[myroush6]

Alright guys I have less then 2 weeks till my GT/CS is mine, however Im a little nervous as I have only driven a manual trans a few times in my life. I would rather not destroy my engine on the way home so I am asking for some advice about when is the best time to shift from gear to gear for this car, and how should I go about breaking In my mustang. And by the way for all you manual owners out there, how difficult is it to scratch your tires when shifting from 2nd to 3rd thanks again, your advice is appreciated.

[GTNorm]

Shifting becomes a natural thing with a little practice. Kinda like riding a bicycle ...once you get it it's yours. My suggestion is to go to every car lot in town and test drive some various manuals. Doesn't even have to be a GT try a v6 or even a VW . You'll get the hang of it but I'd practice on someone elses lol. When yours comes in you'll be ready. Good luck

[oldernewbie]

First off...Congrats on your new CS...you'll love that car.

There are RPM ranges for safe shifting, but being a noob at it I recommend you keeping your eyes on the road and not on the speedo or tach. As you gain more experience, you'll learn to shift just by the engine sound as it nears the RPM limit in each gear, but this may be limited by other traffic and posted speed limits. Find a big vacant parking lot somewhere and practice take-offs. As you get used to the sound of that v8, you'll know when its time to shift.

Save the tire barking for later.

[Coltdog]

Ditto GTNorm.... practice on somebody else's.

But don't worry, the car will have so much torque that releasing the clutch will be surprisingly easy and smooth. I wouldn't tach much more than 2500 - 3000 rpm's until you've got a good solid 500 miles on the car. Watch the tach the first time you drive it and listen to the sound of the motor at the 2200 -2500 RPM level to shift. Once your familiar with the sound by watching the tach, you can focus on driving and listening as opposed to watching the tach.

[myroush6]

Thanks, Yeah I have been practicing on my friends Ranger Quite a bit, shifting isnt so hard for me. Its that darn taking off from a dead start that kills me. And hell yeah I look forward to her.

[psycho bob]

it will be much easier with all the extra torque to take off from a stop. just let your clutch out very slowly and you shouldn't need to use the gas at all.

[GTNorm]

I predict within one week you'll be wanting to learn how to do burnouts

[HMUSN]

Originally Posted by myroush6 Thanks, Yeah I have been practicing on my friends Ranger Quite a bit, shifting isnt so hard for me. Its that darn taking off from a dead start that kills me. And hell yeah I look forward to her.

if you have trouble just start in first on a couple of "down hills" at first..

you know your good when you can hold the car still with just the clutch on a nice uphill at a light

[Luis_GT]

Learning the manual in the new Stang is pretty easy if you don't mind stalling it a few times... I knew nothing about how to drive a manual when I got mine... I could get it off the line on a flat place, but uphill was hell... I think I stalled my car more than 20 times trying to get it moving uphill in the first week till I got the hang of it... personally, I always use the brake when I'm on hills... My clutch leg starts hurting after a few moments when holding the car with the clutch and gas... I just depress the clutch til it engages then accelerate...

I always shifted below 3K RPM's for the first 1000 miles on my car... after that I just punch it whenever I want some fun... which is basically everytime I'm first on a stop light. hehe

[MustangMatt96GT]

Well the first time I ever drove a 5-speed was when I test drove my car. Then I bought her and drove her 100 miles home and I had no problem. It took me about 3 days to get the hang of it and now its just something that comes natural. In fact everytime I get into an Automatic I try and find the clutch pedal to press in when starting it!

[Luis_GT]

Originally Posted by MustangMatt96GT In fact everytime I get into an Automatic I try and find the clutch pedal to press in when starting it!

lol, That happens to me everytime I drive my old car...

[adam0421]

well. my question is how the hell u go 250 mph in an intrepid? and with only 280 horsepower? tell me ur joking

[oldernewbie]

Originally Posted by adam0421 well. my question is how the hell u go 250 mph in an intrepid? and with only 280 horsepower? tell me ur joking

Maybe with twin Turbinators?

[BWAL09]

Originally Posted by MustangMatt96GT Well the first time I ever drove a 5-speed was when I test drove my car. Then I bought her and drove her 100 miles home and I had no problem. It took me about 3 days to get the hang of it and now its just something that comes natural. In fact everytime I get into an Automatic I try and find the clutch pedal to press in when starting it!

LOL +1

dude, dont you hate when you drive an automatic and you are going down the road and you slam on the brakes thinking it was the clutch? or is it just me that does that.. lol

[myroush6]

Originally Posted by adam0421 well. my question is how the hell u go 250 mph in an intrepid? and with only 280 horsepower? tell me ur joking

Lol, I love my car its a good sleeper, but yeah guess I was tired that night. If i could do 250 in that thing, I dont think I would be buying a new mustang in 2 weeks .

[adam0421]

150 sounds a whole lot more reasonable. as far as learning to drive a manual. just go test drive one for the dealership during rush hour/stop and go traffic. u will get the hang of it real quick when u have a huge line of pissed off people behind u honking and flipping u the bird. best of luck to ya. hey what's that intrepid run in the 1/4?

[myroush6]

I dont know, never got a chance to test it, they have closed all the tracks around here sucks. If i drive a couple of hours I can go to gateway IL. But they only open the dragstrip up once a month. I live in the St Louis area.

[TheUNZippee!]

It just takes practice myroush. When you start off, just lightly feather the gas as soon as the clutch starts engaging. For normal driving, shift around 1500 rpm. The faster you want the car to go, the higher you take it up in the rpm band. You will probably wind up like most of us, which means driving around at higher rpm's listening to your car purr. Don't feel bad about this, it's not showing off, it's more like an addiction. lol
I find the key to smooth shfting with the Mustang, being that it seems to rev much more freely than the older muscle cars with manual trannies that I was used to, is to make sure you completely have your right foot off the throttle before starting the shift. Other than that, it's just timing, smoothness and practice. Once you feel confident driving her normally, you can gradually start being more aggressive with it.
Don't feel bad about making mistakes either, I drive tractor trailers for a living, for the last 20 years, and I still make the odd mistake. What's really funny is that in the big truck I have 15 gears, and reverse is in the truck is in the polar opposite position than it is in the Mustang, so I really have to watch that after a 3000 mile week in the truck. lol
Also in the truck, the big diesel automatically applies a bit of power when you engage the clutch from a standstill, meaning you don't have to use any throttle at all to get rolling, even on an uphill grade start. So once in a blue moon I find myself letting the clutch out when I first get in the Stang with no gas and stalling her out. That's always cool at the drive-thru. I'm usually like "Yeah, don't worry about it, this is my mommies car. Step off." lol

[Modern_Muscle]

Its not too hard, just easing off the clutch while you gently ease into the gas is the best thing to do, just do it in an equal manner, sometimes letting the clutch out a little quicker than you ease into the gas, and vis versa if you are on an incline. Truck sticks are different from Mustangs though, like some of the other people said, go to carlots and test drive a GT and a v6, and maybe some other cars, and get the feel...
Hope the CS is a blast.....

[myroush6]

Thanks, you guys are alot of help! 12 Days WooHoo