Cars Q&A

The Spark has a very tractable engine with a fairly even power and torque curve. What it means is that you can drive the car quite smoothly in all the gears, with out stalling.
Usually, I drive the car in the city with gear changes as follows:
1st to 2nd - 15 to 20kmph
2nd to 3rd - 25 to 30kmph
3rd to 4th - 35 to 45kmph
4th to 5th - 60 to 70kmph

On the highway, it is usually as follows:
1st to 2nd - as above
2nd to 3rd - 25 to 40kmph
3rd to 4th - 40 to 60kmph
4th to 5th - 70 to 80kmph

I usually get a mileage of 13 to 14 in the city with AC and about 15 to 17 on the highway with AC.
Try it out. The car is safe on the highway and feels much better planted than a Wagon R or a Zen Estilo. Also, the ride becomes smoother with higher speeds.

Thanks Mr. Shiva Shankar and Mr. sashi Menon for Your answers.
Last month I accidentally tried the reverse gear while car was moving in the fourth gear,and on hearing the grinding sound immediatley put back to the fourth while the clutch was fully pressed. Is there a chance of damaging the trans axle (as is written in the user manual). If so,how to check whether transaxle is alright or not.

Mr. Shiva,

Thanks for the time and effort to answer my second question.
However, my first question was about a missing tachometer and not missing odometer. HOw to calculate or guess the rpm for a given car, and what is the optimum rpm range to get the best fuel efficiency. this is to add the clarity to my first question.