Mach1 owners with the Tremec: when do you shift to 6th gear....

[Skye]

In typical street driving, I rarely make it into 5th most drives. On the highway, I might go into 6th, once past 70+ mph / 110 kph. The Coyote likes to rev. The engine and the gears, it's often happier in a lower gear. And if you consider the top end is like 150 mph / 240 kph, 6th should only be worthwhile once you're really moving.

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[murick]

In typical street driving, I rarely make it into 5th most drives. On the highway, I might go into 6th, once past 70+ mph / 110 kph. The Coyote likes to rev. The engine and the gears, it's often happier in a lower gear. And if you consider the top end is like 150 mph / 240 kph, 6th should only be worthwhile once you're really moving.

While I agree that the 6th is definitely not a fun gear, it is not a speed gear either. I saw a vid on youtube with a guy driving Mach 1 with Tremec on German highway and reaching the top speed (which is interestingly higher with Tremec than with 10R80) in the 5th gear, and then, when he shifted to the sixth, the car started visibly slowing down. The 6th could not even sustain the high speed.

Found the vid:

 

[First Stang]

Interesting post. I try to use 6th whenever I can and let the engine sound dictate when as I drive. I aim for it in the highways when I’m coasting (55-60) with the understanding that I will need to double clutch to 4 should I need to speed up. “Bogging” is most noticeable in track exhaust so I tend to downshift to 5 sooner. Almost always, I go to 6th after a pull to 100 mph to keep the engine at rev as I slow down.

 

[JetGray_Mach1]

Interesting post. I try to use 6th whenever I can and let the engine sound dictate when as I drive. I aim for it in the highways when I’m coasting (55-60) with the understanding that I will need to double clutch to 4 should I need to speed up. “Bogging” is most noticeable in track exhaust so I tend to downshift to 5 sooner. Almost always, I go to 6th after a pull to 100 mph to keep the engine at rev as I slow down.

Do people still double clutch? I thought that was a thing for older transmissions with no synchros or if you have bad synchros LOL

 

[Crew4991]

Running laps in a GT, with the Tremec, I see the 3rd to 4rd gear gap as a potential issue.

All this technical stuff... shove that bad boy in 2nd gear and leave it there when on the highway.

Warning: ear plugs might be needed.

What could possibly go wrong?

 

[Torque123]

mine‘s older…you guys have me wondering if Mach 1 engine has a lot less torque than gen 1 coyote? Mine pulls better down low than you are describing. I can’t imagine downshifting for a hill at highway speeds…and I have 3.31 gears, you have 3.73.

 

[MachNroll]

What does the manual say?

6th gear with your Tremec is about the same gear ratio as 6th with my Getrag.
It's a teeny, tiny difference, and I'm going into 6th at about 50mph, like the manual says.
My RPM drops down to about 1500, and the engine doesn't seem the least bit bothered. It's not responsive at 1500rpm, but it's not bogging down, either.

The manual for a GT350 said to shift into 6th at 43rpm, so that's taking a higher-strung engine and shifting to less than 1500rpm.

EDIT: Now that I've downloaded the Mach 1 supplement in pdf form, it shows the same shift speeds as the GT350. I guess Ford decided that shift speeds depend on the transmission, not the engine.

Because it's too high, or because it's too low? It's a small fraction of the 7400rpm redline, and Ford was okay with you driving it at under 1500.


I guess the more things change, the more they stay the same, 'cause that was also a thought back in the Fox-body days.
From 4rd gear to 5th the ratios changed from 1.00 to about 0.63, for the sake of fuel economy. That was a big drop in RPM, with an engine that didn't make 200hp at the wheels.
I remember reading that it had been an issue for owners that liked to run laps. If they had a long enough straightaway to reach redline in 4th, shifting to 5th meant the RPM would drop off a cliff and the car might actually lose a couple of mph.
Ford admitted to that as they were explaining why the 1993 Cobra went from a 3.27 rear end to a 3.08: They addressed the problem by giving it a higher top speed in 4th gear.

Now, if you run laps in your Mach 1, you'll likely trip the governor about the time you'd redline in 5th, and that 6th gear drop is a non-issue.

Running laps in a GT, with the Tremec, I see the 3rd to 4rd gear gap as a potential issue.

Well, first, thanks to everyone for chiming-in. It is always nice to get input from folks who get these cars. As for my concern about rolling down the freeway in 5th gear at 2500 RPM, thought was that driving distances at this RPM might be an issue as it being too high for a sustained period. I did read the manual re shift points and was left scratching my head. Hence, reaching out for input.

Thanks again and happy Mustanging (I mean holidays)!

 

[JOKER M1]

I covered the 6 so I only have a 5 speed tremec

 

[spankybranch]

I only use 6th when I’m cruising on the highway, around 70mph, but with the gearing drop form 1.0 to .5 it never feels right even shifting into 6th at 150mph its awkward.

 

[GrabberBargeCaptain]

2600rpm being hard for a 470hp V8

What would OP do with my parent's Mercedes 240d, 67hp 3000lbs.

 

[TRDFurgesson]

Never on track. If my speed will keep the RPM's above 2k then I'll use 6th on the steet/highway no grade. If I come to a grade I ds to 5th.

 

[Charlemagne]

I could care less what the manual says about when to shift. True it wont hurt a thing but that is mainly for optimal Fuel consumption. If I cared about that I would have bought a ecoboost. I don't like car being underpowered like that, shifting at those points feels slow and gutless.

If you are driving at a constant speed, why do you need power? The engine runs fine at 1600 rpm. You downshift when you need the power. Shifting to 6th at 45-50 mph is totally fine. 10R80 upshifts around 2000 rpm in Sport mode at a steady speed, in normal mode it can drive at 1500 rpm just fine, touch the accelerator pedal a bit and it immediately downshifts. Any need to accelerate means immediate downshift from 6th (manual). As long as it doesn't happen every few seconds, I don't see why someone wouldn't upshift at 45-50 mph to 6th. Not talking about sporty drive, just the usual boring driving in basically a long convoy.

Sounds a bit like laziness to upshift and downshift frequently depending on the traffic and town/out of town speed limits
(for the record, I just bought 155 kW Mini Cooper S JCW 2006 with supercharger [so no turbo and constant torque] in manual yesterday so I'm Manual Man now again too)

 

[fast306stang]

I use 6th a lot even in town, but only if I'm at a steady speed. I will say I do have to downshift to 5th fairly often though.

The aggravating thing to me is the huge difference between 5th and 6th. The gearing should be closer, like on the MT82-D4

 

[Fury_Sauce]

6th only using it for high way cruise. The majority of time I make sure to jump between 3rd gear to 5th or 4th if below 70mph. I like rumble sound @ 3k and 4k rpm

 

[Prodigal]

Only time I use it is when I’m on the highway and above 75mph with no one else around. If there’s traffic I’m negotiating then I want to be able to accelerate quickly as needed to change lanes and close gaps. Even in 80-85 mph traffic I’ll stay in 5th typically.

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