I have lurked for a while, but after the Innovation Drive today I felt that I needed to let you guys in on what my brother and I thought of the 05 manual.

First, let me thank Amy for the great pics and comments she posted on her experience today. Thanks Amy!

My Drive: I drove the black GT that Amy had pics of. The lady that I drove with was way cool. She told me to pull out and get on the straight-away where I could "hammer it." I took her advice. Dead stop, rev'd up and dropped it. Unreal! This car has so much power from the get go. It stinked me back in the seat while rubber was gettin ripped. It was quick to 2nd where the tires then squaked again. I got her into 3rd before I started to run out of road. Downshifted that baby and she bit on the corner just great. Proceeded to the take her into the rest of the corners pretty tight and she just handled like a dream.

The first thing that struck me about the manual was the "stroke" of the shift. Very short and compact, unlike my 91 GT. I had read on this site that someone said it felt shorter than other stangs and boy were they right. I wish I had another lap in that baby cause the way it shifted caught me off-guard, but I really liked it!

I also concur with Amy about how the manula "sounds." I know you are working the throttle more in the manual, but it sounds meaner than the auto. Hey, they both sound nice, but the sound of the manual is a little more "in your face."

Overall, I give this car a 10! It exceeded my expectations in every way. I felt like I was in high school again and I plan on getting that feeling again whe I purchase one as soon as the verts are available.


My Brother's Drive: He drove the Yellow GT and man does that car look great! His drive was with one of the racers who was probably the "loosest" with the people. Just standing there watching, you could see that the Yellow 05 was always having the most fun, while the black 05 was a close second. I watched his drive and man, did he turn that car out! He is a racer himself so he can really drive with performance in mind. While watching, he made the car look much like the car in the commercial with the GT. He was cornering hard with that car and all you heard was rubber screaming! It was great. He totally loved the car. He also noticed the shorter stoke on the manual, but loved it. He also was really impressed with how the car cornered. I tend to believe him after the display I saw. He is sold on the car as well, but thinks he wants to spring for an SE when the are available.


Hope this helps some of you guys.


Brad,

Sorry abou the new thread for the manual drive. If you want to merge with Amy's thread, I will understand! Thanks for this site!

 

Ryanely, did you turn-off the traction control or did you notice it overly in your drive? Sounds like you had a blast! Thanks for the report.

 

I wonder why manual trans would be louder than auto? You would think the exhaust system is the same.

I way out here on the Left Out coast near Sacramento, CA and man am I jealous

 

I can't see why a manual would be louder than an auto either. I wonder if it is people's perception because manuals obviously rev more than autos. What I mean by that is that with an auto once you put it in gear you wouldn't ever rev it until you are wanting to move...obviously. With a manual it is just in it's nature to be revved, you start it up and rev it. You rev it a bit more to get it going. You stop at a light you rev it a little while you wait. I know that is how I drive maybe that's just me.

 

Could just be the RPM racing up faster is all...
slight difference in gear ratios...
Auto has 3.31s(I believe) the manual has the 3.55s

 

I didn't notice any difference in noise...other than the people that squawked 'em in 2nd gear with the manual...

 

too......much....infor...maTION!!!!!

wow, never had such a great time reading about other peoples rides

 

Manuals are "louder" because you are listening to it harder when you are responsible for shifting.

 

Tell me about the clutch with the hydraulic assist. How stiff is it?

 

Great review Ryan Good to know the yellow one was still working when I was done. No burnt clutch CLUTCH!!

There were a few other race people there that were driving them. This one customer of mine, her and her husband own the MotorSports Museum in Novi so she knows a lot of people on the racing curcuit and there was a lot of them there wanting a piece of those Mustangs.

This one lady.. completely forgot her name.. she's a race car driver and she hopped in the silver manual GT and GUNNED IT! and went sideways a little. What a rush!! I should've asked if I could sit in the back while she drove it.

A few AAI workers were there too beating it up

 

Great info Ryan. Thanks and Welcome to the site!

I am sooo jealous that you got to drive it.

 

Another lucky one,

definitely comment on the clutch feel... was it a lot lighter than current models?

 

Hydraulic assist definitely helped lighten the clutch over previous years.

 

Great observations. Thanks

 

It wasnt TOO light was it? I think i would preffer a light clutch with some stiffness.

 

thanks for the great review. i'm glad so many people have had a chance to drive the new 'stang.

 

Hey ryanely, What is your opinion on the interior? Did you like the Dash, IUP, and everything else?

 

The clutch had its own feel to say the least. When I tried to slop it around in neutral I thought it felt different than any other manual I have driven. It had a more "engineered" feel to it if you know what I mean. The short stroke, coupled with a smooth feel from gear to gear was great. It also had a tight feel to it...kinda like the stick knew where to go. I loved it! It felt like a high end sports car IMO.

 

I really did like the interior. The leather was great quality...the seats felt good, yet I wish the hugged your sides a little more, but oh well. The instrument cluster was really cool. Overall, I loved the interior. You are a bit rushed when you get in the car to drive it, so you don't get a chance to really scope things out too much. But, I have to say that it was very impressive. I also like the power point that they put above the stereo for a radar detector! No more cords running in-front of the radio! Great idea!

 

I thought all models of the GT were getting 3.55 gears?