My butt-time in a Bullitt

[martinjlm]

My company has a Bullitt in the press fleet this week, so I had the opportunity to spend some quality time in the driver’s seat. First, you need to know that I am VERY partial to “special edition” models. I’ve owned two Mustang Indy Pace Cars and currently own a Camaro Fifty Convertible. I get the whole limited edition / special edition thing.

It’s been a while since I’ve driven a base S550 GT, so hard for me to compare the two. I found the Bullitt to have a much more comfortable ride than my car. Launching the Bullitt was a little more frustrating than I thought it should be, mainly due to the clutch. Even though my car is an 8AT (by choice, not need) I do get more than my share of time in MT cars, so I’m not gonna concede that this is a driver mod issue. The clutch “grab” was not gradual in this car. It was sort of “wait for it....wait for it....wait for it...BANG”. This is a press car, so no telling how many people have misused the clutch.

Once I got things moving, I found gears 1 - 4 to be really well matched. I keep saying I’m gonna look up the ratios for 5 and 6 (haven’t done it yet) because they both feel like overdrive. It got to the point where driving around town, I just didn’t come out of 4th. Fourth felt great. Fifth felt like “ok sonny, you just calm yourself down now”. Fine on the freeway, but felt too bogged down on boulevards with 50 mph speed limits, which of course means driving right around 58 - 62 mph.

Loved the exhaust. Great sound. We get a GT-350 in a couple weeks and I get two days with that, but until then, this is tied with a Mercedes AMG C53 I had last week for best exhaust sound. Not bad company.

Overall, pretty nice car. More of a looker / cruiser than a performance beast. The performance is in there, but you have to work to get at it and you have to forget how to count past four.

Sponsored

 

[shogun32]

did this model get the Shelby manual trans or the standard/crappy one?

 

[martinjlm]

did this model get the Shelby manual trans or the standard/crappy one?

It's the Mustang GT MT, not the GT350 6MT.

 

[martinjlm]

My company has a Bullitt in the press fleet this week, so I had the opportunity to spend some quality time in the driver’s seat. First, you need to know that I am VERY partial to “special edition” models. I’ve owned two Mustang Indy Pace Cars and currently own a Camaro Fifty Convertible. I get the whole limited edition / special edition thing.

It’s been a while since I’ve driven a base S550 GT, so hard for me to compare the two. I found the Bullitt to have a much more comfortable ride than my car. Launching the Bullitt was a little more frustrating than I thought it should be, mainly due to the clutch. Even though my car is an 8AT (by choice, not need) I do get more than my share of time in MT cars, so I’m not gonna concede that this is a driver mod issue. The clutch “grab” was not gradual in this car. It was sort of “wait for it....wait for it....wait for it...BANG”. This is a press car, so no telling how many people have misused the clutch.

Once I got things moving, I found gears 1 - 4 to be really well matched. I keep saying I’m gonna look up the ratios for 5 and 6 (haven’t done it yet) because they both feel like overdrive. It got to the point where driving around town, I just didn’t come out of 4th. Fourth felt great. Fifth felt like “ok sonny, you just calm yourself down now”. Fine on the freeway, but felt too bogged down on boulevards with 50 mph speed limits, which of course means driving right around 58 - 62 mph.

Loved the exhaust. Great sound. We get a GT-350 in a couple weeks and I get two days with that, but until then, this is tied with a Mercedes AMG C53 I had last week for best exhaust sound. Not bad company.

Overall, pretty nice car. More of a looker / cruiser than a performance beast. The performance is in there, but you have to work to get at it and you have to forget how to count past four.

did this model get the Shelby manual trans or the standard/crappy one?

Confirmed. They are overdrive. It's the same Getrag that is in the Mustang GT, not the GT350 Tremec

1. 3.237:1
2. 2.104:1
3. 1.422:1
4. 1.000:1
5. 0.814:1
6. 0.622:1

I guess being used to LT1 torque across the useable range I just wasn't prepared for the looser feel of the Coyote in overdrive. Fourth keeps it more in the powerband in suburban cruising situations that dominates a lot of my drive time. For those in the metro Detroit area, think Woodward, Telegraph, pick-a-Mile Rd.

 

[shogun32]

I spend a lot of time in 4 or 5 in the GT and only in cruise on the highway dip into 6. Same on the Camaro except the engine is comfortable in 5th in a much broader range of situations than the GT.

