Auto or Manual for 2013 gt?

JJ427R

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Other way around...at least with regard to the 1/8 or 1/4.
I'm talking Road course. With my 2010 Roush the 5r55 will overheat and starts shifting itself into overdrive. My 2018 with the 10 speed trans will heat up and struggle to find a gear, then car will go into limp mode.
 

RavenGT

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Now, if the s197 had the manual transmission of the s550 there would be no debate. Sadly, the only way for that to happen is swapping transmissions.

They both use the Getrag MT82. And as the owner of an almost daily-driven manual 14 GT (purchased new), I can safely say go with the manual.
 

Jgt58

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They both use the Getrag MT82. And as the owner of an almost daily-driven manual 14 GT (purchased new), I can safely say go with the manual.
X2

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Anti

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I don't agree with your last statement. Find your launch point and put a two step in or some line locks and be a racer for God's sake.

You all need to learn to drive.... Quit letting your computer win races for you.[emoji849]

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There is a reason they have stick shift only classes.. I say manual for fun factor. I am not trying to be the fastest anyway. Manual till I die, but auto is faster in the upper ranks of drag racing, period.
 

Iceman62

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Sorry, but I'm "old skewl" and don't do the young whipper-snapper street racing scene. My theory's always been in line w/ the country tune..."If you're going to play in TX, gotta have a fiddle int he band" so...if you're going to drive a muscle car, got to have a "manual" tranny. :D
 

Sactown

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IMO for driving around town and making the driving experience more enjoy a manual is the way to go, based on experience if you're going to drag race an auto is the way to go.
 

Greg Hazlett

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Unless you are in a high traffic area and the the clutch in gets real old real fast...it's been a minute and I am sure the clutches have gotten easier but driving an 03 Cobra and going into a Naval base daily got real old.
 

JEWC_Motorsports

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MT-82 is weak and most everyone who wants to go fast in a straight line either swaps to a better manual or to an auto. A stock auto can handle more torque and shift faster, add a tune and it becomes lively. Add a converter and its even more fun.
 

OX1

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I picked auto and haven't given it a second thought trapping MPH in my sig.............. If I was going to run road courses, I would pick manual for fun, and would not have went TVS............
 

Norm Peterson

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No human alive can outshift a computer.
Truth and value are two separate things here. And even the truth part isn't absolute.

It's true that the computer will outshift all but a few exceptional humans on the basis of shift speed. Not true if you place any value on shifting in anticipation to an upcoming condition rather than shifting in reaction to being in/at that condition. Downshifts commanded by throttle pedal position are strictly on the 'reaction' side, because once downshifted you can't simply maintain speed or use the lower gear to modulate speed else it'll upshift. Pedal-commanded here, not the newer paddle-shift or +/- shifter gate stuff.

The value of 'quicker shifting' is wildly overblown as far as anything other than drag racing and its illegal/driven-in-Mexico cousin is concerned.

First time I read about automatics outshifting human drivers had to be over 50 years ago when some Popular Whatever magazine was reviewing police cars and basically rated it now having an automatic as "advantage 5-oh".


Norm
 

Olerodder

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I owned a 14 TrakPak with mod'd suspension, a tune and some GT500/Boss302 add ons. It had 3:73's and I really liked the car. I did some serious canyon carving on I-5 from Oregon to California and took some of the curves at 3 times the posted limit...I know, that was crazy even if I'm an ex SCCA racer.
I loved that car, and even driving in traffic was not bad.
I know own a PP1 2019 Mustang with A10, and some other add on stuff. For a straight line car and auto, if you like sub 12 second runs at over 115 mostly stock, it's fantastic, carving corners in Sport mod is, well, it's not perfect, and certainly not a car I'd take to the track.
It kills me that everyone wants as much HP as their wallets can afford, why...for bragging rights! I've had sub 10 second drag cars and that's great, on the strip I wouldn't be caught dead with a stick, an auto is more consistent than 99% of the human race. Build the car your way and spend ludicrous amount of money on a supercharger/blower/turbo, then put an auto in it and build that a different converter and with more money, then redo the rear suspension to handle the power...spend more money. Obviously you've got money to burn, so do what you want, and in the end there is always somebody faster than you...IMHO
Sorry for the ranting and raving, just don't understand why everyone is so hung up on HP, you can't use it on the street unless you're in a TV reality show!
 

Norm Peterson

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... I'm an ex SCCA racer.

It kills me that everyone wants as much HP as their wallets can afford, why...for bragging rights!

Sorry for the ranting and raving, just don't understand why everyone is so hung up on HP, you can't use it on the street unless you're in a TV reality show!
Exactly because you are an ex-SCCA racer. You are accustomed to having limits on allowed preparation, which generally implies some upper limit on engine output. Or in some cases, where "competition adjustments" dial the amount of power that you're allowed to make back a bit.

Drag racing is still mostly about big power, which isn't an attitude that lends itself to understanding class structures that effectively limit power.


Norm
 

Dougmore

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I am an old fart (and a noob on this forum. Hi all). I've always been a rabid manual guy. I drove a '69 Torino GT in high school with factory 4-on-the-floor. ...swapped out the crappy Ford shifter and linkage for a Mr. Gasket version (much like a Hurst). My Torino got wrecked so I bought a low-mile '69 Mach I with a trashed engine and an auto trans for $600 (those were the days). Towed it home, swapped in the engine and trans from the Torino and drove it until I sold it 4 years later (NEVER should have sold it!).

