Hello everyone, I am wondering what effect cruising RPM has on engine wear. Obviously extremely high RPM (say cruising in 2nd gear near redline) is going to cause premature failure, no need to discuss that. What I am asking about is more whether the transmission's gearing has an appreciable effect on engine life. For the purpose of this question, let's assume that we have 2 different cars with the same engine that are used in the same way and both maintained correctly, only difference is one has a 3 speed trans and cruises at 3K RPM at 60 MPH and the other has a 4 speed trans and only runs at 2K RPM at 60 MPH. Let's also say that both cars are driven mostly on the highway. With all else being equal, would the engine attached to the the overdrive transmission last significantly longer than the engine attached to the 3 speed transmission?
Does anyone have any experience that suggests that a lower cruising RPM appreciably extends an engine's life? Something like "I worked at a car dealer and saw that model X with a 3 speed transmission had a worn out engine at 100K miles, but model Y with the same engine and an overdrive transmission made it to 150K miles without problems".
Does anyone have any experience that suggests that a lower cruising RPM appreciably extends an engine's life? Something like "I worked at a car dealer and saw that model X with a 3 speed transmission had a worn out engine at 100K miles, but model Y with the same engine and an overdrive transmission made it to 150K miles without problems".