If you do it yourself, you will need a tuner. If you have it done by Ford, they can make that adjustment very easily, and should not be charging extra for it.

 

How else can I get more low-end torque?

Maybe it's the super smooth ride of the 2011, but below 4000 RPM just feels kinda "eh". Once it hits 4k+ rpm it's like Hooooooooooly crap.

But by the time I hit 4k rpm I'm already at the next stop light.

 

I think this may be why your mpg is at 12 if I remember in another thread. You must have a ton of stop and go in your daily commute. Its not so much the car wont do better but your conditions are just severe compared to most other drivers. I can relate though because I have to go through about 9 stop lights in 6 miles each day. You catch every one of them no matter what and it kills mpg no matter what you are driving. Take that baby on a road trip and it will be a ton better. I dont think there is anything is wrong with your car at all but it just the conditions you have to operate under. By the way, you have a very nice car.

As for the power issue, I think you may be happier with 3.55 or 3.73 gears. They multiply torque quicker and that may give you a better feel below 4K. Personally, I feel 3.55 gears are the perfect ratio overall for this car but you may want to go to 3.73. You seem to be getting greedy wanting more and more power. I understand and I have been there. I am a old man now and speed is not everything like it used to be. These cars are fast period and fast enough for me. I still enjoy my lowly 305 hp Mach 1. Its probably one of three left in the country that is stock down to the paper air filter. I just love the torque and I dont have to drive it hard to enjoy it although it begs you to put the hammer down. And, its very very hard for me as a older fart to keep my foot out of it. I mean real hard. I try but still find myself acting like a teenager at times.

I think a set of 3.73 gears would make a world of difference to you. Good luck and keep us posted on what you do.

Find a good independent shop to put the gears in. Your quote of 1300 is just a total rip off. Tell them to put down the crack pipe. And people wonder why I hate stealerships for doing work. I would not take a so called authorized stealership a good running briggs and stratton lawnmower in for a tune up. WhY? Because I feel they are mostly incompetent and second they try to rob you without a gun. My indy guy is a Chevy man at heart and owns a C5 Corvette but he knows I am **** about my Mustang and he understands why. He is half the price and in my opinion has twice the knowledge of the stealership. He is on top of his game. I mean no disrespect to you guys who work for Ford but if its not under warranty I would not take anything to them. They scare me with incompetence and high prices. Sorry for the rant but I needed to let that out.

 

Amen! My dealer gets the occasional oil change job (when I can get in) and warranty work. Nothing more. They wanted $450 to do my F150 rear brakes (including rotors, pads, and labor.) I did it for $170. Sorry, but they're not adding $280+ in value (plus shop fees, taxes, etc.) to the process. Joker should find a speed shop that does this kind of thing every day.

 

Tunes aren't available for the 5.0 yet, right?

 

Of course they are. Several owners have posted dyno results of their 5.0's with a tune. Shaun has been beating the hell out of his with a tune.

Perhaps you mean "The Best of The Bangles" when you say tunes aren't available?

 

Hm. Know any good nova speed shops that can install rear gears for cheap?

 

No personal experience with any of them although I think there's one in Lorton near the gas terminal. No idea if they're cheap.

http://www.springfieldmotorsport.com

These guys are in Chantilly:
http://www.eb3motorsports.com/highperf.htm

And Woodbridge has AA Custom Speed
http://www.aaspeed.com/

 

Does anyone know if speed is calculated using gear/transmission or the computer? Service guy asked me that when I asked him about speedometer recalibration.

 

It's in the transmission.

 

So it wouldn't require a tune? One guy I talked to said that it would require a tune to recal the speedo, which would run me another 800....

 

No tune necessary. Handheld tuner, yes. Or as suggested Ford should be able to recalibrate the computer for you, but I doubt they would do it if you have the gears installed else where. I'd start with a CAI/tuner combo first. Then you can swallow the cost of that mod and see if that wakes up the engine enough for you. If you want more, add the gears later and you'll already have the tuner, so you'll trick yourself into thinking the gears don't cost as much down the road...

 

IIRC the VSS (Vehicle speed sensor) is in the transmission, the ECU (Engine control unit) takes the pulserate from the sensor, multiplies it by the appropriate gear ratio to calculate the vehicle speed then sends a signal to the stepper motor in your speedometer to display the correct speed. When you change the gear ratio of your rear axle you need to use a tuning tool to change the ECU's "parameter" for the new ratio to send the correct signal to the speedometer.

In the "old days" (ie when I was young lol) there used to be a cable that ran from the output shaft of your transmission to the speedometer itself. The cable spun inside the sleeve, driven by a gear in the transmission, which at the speedometer spun a slip drive that moved the needle to the correct speed. When you changed the rear ale ratio, you would buy a replacement drive gear that would appropriately speed up or slow down the rate at which the cable spun. In Fords specifically, the gears were made of different colour plastic representing different gear pitches.

Just as a side note, that once past the tranny tailstock in any RWD car the gear ratio is fixed (unless you had a 2-speed rear axle in a truck). So it would be very very rare that a speed reading would be taken at the rear axle, since the tailstock is right below the driver instead of the back of the car.

Using the ECU to calibrate the speedometer makes things simpler for auto manufacturers to offer multiple gear ratios and tire sizes, because now you only have to change a parameter in the computer rather than design and manufacture a new speedo drive gear for every combination.

 

One speed shop called me back and said they didn't have the tech to tune the 2011 speedos.

 

God there must be some retarded speed shops around there. All you freaken need is a handheld tuner. Get the SCT/Steeda CAI/tuner package and install that first. If you still want gears, you have them installed and then you change the gear ratio through the handheld tuner, plugged into your OBDII port. Not rocket science here!

 

This is DC. The opportunity to speed doesn't happen often. Which makes owning the V8 that much funnier. LMAO!

 

Haha I hear ya. Over here in the Bay Area it's the same. Which is why I would have been perfectly happy with a 2010 GT optioned the way I wanted. Wasn't in the cards. The V8 noise is that important to me though. And me being somewhat inexperienced at driving stick, the 3.73s actually made the car easier to drive for me because it effortlessly drove away from a stop without using the gas pedal. With the 3.31s I was much more jerky on takeoff from a dead stop. I couldn't care less about mpg because my current V6 gets about the same as the new GT...

 

Lord I wish I checked the 3.73 box...I can't get a straight answer on install prices nor speedo calibrations.

Plus a tech guy told me Ford Racing now has their gear made in another country and they've been having a TON of problems with them compared to the old ones made in italy...

 

You mean China ! Noticed that quite a few parts from our Mustangs are made in China ( what isn't made there besides Quebec pure maple sirup !!!! ). The wheels are made in China, the Brembo ones anyway, the tranny is also made there and God knows what else. Oh well.
Joker, i have a used set of 3.73's hanging around in my garage somewhere from my previous '91 pushrod 5.0. You think that could help you in any way.

 

Wish we could get the bulletproof Ford 9" rear axles on our cars now.