You are used to the CRX, which can be redlined at every shift and happilly ask for more. Mustangs aren’t known for being able to do that.
You are also used to a low-torque, high-revving motor. Mustangs are the opposite. They have a nice amount of torque (which in english means acceleration at lower RPM’s), but they tend to die off at high RPM’s.
The solution is to shift at lower RPM’s. Play around with it until you find where the car wants to shift.
Sorry to say, MikeinNH, this is not a joke. My father told me to red-line it when shifting. However, I didn’t believe him, so I haven’t been red-lining it, but I was confused about what rpm was best to shift at in a 2005 Mustang. Anyway, all have been very helpful here. In fact, shifting has been pretty smooth over the past couple of days. Thanks for the thought though.
I’m guessing it’s smoother because you’re getting used to the car’s individual characteristics. Clutches “grab” differently, and it can take getting used to.
Even after 40 years of practice it can still take me a few minute sto get used to a different feeling clutch. Let your gut be your guide and you’ll do fine.
well yeah, i mean listen to him, but next time he tells you something about cars get a second opinion
i had been thinking exactly along these lines, but you beat me to the post.
it WOULD’VE BEEN OK to shift at redline with the CRX. not so with the mustang. (not often anyway)
i have two bikes: a kawasaki ninja 250 (redline @ 14,000 rpm) and a honda 750 magna (redline 9500 rpm).
the ninja has seen FAR MORE time between 50%-100% of redline operation. the magna, more often is run at just 25% - 75% of redline.
smaller engines generally TOLERATE near redline operation far more than larger engines. which rarely NEED to be way up there to begin with.
I am so glad to see that I am not the only one with this kind of question. My husband and I just bought a 2003 MazdaSpeed Protege with a 2.0L, 4 cylinder, with a turbocharger. It’s awesome! We have been having a disagreement about shifting though. He likes to drive it under 2000 rpms while I think it’s lugging out at that level. I like to keep it just above 2000 myself. While he shifts at about 2000 I shift at closer to 3000. He tells me that my shifting like that is the reason my last Protege blew up at 140,000 miles. Well, that doesn’t make any sense to me because I always heard that these smaller engines didn’t mind being revved up a bit and that it was actually worse for them to lug them out. Advice please.
In my experience, and personal opinion, what your husband is doing is OK as long as the RPMs don’t drop below 1000 in the new gear. It’s a little bit of a short shift, but not really bad. Shifting at 3000 you are almost certainly spooling up the turbo where your husband is probably not. He will get better fuel mileage and you will get better acceleration. Neither of you is doing anything harmful.
As a general rule I try to shift at around 2500 in normal, not in a hurry, driving around town. But, I’m not afraid to wind it up some to get moving to pass on a 2-lane road or to get out of the way or traffic or whatever.
Also remember…shifting to early…so early that you hear the engine laboring to get revving again…will hurt the engine as well. I’m not sure exactly what damage it does (anyone feel free to elaborate on this one) but a mechanic once told me that it caused overheating of the cylinder heads, and eventually valve damage from incomplete combustion???
In any case, early shifting is not good either. The owners manual might also provide some guideliones…no?
both you and Ranck are right.
the shift points Utahni mentions are OK, both hers’ and her husbands’. a 2.0 turbo 4 should have no problem pulling from 2000 rpm without lugging. (my NON-turbo 1.8 4 can do it, even from 1800 rpm on level ground; previous car, non turbo 2.0 ford focus could also. generally, with an autobox behind it, you CANNOT lug an engine.)
it is true, however, that too low revs can result in overheating and possible engine damage. and not having an automatic, you can stay be in too low a gear for the speed or load.
i once was a chase truck for a friend driving a Yamaha 650 to another city. he had not owned a bike before, and drove it like a car, keeping revs on the low side.
every time we hit a grade, it would overheat and stall out, until it cooled down a bit. (NO TEMP gage on most bikes; at least not on his older one.)
after i advised him that sub-liter engines (in cars AND bikes) MUST be kept in the upper part of the rev range when attacking HILLS, there were no more overheating problems.
I too taught my daughter how to drive…And I don’t ever remember her being that far off…EVER… I still think it’s a joke.