I just bought, and took possession of my GT 5 speed last Friday and presently have a few questions, as this is only the second brand new car I've ever purchased and the first manual in a long time.

First, every time I drive the car in a "spirited" fashion and then park it, I smell a burning plastic or rubber smell near my car or in my garage. Is this normal for a new car when you are just enjoying the power??? Am i driving too spirited?

Second, I've not owned a manual in years, and my last manual was a 5 speed 1992 1._ liter Eclipse with 190,XXX miles on it and a blown tranny and clutch (both of which were blown when I bought the car, although I did not know it at the time). So anyway, my mustang's transmission and clutch seem to make a LOT of noise, at least to me and compared to the autos that I have been driving for the past few years (Chevy Malibu, Nissan Altima, Chevy Equinox).

Is the noise normal and just something I am not used to, or should I be concerned???

 

#1. The smell you are smelling is probably the paint on the engine block curing, or the rubber bushings on the exhaust mounts, or the cats heating up. My car has 40K miles on it and if I run it hard just before I put it away it still smells a little once in a while. Nothing to worry about.

#2. What kind of sounds are you talking about? Rattles, clanks, bangs? Or just road noise?

 

clanks, bangs, similar, etc.

Somethings I know are the clutch, as I only hear when I am working the clutch, but i just do not recallhearing sounds like this on my eclipse back in the day...

Could be that the tranny is just beefier and makes noise, I really do not know, which is why I am asking if mechanical sounding noises from the tranny are normal, as I have not owned a manual in some time and the last one was connected to a teeny little no power 4 banger...

 

The 4.6L and 3650 transmission are noisy, clicky beasts.

 

Some of the clanks and bangs are driveline lash. Your Eclipse was front wheel drive, and had basically no driveshaft, and no differential. The Mustang has a 2 piece driveshaft to the rear wheels, plus a rear gear differential. All of these parts have a small amount of play in them, and together you get a medium amount of play. Combine all these and the play in the driveline will clunk a bit when shifting sometimes.

To reduce the play, you could try a one piece driveshaft. Also an aftermarket tune will help with the shifting by making the throttle more predictable and easy to match gas/clutch/shifter.

 

I've also noticed if I bog down the tranny in first gear, i.e. below 800rpms, it makes a growling noise. Kinda strange.

 

I suspect this was normal, as I cannot believe that I've bungled the car with less than 200 miles on it either, but am looking for confirmation...

 

Motor block isn't painted!

 

Congrats on the new car. When are you going to post some pics?

Seems ours are pretty similar, both specs and sounds. I didn't really notice the smell, but the 5-speed is definitely on the "clunky" side, especially when driving at slower speeds (like in traffic) or in a parking lot. It sure seems to like high rev shifting - which sounds so nice with the GTAs.

My next mod will be a CAI and tune, to hopefully reduce the "sticking rev" problem between upshifts. You get that too?

 

Thanks. i wish I could say yes, but I don't even know what that means...

When I punch it, or get the revs up, while I am in neutral just before releasing the clutch, the shifts go fine and smooth, when I am trying not to punch it and stay on the conservative side I get a lot of noise and jerking, which is not conservative feeling...

 

And Davis, how do you like the GTAs??? I'm really considering them. I would like a little more rumble and deeper tone, but I do nto want to overwhelm everyone around me or my office when I pull up every morning.

 

When accelerating and I go to shift, as I press in the clutch, the RPMs do not drop as they should. If I shift fast, the shift will be kind of jerky.

I think it's a pollution thing - it's the most annoying thing to me about the car. I've kind of gotten used to it (I like the shifter itself) but I sure hope I can improve it.

 

I REALLY like the GTAs. Very subtle and not too different than stock at lower RPMs, but they come alive at about 3000 - especially at WOT. No drone at all.

I had rented a Hertz Shelby and liked the sound.

Did you wind up with the Fanblades? I think it was you who had posted trying to make a decision.

 

I found, that even for an expirienced stick driver that owns muscle cars, etc. It was a challange to learn to drive the car in a way to minimize clunks.

 

An aftermarket tune will make the revs drop normally instead of hang like they do. It's very annoying and a tune gets rid of it.

 

That's what I hear. Do you have a tune?

A CAI and tune will be my next mod - as soon as I see how I make out at the tax man!

 

Yea, when I first got the car, I started this thread...

http://forums.bradbarnett.net/showthread.php?t=62215

because I felt I was shifting so poorly.

I found this suggestion helpful...

 

That's called lugging the engine.

 

ah you beat me too it

 

That smell my friend, is the greatest, most intoxicating smell on the planet. It is a combination of whatever break in lube is in the engine along with various coatings getting burned off various metal and plastic parts. This smell is so wonderful that I ask ANYONE that I run into with a new car to open their hood with the engine running so I can smell it. Take deep breaths, breathe it in...

Enjoy it while it lasts, it really tapers off at around 600 miles and is pretty much gone at 1,000. I wish I could bottle that smell up.

Yeah, I'm . So what. Can I come smell your engine?