There seems to be a lot of misunderstanding about what this is.

"To run poorly or hesitate because of strain."

I came across the following statement on the subject:

The cause of the strain or resistance is just as important as rpm and gear to determine a lugging situation. 6th gear at 55 mph (2000 rpms) is not necessary lugging if you are on a decline. 6th gear and 75 mpg (2800 rpms) might be consider lugging if you are on a steep incline. It is all relative to the resistance which can be caused by wind, road topography and load. It is the ability of the engine to produce power to overcome that resistance without undo strain. Granted that higher rpms produce more torque so it safe to say that a higher rpm is less likely to be lugging the engine. That doesn't mean operating at a lower rpm is lugging.

 

That is an excellent definition. Like some say: may not know how to explain it but know it when I see it or feel it.

 

Without using two paragraphs lugging is when the engine load out weighs the engine speed. OR in laymans terms you are operating too high in a gear. TIme to downshift.

lp

 

I thought it was attempting to get uphill with a fat ugly biatch on the back

 

Now that would be a MAJOR lugging situation .. [:'(]

 

Lug your car (manual tranny)...it will make weird noises and let you know your in the wrong gear, just like your harley. Regardless of what the owners manual says.

 

Great point, when on level or downhill situations lower RPM's don't 'automatically' lug the engine as there are very limited resistive forces to counter an increase in acceleration. The same exact speed and RPM at the head of an incline would produce drastically different results in that your engine now has to also achieve more work due to climbing where momentum is greatly reduced.

 

I can't believe the owner's manual even has those numbers listed.......obviously a 'save as' from a previous manual without any type of sanity check to ensure they were close to actual. Makes me wonder about other values listed in the manual...