So I'm driving this rental 2011 V6...
06-12-2010, 04:06 AM
#1
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: California
Posts: 4
So I'm driving this rental 2011 V6...
Hey guys,
My name is Tom and I'm new here. I live in Belgium, Europe, where I drive a mint '90 VW Golf GTI. But at the moment I'm doing a roadtrip through the western part of the US in a brand new (or so it was when I got it) 2011 mustang V6 convertible. I got the 2011 conv. in a streak of luck, when Hertz couldn't deliver the hardtop v6 for which I made the reservation. I didn't dare to dream of getting a 305hp 2011 :-) I've been thinking of doing this roadtrip for a long time, and I always hoped for it to be with a musclecar, preferably a Mustang.
I'm using my phone to acces this board, and my English might not be perfect so bear with me
Anyhow, I've been driving "my" stang for about 4000 miles now and I love the sound, the way it handles, the seats(!!), and ofcourse how it looks. But still have a few questions about it.
A few days ago I went to the bonneville salt flats. The salt wasn't dry enough to do performance driving on it, but the road that leads there was straight, dry and empty so I gave it a shot, hoping to see how 305hp translates into top speed. Being used of driving 125mph+ (autobahn) in my 125hp gti my expectations were pretty high.
The car smoothly accelerated to about 110 but then suddenly the power was cut off and the automatic gearbox shifted up 2 gears, resulting in 3000rpm or even less. Obviously limited, but why and by whom? Hertz or factory setting by Ford?
After discovering this limiter I went on timing the acceleration. The figures I found on this board indicate that 0-60 should only take about 5-6 seconds. I've done a few runs now, but can't seem to get it under 7. I did notice that the automatic gearbox is kinda slow but still.
Third and last thing: it won't spin it's backwheels :-) I know it's pretty childish to even want it to, but it's just something i've always wanted to try in a car that makes it look good. Since I probably won't drive a V6 or V8 again any time soon, now is the time to do it. Shouldn't it do that on any surface? Ive been doing it like this: gear in D or 1, TC off, left foot on brake and pedal to the metal with right. Only on gravel or polished concrete will this result in wheelspin, on the average desert road it ends up in nothing but frustration. Like most Europeans i'm used to driving stick, so ofcourse I could be doing it wrong.
These three things combined make me wonder if hertz somehow limited the power of it's 2011 mustangs so they wouldn't be much more powerful(~riskful) than the old v6...
I still love driving it, but it made me wonder. Thanks in advance for your replies.
My name is Tom and I'm new here. I live in Belgium, Europe, where I drive a mint '90 VW Golf GTI. But at the moment I'm doing a roadtrip through the western part of the US in a brand new (or so it was when I got it) 2011 mustang V6 convertible. I got the 2011 conv. in a streak of luck, when Hertz couldn't deliver the hardtop v6 for which I made the reservation. I didn't dare to dream of getting a 305hp 2011 :-) I've been thinking of doing this roadtrip for a long time, and I always hoped for it to be with a musclecar, preferably a Mustang.
I'm using my phone to acces this board, and my English might not be perfect so bear with me
Anyhow, I've been driving "my" stang for about 4000 miles now and I love the sound, the way it handles, the seats(!!), and ofcourse how it looks. But still have a few questions about it.
A few days ago I went to the bonneville salt flats. The salt wasn't dry enough to do performance driving on it, but the road that leads there was straight, dry and empty so I gave it a shot, hoping to see how 305hp translates into top speed. Being used of driving 125mph+ (autobahn) in my 125hp gti my expectations were pretty high.
The car smoothly accelerated to about 110 but then suddenly the power was cut off and the automatic gearbox shifted up 2 gears, resulting in 3000rpm or even less. Obviously limited, but why and by whom? Hertz or factory setting by Ford?
After discovering this limiter I went on timing the acceleration. The figures I found on this board indicate that 0-60 should only take about 5-6 seconds. I've done a few runs now, but can't seem to get it under 7. I did notice that the automatic gearbox is kinda slow but still.
Third and last thing: it won't spin it's backwheels :-) I know it's pretty childish to even want it to, but it's just something i've always wanted to try in a car that makes it look good. Since I probably won't drive a V6 or V8 again any time soon, now is the time to do it. Shouldn't it do that on any surface? Ive been doing it like this: gear in D or 1, TC off, left foot on brake and pedal to the metal with right. Only on gravel or polished concrete will this result in wheelspin, on the average desert road it ends up in nothing but frustration. Like most Europeans i'm used to driving stick, so ofcourse I could be doing it wrong.
These three things combined make me wonder if hertz somehow limited the power of it's 2011 mustangs so they wouldn't be much more powerful(~riskful) than the old v6...
I still love driving it, but it made me wonder. Thanks in advance for your replies.
06-12-2010, 04:16 AM
#2
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: AL
Posts: 342
Tommer, first, your english is better than most Americans so don't worry about it. As for the 120 mph limiter, I would just about bet that it was installed by the Hertz folks, but I could be wrong on that. The car will easily do more than that. As for the wheel spin, what you did should work. I've seen videos of people smoking the tires on the 2011 V6 on you tube. Not sure what happened there.
Glad to hear you are enjoying the ride and were it not for oppressively high petrol taxes across Europe there is no reason you couldn't be driving a Mustang there as well. We have some politicians here that are trying to impose that nonsense on us but rest assured we won't let them.
Enjoy your road trip and have fun with that brand new Mustang. And hey, let us know what kind of mileage you're getting ok? Remember though that US gallons are different from your own. I think. lol
Glad to hear you are enjoying the ride and were it not for oppressively high petrol taxes across Europe there is no reason you couldn't be driving a Mustang there as well. We have some politicians here that are trying to impose that nonsense on us but rest assured we won't let them.
Enjoy your road trip and have fun with that brand new Mustang. And hey, let us know what kind of mileage you're getting ok? Remember though that US gallons are different from your own. I think. lol
06-12-2010, 06:22 AM
#3
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Ohio
Posts: 157
The top speed is limited by Ford, that's what the car magazines are saying. So far on my sock 2011 V6 automatic, I've recorded a 0-60 of 5.7, and a 1/4 mile time of 14.5 @ 97 mph on only 2 attempts. What was your method of recording 0-60?
06-12-2010, 09:31 AM
#4
4th Gear Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: over yonder
Posts: 1,185
Just for giggles, are you sure it's an '11 and not a '10?
Seems early for rental car places to have them. There's still some dealers waiting for them. Either way, I'd imagine there is some type of speed governor seeing how it's a rental. Also..Are you sure you're turning off the traction control? I know you said you did but just pressing it doesn't disable it. Hold the break and hold the TC button for about 5 sec until the little car with skid marks stays lit in the instrument cluster.
Seems early for rental car places to have them. There's still some dealers waiting for them. Either way, I'd imagine there is some type of speed governor seeing how it's a rental. Also..Are you sure you're turning off the traction control? I know you said you did but just pressing it doesn't disable it. Hold the break and hold the TC button for about 5 sec until the little car with skid marks stays lit in the instrument cluster.
Last edited by MOOK3456; 06-12-2010 at 09:42 AM.
06-12-2010, 01:11 PM
#8
4th Gear Member
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Buffalo, New York
Posts: 1,335
06-12-2010, 03:43 PM
#10
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location:
Posts: 200
Your English is definately better than half the people that use this board. Thanks for the report as it was an interesting read. I lived in Germany for three years and know what you mean about getting accustomed to the Autobahn. After driving speeds around 200 KPH during my commute to work everyday it takes a while to get use to our speeds again. When I came home from Germany the speed limits in the USA were still 55 MPH, and it drove me insane.