April 24, 2010
How fuel efficient are shiftable automatic cars?
If you were to use the automatic shiftable option in a car, how much fuel are you saving compared to if you had it off. And when is the best time to shift to save the most gas? And the last question may seem dumb; but, if I ever wanted to find the top speed of a car (after removing the top speed limiter) should I shift right before the redline after every shift?
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Filed under Gas Conservation FAQ by on Apr 24th, 2010. Comment. 
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Comments on How fuel efficient are shiftable automatic cars?
It depends on the type of the transmission. Those with the torque converter tend to dissipate a lot of power, even shifting manually won’t help. The VW Group cars with the DSG transmission are more fuel efficient even in auto mode than the same models with the manual transmission. They have done away with the converter and they don’t interrupt the power flow to the wheels during the lightning-fast shifting. Moreover, a good automatic mechanism means perfect shifting at all times and less wear. Many owners who have paddle-type shifters after a while end up not using them.
In general, the best shifting is in the range of the max. torque rpm of the engine (about 50…70 percent of max rpm in gas engines, 30…40 percent in diesels, check your specs).