Drove a GT Premium but clutch is a potential deal killer

[Strongbeard]

EB Auto ?! That seems like a case of the "Dystopic syndrom" ! In a couple months you"ll probably end up trading it in for a Manual GT ;) :lol:

(No offense Dystopic, but I HAD TO make this joke lol)

I won't beat around the bush, the GTs I test drove were amazing

I'm already eye-balling that Charger R/T scat pack as a potential "family car" replacement in the future. One of my good buddies has the base 2015 Charger R/T and honestly, it's a fantastic car to drive.

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[Stang16]

Anyone know if the ignition clutch sensor is a button that gets pressed when you push the pedal down or is it some other kind of sensor? Where is it located?

 

[WeinerDog]

I test drove a PP for about 10 minutes with the sales clown and the clutch had a VERY low/short engagement point. Drove a "regular" GT for a few hours at another dealer and the clutch was more user-friendly with a much higher EP. (I've been driving manuals for 30 years, I would not buy an auto).

Some of this may have been due to the fact that the second dealer let me drive the car on my own for hours. Guess who I ordered my car from? ;)

I wonder from this experience how much variance there is from car to car? Doesn't matter, really. That's one of the great things about manuals, you have to get to know and love them.
:love:

 

[Mike A.]

Finally got around to test driving the GT w/ PP yesterday. The sales guy let me take it by myself which was awesome. :cheers:

I thought the clutch felt great, fairly light and not too much travel. Maybe I didn't pay as much attention to the clutch because I was in awe of how great the shifter is! I know it's the same (possibly tweaked) MT-82 that was in my 2011 but holy crap..they sure have improved the feel!

 

[Keyser_Soze]

Clutch engagement isn't all the way to the floor even though the pedal travels all the way down. I would guess clutch engagement is somewhere 1/2 way down to a 1/3 way down the pedal travel...can someone else verify or chime in?

In any case if you don't remove the helper spring, clutching consistency is hard to achieve because of the non-linear feel caused by the spring.

Uh, to everyone saying a stopper could be used... don't you have to have your foot all the way to the floor to start the car / shift to reverse? I'd love to shorten the pedal travel as it's the same distance as my 02 V6 (a mile deep), but I had to be in the bottom 10% of the clutch to start the car. I would think this would still be the case.

Won't keep me from ordering, but if the bottom-position-sensor could be adjusted, that'd be worth north of $100 to me, personally.

 

[bluebeastsrt]

I drove a Manual GT yesterday. Non performance pack and I can see what all the complaining is about. Ton of travel. Weird engagement. Oh well mines a Automatic. But I do like to see if the magazine and forum complains are valid. This one seams to be.

 

[Genxer]

I drove two different 2015 MT Mustangs. The first one seemed to have a lot of pedal travel compared to the PP. I remember the salesman mentioning he has noticed some inconsistencies in pedal travel from car to car. That doesn't seem possible... Maybe we were imagining things. Is it possible that the PP has a different clutch setup? The travel doesn't bother me, rather remembering engagement point does.

 

[Tim Hilliard]

I have been obsessed with this car for that past month and I really want to order a GT PP. I visited the local dealer this weekend and drove a GT Premium without the PP cause that's all they had. I liked everything about the car except for the clutch. It feels like a clutch straight out of a truck and not one you would find on a sports car. There is way too much unnecessary pedal travel which combined with the high engagement point totally kills the joy of driving the car. I have been reading around and it seems like there is no adjustment that can be done since it's a hydraulic clutch. Anyone feel the same way and is there anything that can be done to shorten the pedal travel?

Don't buy the car, if I were you I would wait for the Camaro. You should also check out the FRS and the new Miata.

 

[Vile_the_Bastage]

I'm guessing removing the spring won't really affect pedal travel just the feel of the clutch, right? You mention that yours is nice and short so maybe there is variation from car to car. I'll try to drive another one to see if there is any difference cause that one felt pretty long. I'm 5'11" and I had to move the seat uncomfortably close to the wheel in order to fully press the pedal down.

I'm 5'8 and had no issues with the clutch with the spring in, and drive-ability only increased when I removed the spring. With the spring in, I couldn't really feel the friction zone of where the clutch engaged (which is actually pretty high; doesn't require a full pedal depress). I would have to spend five minutes recalibrating my left foot every time I hopped in the car.

Removing the spring made the clutch feel pretty similar to most other performance cars I've driven. I will say that the effort required to push the pedal down is a bit increased, but not by much.

At 5'11 you shouldn't have a problem in either configuration. I think I only ever mash the pedal completely down to start the car.

 

[MtnBiker]

Took out the spring about an hour ago. Clutch now feels like a clutch and not a compound bow. Clutch travel actually feels shorter (I know it isn't in fact shorter). Would love to talk to the engineer responsible and maybe do a little mocking.

 

[KilluminatiDre]

A clutch stop would make this car almost perfect.

 

[BmacIL]

Took out the spring about an hour ago. Clutch now feels like a clutch and not a compound bow. Clutch travel actually feels shorter (I know it isn't in fact shorter). Would love to talk to the engineer responsible and maybe do a little mocking.

I'm certain the engineer would prefer it without, or a much lighter spring, and had to use this one to achieve a target requirement. Those darn Europeans need super light clutches apparently.;)

 

[MSMStannyl]

Good stuff here. I've had countless manual cars in my life and never had issues. My 2015 GT is the first one where, 4 months in, I'm still not completely comfortable with it. It's been driving me crazy! I've never stalled the car but as others have said, it's so hard to tell the engagement point. Not just that but it almost feels like it changes sometimes although that's probably just in my head.

In any case, I'm definitely going to have to try this spring removal. Sounds like it's solved a lot of the issues for everyone.

I agree that pedal travel is pretty excessive although it hasn't really bothered me. As I believe someone else had mentioned, I remember reading in the manual that Ford insists the clutch be pushed all the way in during shifting.

Anyway, spring removal mod here I come!

P.S. - Does anyone else get the driveline "thunk" on occasion when either shifting into 1st or shifting between 1st and 2nd. It's not all the time but here and there I get this weird thunk/vibration through the driveline. Talked to a couple other 2015 GT (manual) owners who have confirmed the same thing. I guess it's normal. This is my first muscle car/American car/Ford so I wasn't sure.

 

[Lord Thunder]

Oddly enough I haven't heard any reviewer European or otherwise, complain about the clutch.

 

[madweazl]

I dont mind the pedal pressure but hate the narrow engagement window and how far out it engages.

And I get the "thunk" more times than not. More so than in my '12 but it doesnt particularly bug me.

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