Ive heard that ford has limited the new mustang’s top speed to 113 mph because if it goes any faster thedriveshaft will blow… I’m not interested in going that fast but ive been considering getting a mustang and it seems to me that that seems like a safety hazard. My reasoning being that if the driveshaft blows at that speed, could it blow at a normal speed but after a certain amount of use. ( a lot of use I guess). This may just be a rumor but I’ve heard it from multiple sources. Thoughts?
Sounds like BS to me. 113 is typically dictated by the tires, and is a common limit.
Checked test results, only the v6 is limited to 113 (tires), the v8 (GT) is ‘limited’ (if you want to call it that) to 146 mph (tires, again).
“if it goes any faster the driveshaft will blow.”
I would love to know the “authoritative” source for that information.
I hope the OP realizes that rumors and urban legends are most often grossly wrong.
So I guess if you want to go faster than 113 mph you’ll need to get the GT edition…
My reasoning being that if the driveshaft blows at that speed, could it blow at a normal speed but after a certain amount of use
Everything under stress can, and likely will, fail at some point. The harder you push it, the more likely it will fail sooner rather than later. Having experienced a number of driveline failures at high speed in drag racing I can tell you, it won’t matter much if it happens at 65 mph or 125 mph. At a minimum, you’re going to need a fresh pair of underwear. Either way, it’s probably going to be ugly.
Regardless, unless there is a significant design/materials flaw, that driveshaft isn’t going to be the limiting factor. It’s basically a balanced hollow tube with universal joints and splined shaft(s). They don’t “blow” but they can come apart although under normal use it would be very rare. I’ve witnessed people with a dangerous amount of knowledge making modifications and failing to account for increased pinion angle or suspension deflection under severe load that dropped an OEM length driveshaft on the pavement doing a power stand. That does a number on the undercarriage as well…not to mention their reputation.
If you’re risk averse you might want to consider something more docile…
The rotational speed of the driveshaft at a certain speed in MPH is determined by the rear end gear ratio and tire size. It is possible that the top speed is limited on some cars to avoid damage to the shaft and U-joints, but it’s pretty unlikely that the limit would be 113 MPH regardless of which final drive ratio is used in your car. It’s more likely for insurance reasons, or due to the speed rating of the tires that the car comes with. Or the chassis may not be deemed stable at speeds faster than this on the ‘non-performance’ version.
I’m not sure if this is true for the Mustang, but some rear drive, non high performance vehicles use aluminum driveshafts to save weight and improve fuel economy. Aluminum drive shafts tend to have harmonics where they will vibrate really bad and that limits their top speed. It may not “blow” but it might get really uncomfortable at higher speeds.
I believe that the V6 Camaro has an aluminum drive shaft but the V8 has a steel driveshaft for that reason. Maybe the same is true for the Mustang.
Actually that’s true. It’s common knowledge in the Mustange scene. On the 2011+ V6 Mustangs the stock driveshaft will vibrate immensly at speeds over 120 MPH and has a fair chance of a failing above 130 MPH. The Mustang V6 comes with either H (130 MPH) or Z (149+ MPH) stock. The Z rated tires come with the V6 Performance package.
FoDaddy- you got my curiosty up and I went looking for more detail. What a poor design! Here’s one excerpt that tells the story-
“In our opinion these cars were rushed to market with a harmonic vibration in the drive train. This is very obvious as the stock 2-piece 43lb anchor of a driveshaft that came installed in the car to help cure the problem. For those who are not aware, the rear of the factory shaft has a 9lb steel dampener inside of the tube (see picture) helping to make it so tremendously heavy.”
from this site- http://www.lethalperformance.com/dss-2011-mustang-gt-3-5-900hp-aluminum-driveshaft-automatic.html
It appears the OEM shaft is pretty solid up to the speed limiter but if you defeat it, the limitations of this kludge are revealed. Seems there are some solutions out there using one piece construction and beefed up joints…
TwinTurbo
What a poor design!
Yep, that sure enough sounds like the same hacks that sold me my new 1985 Escort. They sure found lots of ways to poorly design that POS.
I too drove an 85 Escort and lived. It wasn’t my fault; I just had good luck. While I owned that car I dreamed of owning something that wouldn’t wear out the hood hinges.