dreem363

Hello veryone I wanted some help on how to really put all my mustang's power to work. I've had my 2006 GT for about 1 month and a half. Prior to this manual car I had only driven a few times with an old manual car. Since i am new to stick shift I wanted some advice from the more experienced drivers out there. I love using stick shift but I feel that I am too slow when taking off. Can anyone provide any pointers on the best shift techniques for taking off from a stop light. I like to occasionally floor it when I'm next to a ricer car. I've noticed that my car gets pure power when I am in 4th gear around the 4,000-5,000 rpm range. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

zanemoseley

You'll always start seeing the power at 3000+ RPM. For insance I was behind some truck on the onramp yesterday and still had it in 3rd going like 60 with about 3000-3500 RPM's. Once I could get clear I floored it and wham I hit 100 in a couple seconds. You can't expect to get much power instantly at 2000 RPM's. You best bet then is to downshift to increse the RPM's. As far as shifting faster its really just gonna take you time. Every car I've ever had was a manual so its just natural to me at this point. A short throw shifter like the Pro 5.0 may help you out some.

zanemoseley

For what its worth I do have a much harder time speed shifting with the stang compared to my sentra simply due to the much beefier transmision. In my sentra I can speed shift like a som bitch lol too bad its slow.

dreem363

Thanks for the advice. I think I want to really get comfortable with the stock shifter before I move on to the short throw shift. I have been told that once you install a short throw shifter you have learn how to use it and I'm not to a point where I need to learn something new. Let me ask you two questions...1.) do you ever skip gears when taking off from launch or do you go 1,2,3,4,5 gears? .....2.) Does it damage the trasmission to constantly drive the car in the higher RPM'S? I know its not good for fuel economy.
Thanks again.

zanemoseley

No I don't skip gears except when downshifting of course. I'd say you're wearing the entire drivetrain slightly more when in high RPM's but it really won't damage it unless you constantly go ape $hit on it. If you do a burnout a day don't expect your clutch to last long.

Lucy2005

You will learn what each gears range is in time. For example, I know 2nd goes to 70 mph at 6100 rpms, I can take third to 115 at the same rpms. Occasionally I will just skip a gear, hit 5th, and turn on the cruise, afer a hard pull up the on ramp, for example. Fly up to speed, then cruise in next to the highway patrolman! If Im running 70, I know I cant drop to 2nd gear, but third is right in its power range, about 3500 rpms. If Im driving 35, I can drop to 2nd and boil the tires up to 60

Just pay attention to your rpms and speed in each gear for a while, and it will become second nature to you.

steve59

shifting is possible, even not recommended, and you shouldn't stay in low rews anyway.

And its not a good idea to shift to 5th gear after running up a hill, as engine needs cooling then and therefore it needs some rews ......... and some speed

And no, you will not ruin your gear-box when you stay on higher rews, but use your motor and get high fuel consumption