How many of you with the 6 speed auto down shift to most stops?

[Dory]

I have aftermarket louder exhaust and I always pull the shifter to S and usually apply the paddles to downshift more aggressively than the default. I usually pull to 2nd gear once I’m below 45 and carefully brake and then pull to 1st after 25 mph in town approaching a red light to get all the snaps and crackles. I have never heard anyone else to this in any kind of vehicle, but I enjoy doing it. On the highway I barely use the brakes at all for red lights and just go down through the gears to make noise lol.

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[sk47]

Hello; Using brakes for slowing down is cheaper than using an automatic transmission is what i have been told.
Going into 2nd gear at 45 mph and first gear at 25 seems aggressive. I drive a manual and do not use the lower speeds that way.

to get all the snaps and crackles.

But it is your car and for you to decide if the repair potential is worth the crackle. I do get what you man by the sound however.

Good luck.

 

[CobaltFilly]

I have aftermarket louder exhaust and I always pull the shifter to S and usually apply the paddles to downshift more aggressively than the default. I usually pull to 2nd gear once I’m below 45 and carefully brake and then pull to 1st after 25 mph in town approaching a red light to get all the snaps and crackles. I have never heard anyone else to this in any kind of vehicle, but I enjoy doing it. On the highway I barely use the brakes at all for red lights and just go down through the gears to make noise lol.

I downshift all the time...but not that agressively. Your second and first gears will hate you.

Treat it like a manual...and don't downshift into first. Downshifting into 2nd is okay, but also not that high of a speed.

 

[Dory]

I downshift all the time...but not that agressively. Your second and first gears will hate you.

Treat it like a manual...and don't downshift into first. Downshifting into 2nd is okay, but also not that high of a speed.

NGL. Coming down off ramps to a red I go into 2nd at 50 mph. I have heard that as long as the computer allows the shift it’s safe. I’ve only been doing this for around 40,000 miles, but so far so good. I work from home so that mitigates some of the damage.

 

[CobaltFilly]

NGL. Coming down off ramps to a red I go into 2nd at 50 mph. I have heard that as long as the computer allows the shift it’s safe. I’ve only been doing this for around 40,000 miles, but so far so good. I work from home so that mitigates some of the damage.

What rpm does that bring you in at? I only downshift around or under 2.2k. Brings me up to 3k-3.3k max

 

[WildHorse]

Ahhhhh... auto boyz tryna be manual men.

 

[Dory]

Ahhhhh... auto boyz tryna be manual men.

Well over the last few years given my habits I think I might have “money shifted” at least 4 times if I was in a manual. A couple times I test drove 2018 and beyond and it’s just not possible to have a satisfying experience using the paddles in the 10 speed. If I buy again I may consider a 2017 in grabber blue. I will still consider the next gt500 model.

 

[sk47]

I have heard that as long as the computer allows the shift it’s safe. I’ve only been doing this for around 40,000 miles, but so far so good. I work from home so that mitigates some of the damage.

Hello; My take will be that what a program will allow is likely just short of overdoing things. I guess such safe guards are in a way better than what I grew up with, which was not safe guards at all.

I also suspect a flaw in the logic of as long as a computer program allows a move that the move is "safe". Gotta be adding excess stress and greater wear to clutches and other moving parts. Going into second at 50 mph seems extreme even if the box allows such. Remind me to never let you drive a car of mine. You have a 2015 so it is your dime.

Reinforces my notion to not buy used Mustangs.

Good luck

 

[KeyLime]

My brother-in-law owns a transmission overhaul shop. He recommends red line downshifts.

 

[luca1290]

Gotta be adding excess stress and greater wear to clutches and other moving parts. Going into second at 50 mph seems extreme even if the box allows such.

This. It's "safe" in the same way it's safe on a manual car, in the sense that you are not over revving the engine.
But for sure you are adding A LOT of wear on your clutch packs.

Just consider this: under normal operations downshifts happens at very low speeds and at idle load, while upshifts happens in a very similar, non traumatic way.

What you are doing is using your clutch packs to bring the engine to a very high rotational speed, which in turn develops a lot of resistance because of it's internal frictions that the clutch packs have to absorb in some way: you are using them, for a short time, as a brake.

This and all the stress on the drivetrain bushings, the engine itself. Probably it's not the only thing you are doing to abbreviate the life of the car. Well, it's yours...

 

[Dory]

This. It's "safe" in the same way it's safe on a manual car, in the sense that you are not over revving the engine.
But for sure you are adding A LOT of wear on your clutch packs.

Just consider this: under normal operations downshifts happens at very low speeds and at idle load, while upshifts happens in a very similar, non traumatic way.

What you are doing is using your clutch packs to bring the engine to a very high rotational speed, which in turn develops a lot of resistance because of it's internal frictions that the clutch packs have to absorb in some way: you are using them, for a short time, as a brake.

This and all the stress on the drivetrain bushings, the engine itself. Probably it's not the only thing you are doing to abbreviate the life of the car. Well, it's yours...

Not to beat a dead horse, but does the rev marching feature of the auto especially in sport mode compensate for any of this abuse?

 

[Qcman17]

Not to beat a dead horse, but does the rev marching feature of the auto especially in sport mode compensate for any of this abuse?

My 10 speed rev matches on downshifts a lot in Sport or Sport+ mode. I'm sure it wouldn't do it if it hurt the car. Its one of the things I love about this auto over any others I've ever driven.

 

[sk47]

Not to beat a dead horse, but does the rev marching feature of the auto especially in sport mode compensate for any of this abuse?

My 10 speed rev matches on downshifts a lot in Sport or Sport+ mode. I'm sure it wouldn't do it if it hurt the car. Its one of the things I love about this auto over any others I've ever driven.

Hello; rev-matching is a nice feature on any transmission be it manual or automatic. I figure rev-matching will reduce some of the impact and wear on parts. Such is the goal of old school levels of skill when shifting a manual. The earliest manuals I drove, especially the trucks, required a double clutch sort of action from the driver.

Later the Syncros in transmissions helped a lot in this regard. But syncros did not change every thing. I could still do wear and damage to parts by shifting down at too high of a speed for lower gears. Brand new truck with fresh syncros was buttery smooth on aggressive downshifts but i still had to try to do the rev-match myself. Found i was wearing the syncros a bit too fast. On a T-10 four speed in a 1963 Oldsmobile I discovered I could get a bit more life from the syncros by flipping them around when i had the trans apart. (Note- I had more time and energy than money at the time. I even welded a cradle to fit that trans as i had it out a number of times. Eventually got new parts)

So modern syncros with modern rev-matching are bound to help. I contend there will still be excess wear and stress on trans and maybe engine parts from too high speed downs shifts with the intent to have the trans and engine to do the job of slowing the car. The momentum (kinetic energy) of the car has to be basically turned into heat in a non EV car as it slows down. Brakes are designed to absorb and dissipate the heat, but I guess an engine and transmission will do the same job. Just that an engine and trans are so much more expensive to replace or repair.

But i and others do get the sweet sound of a V8 gurgling and popping under deceleration. It is your car and your dime. We all pay to play.

 

[Schuvwj]

I down shift most of the time using the paddles in “S” unless there is a cop around!!!

 

[luca1290]

Not to beat a dead horse, but does the rev marching feature of the auto especially in sport mode compensate for any of this abuse?

The auto does not have rev matching. You can feel the drag of the clutch packs when they close, especially at lower gears.

And rev matching does not compensate for the wear of the syncros in a manual car. It's there because it makes the learning curve for a lot of folks less steep.

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