I've owned my Mustang for about 7 months now, and I've still got some
learning to do but I've pretty much figured out the torque band, rev
limiter and shifting. The Mustang has a Tremec TR-3650 5-speed
transmission which seems to be regarded as a decent, if not good modern
manual unit.
Although the Tremec has (presumably) better gear spacing
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tremec_TR-3650_transmission) and a much
shorter throw, I still sometimes get some grinding when shifting,
usually going into second. On occasion, I'll get a seamless shift in
the Mustang; however, in my BJ8 I never have any problem getting from
gear to gear (except going into first at a dead stop, but that' a
different story). Maybe it's because I've got 25 years' and 80K miles'
practice in the Healey, but the Healey gearbox holds its own once you've
gotten used to it (you certainly can't shift as fast, but the Tremec
requires some timing and pausing to hit the gear perfectly as well).
Granted, the Mustang isn't exactly the epitome of modern sports car
design, but it's no slouch and it's interesting how well the Healey
stacks up in overall driveability against the much more modern car (the
Mustang's 4.6L V-8 is a gem:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ward%27s_10_Best_Engines). Probably
because it has more than twice the HP, is only about 50% heavier than
the Healey and comes from the factory with sh*tty tires, the Mustang is
much more unpredictable in a corner. I believe the Healey has better
weight distribution, despite the lump in front of the firewall.
--
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Bob Spidell San Jose, CA bspidell@comcast.net
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