 

[Schwerin]

It really feels like for the 2018+ they based it on the 3650 from 03-04 GT/Mach1, swapped out 1st gear, added 0.1 to 2-4 then wedged a gear between 4 and 5 just to help MPG. Its probably why a 4.09 would fit so well with the new GT's like it did the Mach1.

This morning on the way in I was actually wondering if a 4.09 would actually save me MPG as it would give me just enough RPM to use 5th over 4th more often. So I'd be rolling around at 1500-1800 in 5th instead of about 1800-2200 in 4th.

 

[shogun32]

Its probably why a 4.09 would fit so well with the new GT's like it did the Mach1.

Yikes, the 3.73 is already too short IMO. If it wasn't such an undertaking I wouldn't hesitate to swap to 3.55. The Bullitt deserved a proper trans - the Tremec. Especially for the asking price. Only then would it actually deserve the moniker of 'special edition'. Another grand opportunity missed because GD accountants are making the decisions instead of the engineers.

 

[Bikeman315]

If the engineers were making the decisions all GT’s would have the Tremec. Don’t they all deserve the best? Besides as much as I love the Bullitt it is not a performance special edition like a Mach or Boss. The Tremec wouldn’t really make it any more special. It is also no more expensive than a fully loaded GT.

 

[Shibaman]

I liked the gears better in my 15 gt. Short gears to shift more and go fast. But all said...did ca hwy 36 a mo ago. 140 mi and 1900 corners. A beast of a road! I used 3rd gear for most....4 th a couple of times. Using 2nd got interesting. You can do 75 in 2nd......way too much power at the wheels. Over power the tires! The Bullitt is not a 1/4 car with the 6 spd man. 3rd gear on the curves is your friend. Just drive the damn car!

 

[Mikepol2]

It really feels like for the 2018+ they based it on the 3650 from 03-04 GT/Mach1, swapped out 1st gear, added 0.1 to 2-4 then wedged a gear between 4 and 5 just to help MPG. Its probably why a 4.09 would fit so well with the new GT's like it did the Mach1.

This morning on the way in I was actually wondering if a 4.09 would actually save me MPG as it would give me just enough RPM to use 5th over 4th more often. So I'd be rolling around at 1500-1800 in 5th instead of about 1800-2200 in 4th.

I LOVE the 4.09's. 4th gear in particular seems more peppy. I start out in 2nd gear probably half the time now, saves a shift. But I rarely drive on roads with speed limits above 50 mph. If you live in a hilly area, I wouldn't be surprised if you got better mileage with the 4.09's. I had a Silverado with 4.10's and got better mileage than the same truck with 3.73's, and Western PA is pretty hilly.

 

[CF-105]

I LOVE the 4.09's. 4th gear in particular seems more peppy. I start out in 2nd gear probably half the time now, saves a shift. But I rarely drive on roads with speed limits above 50 mph. If you live in a hilly area, I wouldn't be surprised if you got better mileage with the 4.09's. I had a Silverado with 4.10's and got better mileage than the same truck with 3.73's, and Western PA is pretty hilly.

Good to know. I remember being surprised when I saw that it came with 3.73s. Then I was shocked at how tall the gearing is anyhow. I've actually cruised around town some in first gear. Never been able to do that in a car before. And second gets me nicely over the speed limit.

 

[cib24]

From what I have seen on the Euro Bullitts the gearing is far too long but over here we are stuck with the Ford Trac-Lock 3.55 rear end. When I get mine delivered the very first thing I will be doing is buying a Torsen 3.73 and either ready-made 4.09s or the special order 4.30s. We have less wide open space on the roads over here so being able to really enjoy the car below 70mph is a must, and with the 3.55 rear end that doesn't seem feasible because it turns the car into too much of a cruiser by default.

Second suite of mods will be some IRS modifications and Ford Performance Magnetise handling pack.

 

[Zinc03svt]

Put a real Tremec in it with 4.09 gears, Toyo r888r 285/35/19 rears, and E85 tune, everyone would be lovin it big time. ;).

 

[cib24]

Put a real Tremec in it with 4.09 gears, Toyo r888r 285/35/19 rears, and E85 tune, everyone would be lovin it big time. ;).

The idea is okay but swapping transmissions seems expensive for little gain given the latest MT82 has a nice shift action. E85 doesn't exist here in the UK so the best alternative is 99 octane (94 equivalent in the USA) plus water injection. Toyo R888s are a nice tyre for track days but in the UK I would likely end up in a ditch given their lack of wet traction. I had AD08Rs on my RX-7 for a couple years and that was difficult to drive in any damp conditions if the tyres didn't have heat in them on the road.

Sponsored