Lesson 4:
Driving For Best Performance
Objective:
At the end of this lesson, you'll be able to drive and shift to get the best
performance from your vehicle.
Lets Get Started!
While a manual transmission is best for getting peak performance from a car, a Tiptronic can come close.
There are two concepts to remember here. The first is that the faster the engine runs, the faster the car will
go. The second is that each gear has a maximum speed that can be reached before you need to shift up.
Keep these two concepts in mind.
For this lesson, we will repeat lesson number one, only this time, instead of shifting up at 3000 RPM, take the
engine up to the redline, then shift. Be careful not to take the engine into the red, but shift just before you reach
the red. On the VW Jetta 1.8T, the peak horsepower comes at 5500 RPM, so shift after you reach that point.
Doing this will get the maximum potential out of the current gear, just like a race car driver.
What does this have to do with everyday driving?
This skill is very useful when passing, merging, or any time when you need to accelerate quickly. However,
keep in mind that you will burn fuel much quicker this way, as a hardworking engine will use more gas.