Shifting Feel - Is it normal?
Thread Starter
Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 4
From: Idaho
Shifting Feel - Is it normal?
Hi All,
I picked up a 2012 Mustang V6 Premium / Manual Transmission a couple weeks ago and the shifting feels... different. The car only has 18k miles.
Quick background: My manual experience mainly comes from my wife's cars, she loves manual hatchbacks. We generally buy the more luxury based models, not performance based. I personally drive trucks and on my third F150 in a row, all three of which have been automatics
. The Mustang is a third car that we bought to have some fun. I expect that my view of what a V6 Mustang should feel like is skewed, and the behavior is very likely to be completely normal.
In my wife's car, the stick shift falls into place with essentially no effort. In the Mustang you have to give it a little more pressure and it feels like it sticks a little sometimes going into first / second. It's really hard to explain, it's almost like it's just a really tight fit. This is much more noticeable when the car is driven cold, it is still present when warm but not near to the same extent.
I had it tested by the dealership, they told me they ran it through a full diagnostic and it came back perfectly healthy. They stated it fell into the "Green" status, signifying it was doing exactly what it was supposed to do. They even had a tech drive the car and he stated it felt like he would expect.
While I do trust the dealership and have purchased 3 cars there with good results, at the end of the day it is the dealership that sold the car. I would like an independent opinion.
So the question is, based on my likely horrific description of the item, does it sound normal based on what you all know about Mustangs?
Thank you!!
I picked up a 2012 Mustang V6 Premium / Manual Transmission a couple weeks ago and the shifting feels... different. The car only has 18k miles.
Quick background: My manual experience mainly comes from my wife's cars, she loves manual hatchbacks. We generally buy the more luxury based models, not performance based. I personally drive trucks and on my third F150 in a row, all three of which have been automatics
. The Mustang is a third car that we bought to have some fun. I expect that my view of what a V6 Mustang should feel like is skewed, and the behavior is very likely to be completely normal.In my wife's car, the stick shift falls into place with essentially no effort. In the Mustang you have to give it a little more pressure and it feels like it sticks a little sometimes going into first / second. It's really hard to explain, it's almost like it's just a really tight fit. This is much more noticeable when the car is driven cold, it is still present when warm but not near to the same extent.
I had it tested by the dealership, they told me they ran it through a full diagnostic and it came back perfectly healthy. They stated it fell into the "Green" status, signifying it was doing exactly what it was supposed to do. They even had a tech drive the car and he stated it felt like he would expect.
While I do trust the dealership and have purchased 3 cars there with good results, at the end of the day it is the dealership that sold the car. I would like an independent opinion
.So the question is, based on my likely horrific description of the item, does it sound normal based on what you all know about Mustangs?
Thank you!!
2nd Gear Member
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 202
From: CA
Fitting an aftermarket shifter like an MGW can make a dramatic improvement in shift feel. It was the first mod I made to my '13. I believe the V6 and the GTs since 2011 have the same MT-82 manual transmission. Also consider changing the transmission oil to something like Red Line MTL.