OK, I have to admit this is going to sound stupid, but here's my question. I have an 06 Mustang GT 5sp, been driving manuals for 25 yrs. I've had a work vehicle for the last 2.5 yrs so I've not driven the Mustang that much (just turned 10k). Now I'm driving the Mustang daily due to working thinking I did not need a car. I noticed yesterday something that made me think I had an issue...

I'm driving down the road and I slow down, but I do not stop, I usually engage clutch and decide which gear I need to be in. This time I just left the clutch alone and left it in 2nd, well I did not stop, car just kept going, and going, and going. In other words, without resistance (brake or road - I live in Florida, no hills) the car kept going and would not stall out or stop. I thought that it would stall?? I always depress clutch when I slow down, down shift or not? I stopped by the car place, told my story and they looked at me like I was crazy. They said that you could go for miles without pressing gas, clutch, or break because it will always stay above 1k RPM, unless you met a hill or pressed brake etc., especially with the Mustang's HP. If I do press brake to stop, it will stall. Does this all sound right?

 

Yes, sounds perfectly normal to me. The the torque at "idle" will keep the car moving level without stalling, just as long as enough fuel is being sent by the computer.

 

Yep, on level ground, the engine idle will tickle you along even in 1st gear...it's slow, mind...
It's a game I play in traffic-jams, trying to regulate my speed just by using the gears and never touching the brake pedal if I can...

 

OK, thanks! I guess I've just developed habits driving that I really never thought about Maybe I should go to a racing driving school! Or maybe just driving school in general

 

As a matter of fact, if you step on the brake, the engine won't stall until you are almost completely stopped.

As a matter of fact, you could take off without depressing your throttle pedal at all if you feather your clutch...

 

For grins and giggles... See how fast you get the car up to from a stop w/o touching the gas and working your way through the gears without stalling it. A flat road helps I think mine got to 26mph w/o touching the gas.

 

I had to read that a couple of times to understand what you were saying lol.

With the amount of torque the car has thats normal for it to be able to creep along at idle without too much trouble on flat ground.

I remember an old comercial where they demonstrated the torque prowless of some truck, forget the brand, towing a big rig with the truck in gear at idle.

 

Thanks for all of the repsonses, and yes nyvolt is was hard to discribe. Now I feel better, but I felt like a real idiot going to the shop. At least I wasn't at the dealer DEMANDING they fix it!!! The whole thing was just kind of strange, I guess old habits can be broken..........

 

Funny story - I discovered last weekend that my wife has been 'turning off' my car by engaging the clutch in gear and stalling it out. This is the first car she's driven with a manual tranny - last winter I had a little trouble with the e-brake cable freezing, so I told her to leave the car in gear when she parks it. I guess I should have been more specific.

 

haha...dont let her do that...

 

I found that I can cruise in 3rd gear at idle on a flat road w/o stalling out.

 

the idle is completely normal, you'll have to make it stall out by basically stopping

 

Yes because as long as the engine can continue to run at a minimum of ~700 RPM, it won't stall.

 

Doesn't the engine make all these weird choking noise when you get that low?

 

Like everyone already mentioned, its normal to roll along without gas input. Yes you can start from a stop without touching the gas, and you can actually shift gears without the clutch if you synchronize the drivetrain.. but I wouldn't recommend practicing in your stang!

Just because a vehicle will continue to run at a low rpm does not mean that you should, too low and your oil pressure might not be properly lubricating the entire engine. Another thing to remember, the lowest possible RPM is not always the best for gas mileage.

 

Ah, but if you REALLY want to make clutchless shifts, you just need to get on a bike! Nothing like putting the right pressure on the shifter then blipping the throttle just the right amount to have bike shift to the next gear in about 1/10 of a second.

 

yup totally normal. its how i keep at 15 for one road on my way to work when i use the stang