A friend of mine works for Tasca Ford in Rhode Island (historically highly respected hi-po Ford dealership) They are the only the place to buy a Shelby Super Snake besides the Vegas shop. Anyways he is usually in the know with things in the Mustang community and he told me that Ford has green lighted putting the new shifter from the current Bullitt into all newly built 08-09' GTs. From what I have gathered it is a huge improvement over the 05-07 shifters.

I'm not sure if this is old news or not, but he is a very reliable source and was spot on with a lot of info with the GT500 before it came out. I figure i'd just give people some new news......

 

What's different about the Bullitt's shifter?

 

I must be in the minority as I have had 0 ISSUES with my shifter. Its smooth, can shift it with one finger, not notchy and haven't missed a shift.

 

It's my understanding there is no difference (except the shifter ball). However, apparently there was some type of upgrade for the '08 MY in general, including GT's. The BIG differences I notice between my '06 GT and my Bullitt are 1) Bullitt is very tight - no more slop between gears or notchiness 2) way less vibration. Much improved, for all '08 GT's.

 

idk.... is the shifter in the 05-07 perfect for power shifting? no. But as far as overall feel and driving around town, I always thought it was nice and short, firm, etc.

A friend of mine with an E46 M3 with an aftermarket shifter wanted to know what brand of shifter I had in my car. I told him Ford. He said, oh, ford racing?. I said no, ford ford, as in from the dealer when I bought the car. He was pretty surprised.

 

At first my shifter was very notchy and required a lot of effort to move around. I switched to Redline High Temp ATF and 5000 miles later, it shifts smoothly and I can move it around the gates with only 2 fingers. It's not a Getrag but it is still very crisp.

 

Noob questions:

1) What are the disadvantages, if any, of that fluid compared to the stock fluid? (any disadvantages, even trivial?)
2) When you specify "5000 miles later, it shifts smoothly," do you mean that it shifts better after 5000 miles have been driven, compared to when the fluid was fresh? Or do you mean that it "still" shifts smoothly "even after" driving 5000 miles?

 

The Redline High Temp ATF is the thickest Mercon-spec full synthetic ATF I could find at the time.
It took awhile for the shifter to smooth out and I am not sure if it was because of normal use or because of the new ATF, but after 5000 miles w/ the new ATF the shifter feels great.

 

Ok, you sold me. I'll be reading up on how to change the fluid and how much to buy this weekend.

Thanks.

 

Afterthought: Is this more or less viscous compared to stock fluid? Do you suppose there is any reason why we don't already have this in our cars? Increased wear? Anything?

 

Back to your original question (though I also have a special Redline fluid tranny mix - see sig) an issue of 5.0 Mag a couple of issues ago did make small mention of a production design change over to the Bullitt shifter, but did not mention any specifics. I kind of called out 05stangkc in an earlier Bullitt thread to do some research, but he didn't chime in.

 

krnpimpsta: The Redline High Temp is thicker (more viscous) than regular Mercon ATF. If you're not having any problems, I would recommend sticking with the factory fill.

 

I thought the stock shifter was pretty good myself. But I eventually installed the Tri-Axe anyway (probably because I had ordered it before the car arrived....). It was definitely a nice improvement over the stock shifter in feel, but it was definitely a step backwards in NHV.

About 6 months ago, I upgraded once more to the MGW shifter. There is not even a comparison. The MGW is SO much better than the Tri-Axe OR the stock shifter in every category.

The stock shifter is good. But there are definitely much better shifters out there.

 

Mgw - Ftw!

 

Only problems are the cold-3rd-gear-grind, very occasional getting locked out of 3rd when shifting at high rpms.. but if there's anything that can make my shifter glide into gear like the Acura RSX-S I test drove a year ago, then I want it in my car.

Does thicker fluid result in any negatives, such as increased wear or poor performance in certain temperature ranges?

 

I've read online and at least in one or more of the Mustang magazines that the shifters for the 08s are different and have less 'slop' than the stock 05-07 shifter.

 

"but if there's anything that can make my shifter glide into gear like the Acura RSX-S I test drove a year ago, then I want it in my car."

Honda/Acura have some of the BEST shifters ever. Even the one in my civic was a joy to work, tight and smooth and realatively short. Nicest stock stick shift I ever drove.

I test drove a stick 05 Mustang when I bought my automatic. I wanted the stick but in dec 04 they were hard to find and I didn't want silver which was the only stick on the lot. My impressions were it was decent, better than I had expected. But it was only a test drive so don't have to live with it on a daily basis.

 

All I know is that I can power shift like a god on my stock shifter, People I race always ask if I have an auto. Always fun to see the look on their face after telling them it's a stick!

 

Ive had the opportunity to drive a Bullitt several times and the shifter feels the same as my 08 GT/CS.

Rob

 

It should because it should be the same - should be the same shifter in all 08 models