2021 A10 driving tips for a new owner

[FinitePrimus]

Hey all, new owner of a 2021 GT with the A10. I'm still some mileage away from the break-in period and this will be my first automatic Mustang (#4). I was convinced to go the A10 route by many of the posts/videos around on how fast the transmission shifts and a strong argument from the wife who was dead set against manual (need to pick which battles to fight or I may have ended up with another SUV).

First thoughts are that it seems pretty solid. It is slightly clunky at times, especially in Sport + mode, but I'm attributing some of that to being still broken in/learning. It definitely shifts fast with the 3:55 rear end.

My "newby" questions for other 18+ A10 owners are:

1. How can I get the car to respect the paddle shifters more e.g. how can I hold 1st, 2nd, 3rd etc. When I tried the various modes, S on the shifter, S+ mode, normal mode, etc. I can use the paddles, drop a gear say 3rd @ 2500rpm but within 3-7 seconds it automatically shifts it up to say 5th/6th. I am assuming Track mode would allow this but that also turns off all the traction control etc. which probably isn't the best idea yet as I'm still learning the car. I was expecting more of a traditional auto experience when you would put it into 1 or 2 it would sit at redline if you let it.

2. When doing some fun pulls (once break-in is done), what's the most impressive A10 gear? Back in the manual days it was 2nd and then 3rd. What gear do you usually shift down to for a good somewhat within the speed limit pull without roasting the tires?

3. What is the 1st and 2nd gear like from a slow roll? Will 3/4 to full throttle still roast the tires or will traction control automatically limit the power?

Sponsored

 

[Mazman]

#1: You need to select S mode on the transmission, meaning selecting S with the shifter and not D. With that when using the paddles the selected gear will be held up even at the rev-limiter, when coming to a halt if you don't down-shift, the car will do this automatically not to stall

#2: 3-4-5-6

#3: Advance-trac will kick in 1-2-3 with the standard tires on WOT, 3/4s would say no. Depends on the weather/surface as well.

Also you can dab(not kick-down) the throttle and the car will select the lowest gear possible for that speed for some time before it starts to shift up again. That is if you are in full auto-mode good for some pulls

Car will be the quickest when having the transmission D and not in S at least that was the case for me. Guess it has to do with timing

Once you you have it in track/drag race mode with advance-trac fully off and on WOT, you will be glad that you went with the A10 once you experience how it feels

 

[Cobra Jet]

@FinitePrimus

Welcome to the site and new S550 Ownership!

This thread has the info you need to review to understand the differences between the Transmission Modes AND the Center Stack Drive modes, as well as the paddle interactions.

https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/question-re-sport-vs-sport-mode.150765/#post-3076906

 

[NoVaGT]

Don't baby the motor. Beat on it. Take it to the red-line here and there.

It needs it to break in properly.

 

[young at heart]

@FinitePrimus

Welcome to the site and new S550 Ownership!

This thread has the info you need to review to understand the differences between the Transmission Modes AND the Center Stack Drive modes, as well as the paddle interactions.

https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/question-re-sport-vs-sport-mode.150765/#post-3076906

Except for one thing: which offers faster/quicker straight line acceleration, track mode or drag strip mode? While the manual implies that TC is reduced or mitigated in track mode (and the TC off light comes on), it makes no such claim for drag mode. And that quoted section of the manual doesn’t really address ESC at all. (I think you guys call it advance-track.)

I’m really surprised the manual doesn’t address this.

 

[Andy13186]

Keep stability control on, if you put it in dragmode then hit a shift in a corner youll backward and off the road in a second if stability control is off. Other than that, just play with the modes Ive found I only use normal mode until the car is warm, then I put it in sport. If you put it in sport before the car is warm the trans seems to act weird at times. So warm up the car in normal mode in drive. Then I put the shifter into sport and activate paddles, this is the mode I use 90% of the time when the car is warm. Drag mode is for hooning busting the tires loose at 40 mph for fun hitting 2nd and 3rd. Seriously there is no need to disable stability control on this car its very unobtrusive.

