on ramps suck

[bheilman07]

as some of you may know that on ramps suck. on average when i get to the highway i am going a speed of 45 mph. my festiva is stock engine wise if you didnt guess. What are some tips or lessons i could pick up from you experienced festiva pilots for these way to short uphill on ramps.

[rotinaj13]

3rd gear foot on the floor and a quick shift to 4th and another FOF blast to 80 mph but that was in my aspire. and every one at the ohio fling can atest that thats the way I drive LOL now my festiva i do about the same but 80 in 4th is abit much for the fetiva even though it has better gearing then the aspire. My aspire had more engine work done to it..

[booster1976]

Put on wider/grippier tires. You can enter the tun on the ramp at a higher speed, thus you will be at a higher speed when you hit the merge section of the ramp.

Abe

[rotinaj13]

usually i hit the merge spot going way faster then traffic any how :-)

[oxbrain]

bigger tires would weigh more and thus slow you down at higher speed acceleration.

Get a tach and wait till damn near redline to shift. The festy can do 60 in 3rd and that should get you up most hills. Practice doing the 3-4 and 4-5 shifts really fast so you don't lose momentum.
Lose all the weight you can from the car. things like the spare tire, rear seat, don't fill the gas tank above 1/2.
Otherwise you're looking at adding more power and that means b6.

Or you could get a NO2 kit and give it a small shot to help you get on the freeway.

[Festiva_newbie]

Lose all the weight you can from the car. things like the spare tire, rear seat, don't fill the gas tank above 1/2.

I don't think that 5lbs is worth the hastle of not having a spare tire when you need one.

[oxbrain]

my spare weighed 15lbs. Jack weighs another 5. Rear seat with belts was about 30. You could also go on slimfast, that always helps.

as far as not having a spare: AAA is really cheap.

If I got a flat and didn't have AAA, I'd limp it home on the rim. I'm not worried about wrecking a rim I can replace for $5, and if the tire blew out I can replace that for about $10.

[Festiva_newbie]

where do you shop?

[oxbrain]

junkyards for wheels and craigslist for tires.

if you're not looking for nice rims or grippy tires then you can get some really good deals.

[FB71]

stock 88 carbed 4 speed.... drop the hammer in every gear!

1-2 shift @ 30 mph, 2-3 shift @ 50 mph, 3-4 shift @ 70 mph, top out around 90-95 mph on the NJ turnpike...

[SimonTuffGuy]

Please... I drove a stock ATX Festiva loaded with all of the accessories and I've NEVER had a problem with onramps, merging, etc.

Hell, even when I had my full B6 engine in the rear of the car, I didn't have problems driving or merging, that was taking a 150 mile trip to meet Wil in MD too.

[ericsmith32]

I've never had problem except for my aspire, bad engine. Depending on traffic I can hit 60 in 3rd 4th up 75 or higher depending on mood. Festiva's aren't slow if you know how to harness the little power it makes.

[Guest]

never get on the onramp in 4th... 3rd to 4000 rpm should get ya up to speed..

[rotinaj13]

stock 88 carbed 4 speed.... drop the hammer in every gear!

1-2 shift @ 30 mph, 2-3 shift @ 50 mph, 3-4 shift @ 70 mph, top out around 90-95 mph on the NJ turnpike...

90-95? shit my 88 went triple dig jim!!!

[FB71]

90-95 because of traffic... have no idea what he'll do fully wound out...