GT owners...Is the A10 as bad as Roadshow says

[Sawyerjames]

Perhaps the tune is causing the quirks.......curious if you left it stock, you'd have the same issues. As far as maint on the BMW, I'm guessing the standard 8spd auto wouldn't be as pricey to maintain. Not like it has to go to a BMW dealer either. Plenty of independent German car shops here.

Everything it is currently doing, it did without the tune as well. I have only been tuned for 1,000 miles now. I will say the tune helped big time smoothing out some of the shifts as well as downshifts. BMW just got crazy expensive and i was paying thousands in maintenance and it just was a better route to get a new Mustang. In a perfect world if i had tons of cash i would have kept both

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[Nomadic]

Everything it is currently doing, it did without the tune as well. I have only been tuned for 1,000 miles now. I will say the tune helped big time smoothing out some of the shifts as well as downshifts. BMW just got crazy expensive and i was paying thousands in maintenance and it just was a better route to get a new Mustang. In a perfect world if i had tons of cash i would have kept both

Understood. Do you think owning a stock 230i would be a huge maint expense once out of warranty?

 

[Sawyerjames]

I

Understood. Do you think owning a stock 230i would be a huge maint expense once out of warranty?

I would love to be able to give you an honest answer, but I could not tell you. I can tell you that I did a lot to my BMW which had the N54 motor and had 43k on it and the only issue i ever had with the car was a cracked oil pan gasket that luckily got replaced under my extended warranty. We got my wifes' 2016 535i which has the new N55 twin scroll turbo design used with 20k and she now has right at 40k and we have not had one single issue with the car. They are solid cars the only issue is when something does break without a warranty it is going to cost you. The OEM parts are just so much more expensive than American vehicles. Another option (which I did) was pay monthly on an extended warranty. It can get a little expensive if you are making car payments as well, but it was always a good safety blanket, and a nice feeling before i modded the crap out of the car to only pay a $50.00 deductible for any issues. I was paying $173 a month for my warranty which was a little over $2,000 total. I would say get it, if you aren't planning any crazy mods and look into an extended warranty. Mine was 60,000 miles i believe, but i think they can extend it even further.

 

[Nomadic]

I

I would love to be able to give you an honest answer, but I could not tell you. I can tell you that I did a lot to my BMW which had the N54 motor and had 43k on it and the only issue i ever had with the car was a cracked oil pan gasket that luckily got replaced under my extended warranty. We got my wifes' 2016 535i which has the new N55 twin scroll turbo design used with 20k and she now has right at 40k and we have not had one single issue with the car. They are solid cars the only issue is when something does break without a warranty it is going to cost you. The OEM parts are just so much more expensive than American vehicles. Another option (which I did) was pay monthly on an extended warranty. It can get a little expensive if you are making car payments as well, but it was always a good safety blanket, and a nice feeling before i modded the crap out of the car to only pay a $50.00 deductible for any issues. I was paying $173 a month for my warranty which was a little over $2,000 total. I would say get it, if you aren't planning any crazy mods and look into an extended warranty. Mine was 60,000 miles i believe, but i think they can extend it even further.

stock warranty is 4yr/50K for basic and powertrain which isn't bad. I'd keep the car stock....so I doubt I'd spring for an extended warranty.

 

[Sawyerjames]

stock warranty is 4yr/50K for basic and powertrain which isn't bad. I'd keep the car stock....so I doubt I'd spring for an extended warranty.

You should be absolutely fine. Enjoy it as is, they are amazing machines. Even with all of the Steeda suspension mods in the world it is tough to compare to a BMW in ride quality and over all feel. If you are okay with the stock power which is enough for most people, and feels a lot faster than what numbers show, you will enjoy that car for the whole time you have it.

 

[Nomadic]

You should be absolutely fine. Enjoy it as is, they are amazing machines. Even with all of the Steeda suspension mods in the world it is tough to compare to a BMW in ride quality and over all feel. If you are okay with the stock power which is enough for most people, and feels a lot faster than what numbers show, you will enjoy that car for the whole time you have it.

