GT with PP manual driving tips

Hack said:

Even 1/2 throttle at 1500 rpm isn't good for the engine. Probably even 1/3 throttle is a bad idea. You can say the word idiot and act like it's simple, but it gets to splitting hairs how much engine power you can access at a really low rpm without accelerating the rate of wear and essentially lugging the engine. I would rather down shift and stay out of that zone.

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Do you have credible engineering test data to support this for modern automotive engines? SAE papers for example?

Hack said:

Even 1/2 throttle at 1500 rpm isn't good for the engine. Probably even 1/3 throttle is a bad idea. You can say the word idiot and act like it's simple, but it gets to splitting hairs how much engine power you can access at a really low rpm without accelerating the rate of wear and essentially lugging the engine. I would rather down shift and stay out of that zone.

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People just have to use common sense. If you step down on the go fast pedal and you don't accelerate, you need to downshift. If you continue to push down on the pedal and rattle apart your engine....you shouldn't be driving a manual transmission. If you are driving up the hill and slowing down at half throttle, you shouldn’t be driving a manual transmission.

Folks just need to use their head.

Hack said:

Even 1/2 throttle at 1500 rpm isn't good for the engine. Probably even 1/3 throttle is a bad idea. You can say the word idiot and act like it's simple, but it gets to splitting hairs how much engine power you can access at a really low rpm without accelerating the rate of wear and essentially lugging the engine. I would rather down shift and stay out of that zone.

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While this is all true, they're also calibrated to protect for this. The timing advance and knock retard is calibrated to deal with this type of situation. Unlike a boosted engine, LSPI is much less severe for an NA V8.

The car pulls acceptably well in 5th gear from above 35-40 mph to not really be lugging. 6th is a straight highway only gear and I only use it above 55-60 on flat ground. It'll do hills ok above 70 mph.

Yeah for PP at 50 MPH+ the engine is turning at around 1,500 RPM in 6th. I would not put the foot down without downshifting to 5th at least. I would only put my foot down at 2,000 RPM in 6th gear, which would be near 70 MPH I think.

It's interesting that the manual has different shift points for 3.7 with different final gear ratios, but there's no difference for 5.0.

accel said:

It's interesting that the manual has different shift points for 3.7 with different final gear ratios, but there's no difference for 5.0.

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Torque

I feel like 7K RPM is where you should shift. The red-line tells me so

accel said:

Never had muscle car before, and GT MT (PP) is not like all other transmissions I drove before.

First five gears are prety close (i like that) and then the sixth one stays far apart.

I have 2000 rpm at 70mph at 6th. I usually did not drive my cars with rpms below 2000. And then I checked my user manual and they suggest to switch into 6th at 43 mph! Thay say that's for fuel economy. Is that ok or will kill the engine really quick? I mean, the engine would be at just around 1500 rpms at that speed with low oil pressure and high loads. And I was trying not to get into 6th before 70mph...

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To me, shifting into 5th at 43 mph is much more appropriate. I'll shift into 6th at a minimum of 55, and that's if I am just cruising. If I want to accelerate hard at 55 or less, I start downshifting. At around 70 you can easily execute a pass in 6th without downshifting.

1500 rpm is no problem when just rolling down the hwy at a constant speed. I always think in terms of how I can give my car the best mechanical advantage, which is easier on it. At around 3k rpm you have much better acceleration, and you'll figure that out as you drive it. 4k and above is what I think of as the oh h*** yeah band of the rpm scale.

As the PP can pretty much top out in 5th you have no reason to try to accelerate in overdrive.

An interesting though. At our last Mustang track day a friend and I played together for 4 sessions. I use the torque of fourth and fifth to accelerate onto the front straight here at Pacific Raceway. Then shift into 6th at around 135 mph and let the torque pull me through turn 1 at around 152 mph. My buddy tops out each gear and stays in 5th until braking for turn 2. He needed to refill his tank at noon. I opted to fill up after our last session. We have good video of this on Utube. I like my economy car to play with. Slow cruise in town, 5th gear.

chedder said:

An interesting though. At our last Mustang track day a friend and I played together for 4 sessions. I use the torque of fourth and fifth to accelerate onto the front straight here at Pacific Raceway. Then shift into 6th at around 135 mph and let the torque pull me through turn 1 at around 152 mph. My buddy tops out each gear and stays in 5th until braking for turn 2. He needed to refill his tank at noon. I opted to fill up after our last session. We have good video of this on Utube. I like my economy car to play with. Slow cruise in town, 5th gear.

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What's your Youtube channel or links of this session? TIA.

I'll try to get this right. Zca2xdOCZ5k, ColBtFRKcfc, tMUb1dsdn33. Those should be the links.

chedder said:

I'll try to get this right. Zca2xdOCZ5k, ColBtFRKcfc, tMUb1dsdn33. Those should be the links.

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Very fast! Let me help you out with the links

[ame]

[ame]

There was a nice Saleen on track with you guys but ran like a snail...

MRose said:

When I'm cruising around I will hit sixth as low as 30mph

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you're full of shit, my car would stall at that speed. Also I'm almost certain the PP doesn't have a different owners manual, so the shift points listed aren't for 3.73 gears

source: 2016 GTPP

randotheking said:

you're full of shit, my car would stall at that speed. Also I'm almost certain the PP doesn't have a different owners manual, so the shift points listed aren't for 3.73 gears

source: 2016 GTPP

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Okay. Why the fuck would I lie about that? At 30mph in 6th my car is about 800rpm and on a flat road where I'm not accelerating it works great.