Later I had 2 Datsun 1200 coupes, one auto; one manual. Finally killed the engine on the manual version. Took the trans from the manual, put it in the auto car.

I have a 2014 GT now, purchased new, late in 2014 just before the '15's came out and '14 inventory was pretty depleted. I drove to a different state to buy it so I could get the stick shift (and Ruby Red paint).

What I'm trying to say is I've always been a little overboard about wanting manual transmissions.

I like the control I get with a manual, the fact that I can downshift and rev match to save wear and tear. I'm always in the gear I want to be in, when I want to be in it. The clutch pedal is nice and light (nothing like they were in '69), so it's not at all tiring.

That said, I've never had such a difficult time shifting a manual transmission smoothly -- until I got this '14. The drivetrain klunks something fierce and is nigh unto impossible to avoid. ...maybe too much backlash in the rear-end, but it was a new car fer Pete's sake! I have a terrible time trying to decide which gear to downshift to when I need to downshift. 6 is too many for my old man brain. I don't have any trouble upshifting at speed, but if I need to downshift in a hurry, I inevitably pick the wrong gear. Plus, the shifter is just mushy.

I did trash the 2-3 synchros in my '69 more than once. I also trashed same in a Corolla I had. ...trying to be gentler with the new car.

But...

I have a Gen 5 Stage 2 Whipple on order (and TSS OPGs). I am glad I can upgrade the clutch if needed or perform a simple trans swap to a more robust transmission. What would it cost to upgrade the auto? Probably a ton and there's the computer to worry about. (Perhaps I should be more concerned about the rods and pistons.)

Still, I dunno. I almost wish I had swallowed my pride and bought the auto. I'm not as young as I once was.

It just feels wrong to own one of these cars and saddle it with an automatic transmission -- even if you do get lower ET's with a (properly-prepped) auto.
 

RED09GT

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That is the dilema with the 2011-2014 mustang GT. You either need to drop 5k on a car you just bought to get a decent shifting manual transmission or you go auto and not worry about it until you are making more power than the stock shortblock can handle.
If you are getting it to road race or autocross and are staying near stock power wise, the MT82 will be okay, but not great due to its lousy shifting.

If you plan on doing a power adder and want a manual transmission, might as well save the 7k for the blower and the 5 k for the transmission and put it towards buying a GT500 instead.
 
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JEWC_Motorsports

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That is the dilema with the 2011-2014 mustang GT. You either need to drop 5k on a car you just bought to get a decent shifting manual transmission or you go auto and not worry about it until you are making more power than the stock shortblock can handle.
If you are getting it to road race or autocross and are staying near stock power wise, the MT82 will be okay, but not great due to its lousy shifting. If you plan on doing a power adder, might as well save the 7k for the blower and the 5 k for the transmission and put it towards buying a GT500 instead.


Most fast guys in GT500's auto swap their shit, lol. The 6r80 has a 442 ft lb stock rating, add in the stock converter 1.8 torque multiplier (442 x 1.8 = 795.6 ft lbs) and you have one of the best stock transmissions. Add in Exedy clutches, hardened input shaft, and a stall converter and it becomes pretty bulletproof for almost anything you could want on the street/strip, minus being a full blown race car. For that a 4r200 would do.
 

RED09GT

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Most fast guys in GT500's auto swap their shit, lol. The 6r80 has a 442 ft lb stock rating, add in the stock converter 1.8 torque multiplier (442 x 1.8 = 795.6 ft lbs) and you have one of the best stock transmissions. Add in Exedy clutches, hardened input shaft, and a stall converter and it becomes pretty bulletproof for almost anything you could want on the street/strip, minus being a full blown race car. For that a 4r200 would do.
Just edited my post as I did not make it too clear. If you absolutely need to have a manual transmission, might as well save your blower and transmission money and get a car that comes with them from the factory.
 

Olerodder

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Exactly because you are an ex-SCCA racer. You are accustomed to having limits on allowed preparation, which generally implies some upper limit on engine output. Or in some cases, where "competition adjustments" dial the amount of power that you're allowed to make back a bit.

Drag racing is still mostly about big power, which isn't an attitude that lends itself to understanding class structures that effectively limit power.


Norm
For me being an ex-SCCA racer, limits had nothing to do with anything except money. I had a drag car and wanted to experience road racing before I met my maker, and I didn't want to spend $30/40k for a high HP car, so I choose to spend $12k for a National Winner Spec Miata, or in SCCA racing we call it a "momentum" car. Personally I think this type of car teaches you how to really drive, rather than relying on HP to get you out of trouble. Obviously you haven't done much drag racing, because it's not about raw power, but having the car setup to make 1.30 60' times and take a 3200 pound car with 650hp motor at the crank and turn 9.80's in the 1/4 and 6 teens in the 1/8.
I just don't get having 1000hp on the street, to me it's just crazy, or maybe because I'm in my mid 70's I'm just being a little more realistic. My 19 Mustang will turn high 11's at over 115, just the way it came off the showroom floor.

IMG_E3888.JPG
 

JEWC_Motorsports

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High 11's is slow in today's world and yes having 1k hp on the street is fun.
 

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