A friend of mine who is a very knowledgeable and frequent contributor to the automotive forums recently had the opportunity to rent a new 2011 Mustang GT with the 6-speed automatic. Read below for his fascinating findings and analysis:
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Well, I drove (the hell out of) my first 5.0 GT Mustang today. VERY enlightening. Here is what I learned - tips that anybody running mid 12's on up better heed!
CLIFFS NOTES: Race an auto 5.0 from a 25-30mph roll. Preferably 25mph in case he has the optional 3.73 gears. They have a nasty lag from WOT to pulling: 1 1/2 to 2 seconds from pedal slamming to shift nannies off and howling with full power. You want a legit race? Make him manually shift it and hold the gear. If you don't pull him below 70mph, you WILL NOT walk it down. Period. BE WARNED: all kinds of computer nanny interference means a tuned (de-nannied), CAI and catback auto is gonna be one helluva lot faster than a stock one.
Conditions: Victorville, California elevation 2900', temp 97 deg F.
Interior: I'm 6'5" and square: I had trouble fitting into it, even with seat all the way back my knees were only 2" from the dash. Head hit the roof until I lowered seat all the way down, and leaned it back a bit. <<>Driving initial impressions: Strong! Surprisingly reminds me of the LS1 Fbodies in the stiffness of suspension and surprising amount of tire noise that makes it into the cab. I like that, but most don't. Fairly stiff body for a pony car, but could definitely be stiffer. Car feels very short from inside: Having sat in a SS, Challenger, and Charger I would say the GT feels like about 5 to 8' shorter. No kidding.
Power: High revving powerband for sure. If you are a true veteran gearhead you can feel? sense? the VVT working. Still not near enough power below 4k though. Laggy throttle and slow downshifts are annoying to say the least- though expected in any modern car available to the ignorant, crappy driver mod public nowadays.
Transmission and gearing: The 6 speed automatic does a masterful job of hiding the deadspots. Seriously, I did launches from every 5mph incremental speed starting at zero and ending at 90mph. It acts like a virgin closing her legs to your advances at every possible location. Only one dead spot- and it's a doozy: 25-30mph. Not 20-30mph, not 25-31mph, but TWENTY FIVE TO THIRTY MPH. Massive dead spot that totally exposes the low torque engines bottom end lack of power.
This 5.0 is a rental, you know it doesn't have the track pack 3.73 gears. Drop 3-5mph for that probably. Any quick LSx 6spd or A4 will literally put 3-4 cars on an auto 5.0 mustang if you race him from that 25-30mph range.
Other than that? Well, there is one spot around 70mph where it drops down to "only" 4200rpms on the hit. That's it. Legs crossed tight, you are gonna have to take that cherry with brute force if you missed your "sweet spot" low roll starting point!
Dig? Does it surprisingly well: I was able to brake stall the converter up to 2100rpms. No shit, they must have a 2600rpm stall convertor from the factory- or a high STR 2400stall maybe? Due to that high stall, they pull just as hard from a 5mph punch as they do from a dig. Same with 10mph.
And at 20mph? Well, good luck. Pulls like a raped ape on steroids from 20mph. It's almost as hard pulling at 60mph, too: those two speeds you DO NOT want to race a 5.0 GT from!!!!!!
Nannies and torque management: They are on this car like white on rice. VERY VERY restrictive on both not going WOT when you want, to 2 second gear changes, to nannies everywhere that you cannot turn off that are keeping the engine from making power. I can EASILY see this car picking up 5 tenths with a tune and maybe another 5 tenths with a CAI, catback, and maybe tires.
Traction: mine hooked great, but it's 97 deg F outside and they were warm and the engine was down on power. The DA at a dragstrip with those conditions would require an oxygen mask!!! Bringing stall up to just before spinning the tires then dumping the gas barely let out a chirp. Just not enough torque, even with the factory high stall. --- and the high DA. Always keep that in mind while reading this post.
Top speed: honestly, it pulls better past 90mph than my GTO does. Speedo just swept on by 80, 90, 100, 110, and to 120 where I let up like it was on a dyno instead of in the middle of a desert at high noon. Very impressive for a Mustang...or most any other car not sporting 400+ real crank hp. You LS1 guys better have some breathing mods on your cars or these 5.0 'Stangs will "Supra" you.
Handling? Put the same tires on a SS and 5.0 and watch the SS walk away on any but maybe a very very tight track. Maybe the Mustang just needs bigger tires, but I think it's a geometry issue: either way bone stock it only gives the impression of being a great handling car- not the reality.
^^And yes, I can make that distinction whereas most other car guys can't. Ain't braggin, it's just the simple truth: I've spent a lot of time on road courses and in fast, modified cars. The 5.0 has the bones to be a great autocrosses, but not with that current suspension setup. And that damned yaw control nanny has to go! It kicks in at 90% of max lateral when it is just starting to get fun.
Conclusion: Do I think it's a stock 12 second car? Absolutely. Even with the annoying nannies, average drivers on average tracks should knock out 12.9-13.0 times with 2000' or lower DA. Tune, CAI, catback should be low to mid 12's.
Side note: I'm also pretty good at judging the airflow thru an engine. This 5.0 feels like it's fully capable of more power with just a cam change. Reminds me a lot of how I felt the first time I drove a LS1 Camaro- I immediately felt it needed a cam! Same here: expect cams to become a "gotta have" for the track crowd. Expect unported heads to pick up 40-50rwhp IF - and that's a big IF- the longblock can handle another 600rpms. If it can, well, ..... GM and Dodge better buy stock in Jenny Craig. Fast.
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Have a question about cars you would like answered? Want to know about performance, racing, modifying, shopping, makes, models, events, etc. Reach me here: AskRobAboutCars@gmail.com and I'll do my best to answer your question and publish it here on Examiner.com!
