Autoblog Article

[AmericanLegend]

I absolutely love the connection to the car that a manual transmission gives you. I hope Ford corrects the current issues of breaking shift forks on the '18 manuals.

The only way I could talk myself into the 10A is if I was taking it to the drag strip a couple times a month. The 10A and Coyote play well in straight line acceleration.

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[Norm Peterson]

Any idiot can drive a manual, I should know I've driven them for 45 years. And an idiot like me sticks a powerful car into top gear and leaves it there most of the time. So tootling along I might give it full throttle in 6th and generate 100bhp. Safe as houses.

But an idiot driving a 2018 GT with the new brilliant power curve and the A10 gearbox puts his foot down and all of a sudden he has over 400bhp to cope with. This takes much more skill as a driver to control and, to be honest, is great fun.

What you're really saying is that there are people who don't belong behind the wheel of a 400bhp car in the first place.

Controlling what he does with his right foot - on a full time basis - should be among the very first things he should learn, and if that happens to command a downshift it's the driver's duty to sneak up on acquiring a full understanding of what's going to happen. Not stomp away and pray.

... we all learn to drive in manual cars in England.

As did I, along with most of the people in my age group (who have been driving about ten years longer than you have). This was the situation at that time within the town we lived in, anyway. I didn't get to drive any car with automatic until well after passing my license exam.


Norm

 

[EcoVert]

What you're really saying is that there are people who don't belong behind the wheel of a 400bhp car in the first place.

Controlling what he does with his right foot - on a full time basis - should be among the very first things he should learn, and if that happens to command a downshift it's the driver's duty to sneak up on acquiring a full understanding of what's going to happen. Not stomp away and pray.



As did I, along with most of the people in my age group (who have been driving about ten years longer than you have). This was the situation at that time within the town we lived in, anyway. I didn't get to drive any car with automatic until well after passing my license exam.


Norm

Most people are just along for the ride there aren't many people who actually drive their cars.

 

[marks]

You guys across the pond takes things way too seriously! Dr Grabster is winding you up! He knows full well that the A10 is the easier drive

 

[Mazman]

Ironi or not, I really like the 10 speed even though it behaves a bit weird from time to time.
As the car is my DD I would put a knife in my eye having to deal with a manual in all the traffic.

 

[NoVaGT]

I've had mine for about a week and am still breaking it in so I haven't revved real high,....

You need to beat on that engine a bit to keep it from being an oil-burner. Take it to the red-line, do 100% throttle, just don't hold it long at max throttle and RPMs.

 

[Norm Peterson]

You guys across the pond takes things way too seriously! Dr Grabster is winding you up! He knows full well that the A10 is the easier drive

Still sounds like the good Dr G got caught out once or twice with a right-foot-commanded downshift . . . possibly in the wet (which I've been told you guys don't have any shortage of).


Norm

 

[Norm Peterson]

Most people are just along for the ride there aren't many people who actually drive their cars.

Like I said, most people really aren't ready to have that much power available.


Norm

 

[BmacIL]

Like I said, most people really aren't ready to have that much power available.


Norm

Agreed. I've been in favor of tiered licensing for quite a while and I've only been driving for 16 years. I have had training through work and performance driving instruction elsewhere. People should have to go through some of that to own a vehicle like this, IMO. Otherwise you're putting a truly inexperienced/unskilled amateur in control of a 4000 lb missile with other people. With no other machines are we this lax as a society with qualifications to operate potentially hazardous machines.

 

[Arthonon]

You need to beat on that engine a bit to keep it from being an oil-burner. Take it to the red-line, do 100% throttle, just don't hold it long at max throttle and RPMs.

Thanks for your input, I appreciate it. I know there was a big discussion about this in another thread, and I don't want to hijack this one, so I'll just say I did a number of searches for engine break-in and almost all of them suggested going a little easy on it, but to vary the RPMs which I've been doing.

Here is what I found in the owner's manual:

Avoid driving too fast during the first 1,000 mi (1,500 km). Vary your speed frequently and change up through the gears early. Do not labor the engine.

That implies to me, especially the shifting early, that the RPMs should be kept lower.

 

[BmacIL]

Thanks for your input, I appreciate it. I know there was a big discussion about this in another thread, and I don't want to hijack this one, so I'll just say I did a number of searches for engine break-in and almost all of them suggested going a little easy on it, but to vary the RPMs which I've been doing.

Here is what I found in the owner's manual:

Avoid driving too fast during the first 1,000 mi (1,500 km). Vary your speed frequently and change up through the gears early. Do not labor the engine.

That implies to me, especially the shifting early, that the RPMs should be kept lower.

Labor the engine means sustained WOT.

 

[michail71]

Sustained WOT would be very hard to do unleșs on a dyno.

 

[Norm Peterson]

Sustained lugging probably qualifies as well . . .


Norm

 

[Arthonon]

"change up through the gears early" seems like it would mean short shift, which keeps the RPMs down. There was a video where a guy goes through it, and not that I think he's some kind of expert himself, but he provides info from several manufacturers that encourage a more gentle break-in (i.e., not WOT/redlining it). The most convincing was Acura, who does a gentle break-in on the NSX engines at the factory so the customer doesn't have to. Why would Acura put the time and money into that if it was bad for the engine?


Anyway, I don't want to hijack this thread, and I do appreciate everyone's input - thanks!

 

[w3rkn]

labor mean mechanical loading of any sorts..



So don't lug the engine, or spin it too far into the stratosphere (6,800+ rpms), or even do hard acceleration, until you've taken it out on the highway and drive casually for about 5 hours and let all the internals to get to know each other.

This is not "baby'ing the engine" it is using it without stressing it. After about 700~900 miles, the engine should be stabilizing and it's components are now friendly with their environment. Once this is achieved (you will notice the harmonics of the engine has changed and the engine smooths out.) is when you can "set the rings" and put full load on the engine and do some low RPM lunches, etc.

After a few days of some really good digs from a standstill and putting load on the engine, is when you'll want to take her on some back roads and wind out 2nd gear and ride her steady but hard... to near the rev limit & race the engine like that for about 30 seconds... several times.

This is a scientific approach that I read from a Formula 1 engine builder 25 years ago, that I've incorporated into my own break-in for production engines. That was how they cycle test their engines, and dealing with compression variables between cylinders. It makes for a more cohesive engine.

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