Thanks, I'll test drive one. Found a low mileage used '18. I'd have to really like it a lot more than my TDI dsg Golf to trade though. I know it's much faster on paper (as is the Mustang) but the 235lbs/ft of torque on my Golf really shoves the car. As much as I tell myself it's not a fast car....it never feels slow either.

 

[Mountain376]

"I know that stick-shifts aren't for everyone, but 1. the Mustang GT's automatic transmission ($1,595) is an absolute buzzkill. No matter what driving mode you're in, and no matter if the gear lever is in Drive or Sport, the automatic is poorly matched to just about every driving style.

2. Around town, the shifts are jerky and poorly timed. On the freeway, it's constantly hunting for the right gear. In the canyons, it'll refuse to downshift before a turn but then hold gears too long when you're running at a steady speed. You can put the transmission in manual mode and operate it via the steering wheel-mounted paddles, but even then, there's a noticeable delay in shift time. This transmission trouble isn't just unique to my specific test car, either. Editor Jon Wong spent a month with a similarly spec'd Mustang GT in Detroit, and his only major complaint was that lousy 10-speed.

3. What's more, the 10-speed doesn't vastly improve fuel economy, either. The Mustang GT carries EPA ratings of 15 miles per gallon city, 25 mpg highway and 18 mpg combined with the six-speed manual, and despite having four extra forward gears, the automatic only improves the city and combined ratings by a single mpg each. During my week of testing with mixed driving, I saw observed fuel economy of just 17.5 mpg."

1. Congratulations, as I think you are possibly the only ones thinking this.
2. Most likely: transmission isn't adapted properly. Once this transmission has a chance to fill out it's adaptive tables, it is super smooth and non-intrusive. Coincidentally: the 10-speed transmission has 10 gears! It's going to shift, per the driving conditions, according to the drive mode strategy (economy-minded, sport-minded or performance-minded) up to 10 gears... Expecting a 10-speed to shift only 3 to 4 gears?
3. I don't think they get how the battle for fuel economy works.

 

[Sawyerjames]

"I know that stick-shifts aren't for everyone, but 1. the Mustang GT's automatic transmission ($1,595) is an absolute buzzkill. No matter what driving mode you're in, and no matter if the gear lever is in Drive or Sport, the automatic is poorly matched to just about every driving style.

2. Around town, the shifts are jerky and poorly timed. On the freeway, it's constantly hunting for the right gear. In the canyons, it'll refuse to downshift before a turn but then hold gears too long when you're running at a steady speed. You can put the transmission in manual mode and operate it via the steering wheel-mounted paddles, but even then, there's a noticeable delay in shift time. This transmission trouble isn't just unique to my specific test car, either. Editor Jon Wong spent a month with a similarly spec'd Mustang GT in Detroit, and his only major complaint was that lousy 10-speed.

3. What's more, the 10-speed doesn't vastly improve fuel economy, either. The Mustang GT carries EPA ratings of 15 miles per gallon city, 25 mpg highway and 18 mpg combined with the six-speed manual, and despite having four extra forward gears, the automatic only improves the city and combined ratings by a single mpg each. During my week of testing with mixed driving, I saw observed fuel economy of just 17.5 mpg."

1. Congratulations, as I think you are possibly the only ones thinking this.
2. Most likely: transmission isn't adapted properly. Once this transmission has a chance to fill out it's adaptive tables, it is super smooth and non-intrusive. Coincidentally: the 10-speed transmission has 10 gears! It's going to shift, per the driving conditions, according to the drive mode strategy (economy-minded, sport-minded or performance-minded) up to 10 gears... Expecting a 10-speed to shift only 3 to 4 gears?
3. I don't think they get how the battle for fuel economy works.

 

[Sawyerjames]

Great write up, and I completely agree with all of the above... I love everything about my 18 but was definitely let down with the transmission. The part I hate most is I think they could have done a lot better of a job if they were not trying to reach certain MPG efficiencies. I can probably vouch for a lot of people that we did not buy our N/A 5.0 to save on gas.

