Change gears?

[Red dust]

Just wonder about your opinion regarding when it is the best time to change gears on a 103TDI manual?
personally I like to be around 1800 revs (maximum torque) and if it drops down under that I like to change down.
When my ms drive the car she think it is ok to drive around 1500 revs since it is reasonably strong there as well.
VERY pleased with the car so far and done 14K km`s since November and normally get 5.2 l/100 km.
Cheers,

Mick.

[dru]

5.2L is impressive. On our RS a little arrow comes up suggesting when to change gears, when shifting higher it usually indicates to do so at about 2,000rpm. So it's not uncommon to be driving at 60/70kms in 6th sitting under 2,000rpm but still driving comfortably!

[Red dust]

No arrow in my less spec TDI... but thanks for the input.
Some how I do not think it will damage the engine even if you go down to 1500 revs since it seems to be strong there as well.

[K1W1]

When I went on a Skoda sponsored drive day on the economy driving section the instructors were encouraging us to change up at 1500rpm for maximum fuel economy. I can't remember exactly what the cars were but the one I drove was a petrol engined DSG that I had to drive in manual mode.
On my manual RS diesel I change up between 1500 and 2000 rpm if I'm just in cruise around mode and most of the time the tacho would be under 2000 rpm I guess.

[MarksVRS]

Not sure how the torque curve compares with the 125TDI although the boost comes on strong at 1500rpm so I personally do not like to be caught out in city driving under that, unless I know I do not need to get anywhere in a hurry. In saying this, I know diesels can putt around all day at low revs without fear of hurting the engine. Do not be afraid of blowing out the cobwebs from time to time either! I know there is a lot of debate on this although modern diesels are very flexible and are happy to rev.