How do you drive your L300 with a M/T.

[crazy4two]

So just kinda curious. I just got back from Thailand and while over there I ended up taking a shuttle ride from Bangkok to Koh Chang. Great trip but that's not relevant. Anyway we were not in a Delica but something like a Delica. I was watching the driver as he would start from a stop. I noticed that he went from first gear to fifth gear in all about seconds and noticed that he was in fifth gear by about 40 km/h. When I got home and got into my Delica I tried that approach and found it not very responsive. It may be more economical as far as gas mileage as they say that it is best to get to fifth gear as fast as possible but it had no power driving at 30km/h in fifth gear.

Anyways I notice that shifting at 3000 rpm's works best for me. Meaning start in first and at 3000 rpm shift to 2nd run that to 3000 and shift again and so on. Just curious if that is a reasonable way to drive or are there other ways that provide good performance along with good fuel consumption.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Morgonzo]

Hey Crazy4two, It took me awhile to get the hang of shifting smoothly with the Deli. I've found that 3k is a minimum rpm for a smooth shift. That 1st to second is a killer sometimes. I try to get it up to almost 4k before I shift to have continuous forward acceleration. Even then I often have someones nose up my rear at a stop light because i don't get going fast enough for them. I also don't get into 5th unless i've hit 100k. I've had to give up driving it altogether for awhile due to a broken finger on the right hand, and let my wife take it to work for a couple of weeks. She hates to downshift and shifts too early. I'm expecting to do the brake mod sooner rather than later.

[LDiz]

I go from 1st to 2nd immediately. Then I get to 4th pretty quickly. Doesn't seem to move at all til I get into 4th. 4th is my favorite gear.