____________
Well, I drove (the hell out of) my first 5.0 GT Mustang today. VERY enlightening. Here is what I learned - tips that anybody running mid 12's on up better heed!
CLIFFS NOTES: Race an auto 5.0 from a 25-30mph roll. Preferably 25mph in case he has the optional 3.73 gears. They have a nasty lag from WOT to pulling: 1 1/2 to 2 seconds from pedal slamming to shift nannies off and howling with full power. You want a legit race? Make him manually shift it and hold the gear. If you don't pull him below 70mph, you WILL NOT walk it down. Period. BE WARNED: all kinds of computer nanny interference means a tuned (de-nannied), CAI and catback auto is gonna be one helluva lot faster than a stock one.
Conditions: Victorville, California elevation 2900', temp 97 deg F.
Interior: I'm 6'5" and square: I had trouble fitting into it, even with seat all the way back my knees were only 2" from the dash. Head hit the roof until I lowered seat all the way down, and leaned it back a bit. <<>Driving initial impressions: Strong! Surprisingly reminds me of the LS1 Fbodies in the stiffness of suspension and surprising amount of tire noise that makes it into the cab. I like that, but most don't. Fairly stiff body for a pony car, but could definitely be stiffer. Car feels very short from inside: Having sat in a SS, Challenger, and Charger I would say the GT feels like about 5 to 8' shorter. No kidding.
Power: High revving powerband for sure. If you are a true veteran gearhead you can feel? sense? the VVT working. Still not near enough power below 4k though. Laggy throttle and slow downshifts are annoying to say the least- though expected in any modern car available to the ignorant, crappy driver mod public nowadays.
Transmission and gearing: The 6 speed automatic does a masterful job of hiding the deadspots. Seriously, I did launches from every 5mph incremental speed starting at zero and ending at 90mph. It acts like a virgin closing her legs to your advances at every possible location. Only one dead spot- and it's a doozy: 25-30mph. Not 20-30mph, not 25-31mph, but TWENTY FIVE TO THIRTY MPH. Massive dead spot that totally exposes the low torque engines bottom end lack of power.
This 5.0 is a rental, you know it doesn't have the track pack 3.73 gears. Drop 3-5mph for that probably. Any quick LSx 6spd or A4 will literally put 3-4 cars on an auto 5.0 mustang if you race him from that 25-30mph range.
Other than that? Well, there is one spot around 70mph where it drops down to "only" 4200rpms on the hit. That's it. Legs crossed tight, you are gonna have to take that cherry with brute force if you missed your "sweet spot" low roll starting point!
Dig? Does it surprisingly well: I was able to brake stall the converter up to 2100rpms. No shit, they must have a 2600rpm stall convertor from the factory- or a high STR 2400stall maybe? Due to that high stall, they pull just as hard from a 5mph punch as they do from a dig. Same with 10mph.
And at 20mph? Well, good luck. Pulls like a raped ape on steroids from 20mph. It's almost as hard pulling at 60mph, too: those two speeds you DO NOT want to race a 5.0 GT from!!!!!!
Nannies and torque management: They are on this car like white on rice. VERY VERY restrictive on both not going WOT when you want, to 2 second gear changes, to nannies everywhere that you cannot turn off that are keeping the engine from making power. I can EASILY see this car picking up 5 tenths with a tune and maybe another 5 tenths with a CAI, catback, and maybe tires.
Traction: mine hooked great, but it's 97 deg F outside and they were warm and the engine was down on power. The DA at a dragstrip with those conditions would require an oxygen mask!!! Bringing stall up to just before spinning the tires then dumping the gas barely let out a chirp. Just not enough torque, even with the factory high stall. --- and the high DA. Always keep that in mind while reading this post.
Top speed: honestly, it pulls better past 90mph than my GTO does. Speedo just swept on by 80, 90, 100, 110, and to 120 where I let up like it was on a dyno instead of in the middle of a desert at high noon. Very impressive for a Mustang...or most any other car not sporting 400+ real crank hp. You LS1 guys better have some breathing mods on your cars or these 5.0 'Stangs will "Supra" you.
Handling? Put the same tires on a SS and 5.0 and watch the SS walk away on any but maybe a very very tight track. Maybe the Mustang just needs bigger tires, but I think it's a geometry issue: either way bone stock it only gives the impression of being a great handling car- not the reality.
^^And yes, I can make that distinction whereas most other car guys can't. Ain't braggin, it's just the simple truth: I've spent a lot of time on road courses and in fast, modified cars. The 5.0 has the bones to be a great autocrosses, but not with that current suspension setup. And that damned yaw control nanny has to go! It kicks in at 90% of max lateral when it is just starting to get fun.
Conclusion: Do I think it's a stock 12 second car? Absolutely. Even with the annoying nannies, average drivers on average tracks should knock out 12.9-13.0 times with 2000' or lower DA. Tune, CAI, catback should be low to mid 12's.
Side note: I'm also pretty good at judging the airflow thru an engine. This 5.0 feels like it's fully capable of more power with just a cam change. Reminds me a lot of how I felt the first time I drove a LS1 Camaro- I immediately felt it needed a cam! Same here: expect cams to become a "gotta have" for the track crowd. Expect unported heads to pick up 40-50rwhp IF - and that's a big IF- the longblock can handle another 600rpms. If it can, well, ..... GM and Dodge better buy stock in Jenny Craig. Fast.
_______
Have a question about cars you would like answered? Want to know about performance, racing, modifying, shopping, makes, models, events, etc. Reach me here: AskRobAboutCars@gmail.com and I'll do my best to answer your question and publish it here on Examiner.com!
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