 

[Nomadic]

On my5 minute test drive on side streets and highway, I was nothing but impressed with the transmission. It took off and downshifted properly if I wanted to fly on backroads, was mellow on the highway unless I hit the gas, then I went from 80-100 in heartbeat. But it always felt smooth and power was on tap at anytime. This was with the 3.15s.
I assume the "lousyiness" makes itself noticeable later on.

 

[Zinc03svt]

I have almost 3400 miles in mine w/ 3.55 gear. Car drives great and always seems to find the perfect gear. Zero laziness and responsive. If I want more/hyper responsiveness I move it down to S.

Lol. I have been driving for over 30 years many different platforms and find this A10 very enjoyable. There must be some extremely sensitive or picky people buying new stangs...

 

[Sawyerjames]

On my5 minute test drive on side streets and highway, I was nothing but impressed with the transmission. It took off and downshifted properly if I wanted to fly on backroads, was mellow on the highway unless I hit the gas, then I went from 80-100 in heartbeat. But it always felt smooth and power was on tap at anytime. This was with the 3.15s.
I assume the "lousyiness" makes itself noticeable later on.

My case is not laziness what so ever. The power delivery and throttle response are on point and the shifts at wot and letting her eat are great (better than some dct’s I have owned). My issues are some of the quirks that I have never experienced with other autos. In the past 2 years I have owned an m3, 335is both dct, I own a 535i with 8 speed auto, and before my m3 I had a 2016 370z that was boosted and it was auto as well. None of these cars had near the quirks of this one. I love the car and the tune helps with the trans. I just have never owned a car that Revs itself to 4-4500 rpms while rolling through a parking lot, or wants to take off while breaking while the fluid warms up. I luckily have zero ticks or any engine issues that others mention so I will count my blessings, and still have no interest in taking it to the dealer with the minor trans complaints.

 

[Sawyerjames]

I have almost 3400 miles in mine w/ 3.55 gear. Car drives great and always seems to find the perfect gear. Zero laziness and responsive. If I want more/hyper responsiveness I move it down to S.

Lol. I have been driving for over 30 years many different platforms and find this A10 very enjoyable. There must be some extremely sensitive or picky people buying new stangs...

In your thirty years of driving experience have you had a vehicle rev on its own rolling through a parking lot to over 4K rpms?

 

[Nomadic]

In your thirty years of driving experience have you had a vehicle rev on its own rolling through a parking lot to over 4K rpms?

Yes, you mentioned that before and that is strange and doesn't sound like you're being "picky" at all. The only thing I have had similar to that is this: I bought a '93 Mustang GT (last yr of the fox body) around 2002. It had like 10K original miles on it. But it was a manual. I put a MAC catback on it and 3.55 gears. Those were the only mods. On random occasions when I would be slowing down in a low gear or even sitting at a stop light (in N), the rpms would surge on their own to like 4K rpms and then back down and then do it again. It would do it in succession to like it was having a heart attack. I think I had to rev the gas manually while clutched in or in N and it would settle down. I never knew what caused it and I didn't keep the car that long and sold it (not because of that issue).

 

[Sawyerjames]

Yes, you mentioned that before and that is strange and doesn't sound like you're being "picky" at all. The only thing I have had similar to that is this: I bought a '93 Mustang GT (last yr of the fox body) around 2002. It had like 10K original miles on it. But it was a manual. I put a MAC catback on it and 3.55 gears. Those were the only mods. On random occasions when I would be slowing down in a low gear or even sitting at a stop light (in N), the rpms would surge on their own to like 4K rpms and then back down and then do it again. It would do it in succession to like it was having a heart attack. I think I had to rev the gas manually while clutched in or in N and it would settle down. I never knew what caused it and I didn't keep the car that long and sold it (not because of that issue).

I’m glad you were able to share that. It could just be a similar surge to what yours had. Overall I love this car and I understand nothing is perfect and every auto I have owned has had some little quirks of its own. Nothing I’ve experienced in this car warrants a trip to the dealer and I’ve never thrown a code. Knock on wood, I have 6,000 miles on mine now with one oil change at 4,000 and I have zero tick or other engine noise. My N54 bmw motors’ injector tick makes this car seem like a mute.

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