I take this to mean you drive a manual. I tend to stay in lower gears, as I hate lugging the engine, less shifting/clutch wear, and the throttle response is better. I don't worry about MPGs.
I've actually done some investigation into this very issue. Most vehicles these days have an RPM gauge so I felt it was reasonable to ask people what gear they thought they were in at various speeds in their automatic. I didn't find anybody that knew and even some that didn't understand the question.
Using my wife's BMW 335 automatic. I drove it in "D" at the in-town typical 35MPH. Then at 40 and then at 45. When I shifted to manual I found the car to be either in 3rd or 4th (out of 6 speeds). I imagine other cars and SUVs would be driving around town in 3rd (out of 4 speeds) but you wouldn't be able to tell other than by knowing what RPMs resulted from which speed/gear ratio combination.
I don't think automatics are a particularly "green" solution given what I found out. I drive the BMW in manual all the time now and force it into 6th knowing that I can instantly shift down multiple gears by tapping the shifter for performance manouverablity.
That is very interesting and would explain what I keep finding on my, almost daily, trip to the next town. I will try to build up and hold some RPM as we approach a hill and find the car in front just pokes on up. I am sure their auto must have down shifted, now that you mention it and they never give it a thought. Sometimes I end up going down two gears and then end up right in between two. I thik they should be outlawed, because you can not smoke, drink coffee and talk on a cell phone with a 5 or six speed manual. :nonod:
