and you will be launched back into your seat (remember to hold on to your steering wheel tightly so the torque steer doesn't throw you off the road). This is my favoriate sweet spot. It's a thrill everytime (and mind you I have owned a 280 WHP Eclipse GS-T and a modified '98 M3, yet I am still impressed by this sweet spot).

Dead spot number #1: 60mph is probably about the worst speed to start from a launch, since you're already beyond your optimal range for 2nd gear, and not quite at your optimal range for 3rd gear. Unfortunately, we only have 4 gears to work with, and while a gear in between 2nd and 3rd would be nice, Mistubishi decided against it. So, needless to say, don't expect any significant power no matter what gear you are in at this speed. There just isn't anything there.

Sweet spot #2: There is another sweet spot at around 75mph, which makes your 3rd gear very happy. It's not quite as pronounced as the first sweet spot--since at this speed you are beginning to feel the robbing effects of drag from the air, drag from your powertrain, and the higher gear ratio--but it's still much better than the mysterious 60mph "why do I feel like I'm driving a Geo" phenomenon.

And, there is of course an optimal range for your 4th gear, but you shouldn't be driving at that speed anyway. 8)

Enjoy!

-Davide

[evomk8]

You'll be glad to hear that ALL 2007 V-6 Galant's will have a 5-Speed Automatic. :twisted:

[Tech_Greek]

The reason it feels like a sweet spot is because you're down shifting to higher gear, higher rpm - technically the computer KNOWS the best solution - every time - to get you up and moving the quickest without tearing up the clutches inside your transmission...if you're that desperate to accelerate then go to sportronic mode and down shift quickly - I've done it before because I'm used to my RX-7 and down shifting at a whim...

[Rising_Suns]

The reason it feels like a sweet spot is because you're down shifting to higher gear, higher rpm

It's not that simple. The more you learn your car, the more you will realize just how *little* power there is on the top end. Therefore, more rpm doesn't equal more torque. The torque drops BIG TIME as you climb beyond 4500rpm, unlike any other car I've driven. This car is so sqeezed and choked of air, it's ridiculous...not like your old ODBI, or even ODBII's. The polution regulations are so tight on these newers cars; it's like running a marathon with asthma. ..... Therefore, for best performance, one must keep the rpm's roughly in the mid 4k. It's not as simple as 'pressing the gas and go', especially for those with automatics.

Computers are not that smart by the way. And sportronic mode has is limits because downshifting 2 gears w/o a clutch will put alot of reverse torque on your drivetrain.

-Davide

[Rising_Suns]

You'll be glad to hear that ALL 2007 V-6 Galant's will have a 5-Speed Automatic. :twisted:

That's what I like to hear! :thumbsup: Now if they only wised up 2 years earlier, lol.

[Tech_Greek]

It automatically delays the down shift, but it's much faster than simply flooring it.

As far as high rpm power...I'm trying to get the friggin dyno to find that out once and for all.

Just a little FYI though...

http://www.allpar.com/eek/hp-vs-torque.html

The Transmission Gearing also makes it FEEL faster, which is indeed true, we need a dyno graph - period to say anything in the end.