 

[young at heart]

Keep stability control on, if you put it in dragmode then hit a shift in a corner youll backward and off the road in a second if stability control is off. Other than that, just play with the modes Ive found I only use normal mode until the car is warm, then I put it in sport. If you put it in sport before the car is warm the trans seems to act weird at times. So warm up the car in normal mode in drive. Then I put into sport and activate paddles, this is the mode I use 90% of the time when the car is warm. Drag mode is for hooning busting the tires loose at 40 mph for fun hitting 2nd and 3rd. Seriously there is no need to disable stability control on this car its very unobtrusive.

Although I haven’t tried it, what you say about not disabling ESC makes 100% perfect sense to me. But, when you put it in drag mode is the TC mitigated like it is in track mode or does TC need to be turned off to maximize acceleration in drag mode? And which gives better acceleration, track or drag?

 

[Andy13186]

Although I haven’t tried it, what you say about not disabling ESC makes 100% perfect sense to me. But, when you put it in drag mode is the TC mitigated like it is in track mode or does TC need to be turned off to maximize acceleration in drag mode? And which gives better acceleration, track or drag?

Dragmode is best for acceleration if you have traction. If you dont have sticky tires and a good surface you will just blow the tires loose on shifts in drag mode. I turn TC off in all modes but I dont disable the stability control. (tc off is just flick the switch, Stability control is hold it for 5 secs I think)

 

[young at heart]

Dragmode is best for acceleration if you have traction. If you dont have sticky tires and a good surface you will just blow the tires loose on shifts in drag mode. I turn TC off in all modes but I dont disable the stability control. (tc off is just flick the switch, Stability control is hold it for 5 secs I think)

So Andy, if I'm hearing you right, you disable TC when you're in drag mode?

 

[Andy13186]

So Andy, if I'm hearing you right, you disable TC when you're in drag mode?

I do, yes. but I only put it in drag mode on the street when I want to rip 30-70 mph rolling burnouts or when I have my drag radials on lol. And stability control stays on always for me.

 

[gmupatriot]

Don't baby the motor. Beat on it. Take it to the red-line here and there.

It needs it to break in properly.

OP, listen to this guy. Do not baby the motor. It needs to be broke in properly by driving it hard once the oil/engine has warmed up to operating temps. Otherwise you will have a car that burns oil.

 

[WildHorse]

OP, listen to this guy.

Really ? Is that a 18+ thing ? I babied mine till the first oil change and it doesn't burn any oil, and only a couple tablespoons of oil in the catch can when I change the oil. 35+k miles now.

 

[young at heart]

OP, listen to this guy. Do not baby the motor. It needs to be broke in properly by driving it hard once the oil/engine has warmed up to operating temps. Otherwise you will have a car that burns oil.

Back in the day (‘60s) this is exactly what we believed and did. We held to the theory that it helped seat the rings. Cars broken in this way were noticeably faster and burned less oil. It worked for us then and even though metallurgy and manufacturing are way different now, according to gmupatriot it must still work.

 

[young at heart]

I do, yes. but I only put it in drag mode on the street when I want to rip 30-70 mph rolling burnouts or when I have my drag radials on lol. And stability control stays on always for me.

My car is pretty new so I’ve only done a couple pulls in drag mode. I never thought about turning TC off, but the car was pretty loose all through first gear and had noticeable spin at both the 1-2 up shift as well as 2-3 And that’s with 3.15s. I did not notice any bogging that would indicate TC was cutting anything back. In fact, I’d say the shifts were real hard and only came at about 7500 rpm. Tell you the truth I was pretty impressed; I didn’t know these regular GTs were this strong.

Guess I’ll have to turn off TC (not ESC) and see what the difference is.

 

[Gregs24]

OP, listen to this guy. Do not baby the motor. It needs to be broke in properly by driving it hard once the oil/engine has warmed up to operating temps. Otherwise you will have a car that burns oil.

I treated mine exactly as per the run in procedure in the manual (as in what Ford recommend for their engine) and my car doesn't burn oil.

Sponsored