I always attributed this to cold manual trans fluid. Gear oil is like molassis when it's cold. I used to own a 1960 Porsche and it had a very clunky tranny until the gear oil warmed up. I generally tend not to upshift until I'm over 2500 rpm or just stay in 2nd gear while in slow traffic -- rarely do I shift into 1st unless there is an incline and the tranny boggs. Makes it a lot smoother when you are in slow and go traffic.

 

I get that "clunk" too. I usually drive in a higher gear around town to get a little better fuel economy. Could that "clunk" cause damage after time?

 

I have similar experience to others here... no problem shifting smooth at higher rpms, but more difficult to get smooth shifts at lower rpms. This manual is still much easier to drive than and of the older generation Mustangs.

 

i test drove an 05 the other day and it was the best shifting tranny i've ...shifted, but then again i've only driven dump trucks and such.
man i love the notchiness of it!

 

check the fuel pump issue... I know that's what's causing mine to jerk like that... It used to be super smooth... and got worse over time.

TSB 06-9-9
http://bradbarnett.net/mustangs/gala...hesonaccel.pdf

It doesn't describe this as one of the symptoms... but I'm convinced that's what it is... If you think about it, what makes a newbie look like a newbie on a stick? not enough gas and too much clutch. ..... this is not my first stick, it's my 5th car with one, and my 2nd Mustang with one... I think I can handle it. Yet... I drive around lookin' like Captain Stupid 'cause I can't figure out the clutch. I find myself slipping the crap out of the clutch just to get it off the line like it used to.

 

I have my good days and my bad days, it's all dependent on how easily I slip the clutch, and how much throttle is applied from a stop.

Never had a problem downshifting w/ rev-matching.

 

The throttle feels quite insensitive so I have to really force my foot down to blip the throttle.

 

Sounds like the infamous "throttle lag." I haven't really noticed that. I sure did when I test drove an automatic about a year ago.

 

well, the tune is in

The mushy throttle feel that the car used to have it completely gone. I tried to get it to 'buck' or 'clunk' but couldn't for now. I really believe that it's because the rpms don't hang before falling like it did prior to the tune. Where I work I have to park in a parking garage and usually notice it there, primarily because I have to shift at a low speed and usually just chug through the garaage. I'll try again tomorrow.

If you haven't gotten a tune yet, get one ! Wow. No throttle lag at all. In fact I'm not used to how instantaneous the response is.

 

I do that sometimes too.

 

My X-cal 2 is gathering dust in a corner, and I have my custom made tune sitting in my HD but I'm waiting until the warranty is over before flashing the PCM. I learned my lesson with my daily driver.

 

Did you do a 91 tune?

 

yeah, 91 Race. Man night & day difference in the car. The other two I got are 87 Performance, 91 Performance. I have no idea what the differences are between the two 91 tunes. I'm looking forward to taking it out for a spin a little later on

 

I have what I'd say is the same issue, and it's probably due to the Throttle by wire.

What happens is that your "cruising" pedal location isn't at the same point as what you need to rev-match via double clutching. So, even if it seems like the same amount of gas pedal would be needed to blip the throttle, it instead requires much more foot.

I've finally gotten used to it. What you need to do is just mess around double clutching at ~3K rpm, to see how the car responds. Trust me...it seems like you will need to put your foot into it (as if it will just rev the heck out of it, but in fact it does a "normal" free rev)...although you probably already realized that.

I had the same issue when I had both my 2000 and my 2005. The cause of the issue is that the catch point on the 2000 is far up on the cltuch pedal (meaning it catches near the pedal being BARELY depressed), compared to the 2005, whose catch point in near the floor (almost fully depressed). The result is that it seems like you aren't using enough gas, or are using too much clutch, causing the car to stall.

It just takes some getting used to, especially if you have both the SN95 and S197 at the same time. Imagine me going from the 05 to the 00: I would be slipping the heck out of the clutch, thinking that it was already engaged, but it really wasn't. But, your foot quickly realizes where it SHOULD be for that car, and you adjust.

You need to change your "planned mods" part of your sig

 

i had never driven a standard shift in my LIFE before i bought mine. I had my bike for about a year so i had an idea of what needed to be done. i suprised myself when the drive home wasnt too bad. and i was stuck in bumper to bumper traffic the whole way home on 440 in jersey. my sifting isnt perfect but it still is pretty smooth. when driving to and from work in traffic (work in manhattan), shifting at low rpms can bit a bit tricy but for the most part its smooth sailin.

 

anyone else in here sometimes forget what gear they're in?
i do that sometimes!

 

The good news is that if you forget which gear you're in and try to downshift, it'll require a lot of effort if you try to force it. Rev matching or double-clutching is by far the fastest way to downshift unless you don't mind waiting for it to synchronize and whirr.

 

Yea, sometimes I'll be cruisin' along on the freeway and realize I'm in 4th when I should be in 5th. Of course, there are other times I'm in 5th, and shift down to 4th just to hear my GTAs!

 

See... I just don't think it's a matter of getting used to it, because for the first 6000 miles, it was very noticably different. My wife noticed a huge difference because she hadn't driven it for a while... where I had seen a gradual change. She remembered being impressed with how smooth everything was, and how responsive it used to be.. and then it changed.

I remember reading a thread somewhere in this forum that someone went in for the fuel pump issue, and it wound up taking care of the bucking problems too. I had that hunch before reading that, but it totally coroberated my theory. So.... I'll let you all know after I have the fuel pump replaced.... mind you, I have no tune, and don't plan on any until I add a blower... which is a ways out.

 

I've noticed that too, where you can't just downshift into a lower gear if you are going too fast (ie-when slowing down from 60 to about 25, and wanting to put it into the desired gear).

But, I let my dad drive it one day, and he decided to double clutch it into 2nd going about 65, and it shifted fine (NOTE: he got back on the clutch before letting the car over-rev)

So, I think it depends on if you double clutch or not.

Personally, I always double clutch when accelerating (which is the only time that it really needs to be done), and recommend that people learn how to do it. Not only will you accelerate MUCH faster, because the car doesn't have to "rev-up" under load (which slows you down), but it also puts less wear on your car.