Not quite comfortable yet....

[thewheelman]

I've got less than 900 miles on my GT 500 now and not entirely comfortable with it yet. It was raining here today and as I drove I wondered what, actually, does traction control do in a car with a limited slip rear end? Also, does your GT 500 come down to idle before the car actually stops moving.....as in pulling up to a light? I pull up to a traffic light or stop sign at 1100, 1200 rpm, it finally drops down to idle about the time the car rocks back on the springs from a full stop. My son's Jensen Healey, with twin strombergs, can easily be "blipped" between gears to produce an incredibly delicious "pop" as you change gears. But, in my experience, there is no way to do this with a FI car? How sweet a good blip would sound between gears in this baby......

[ingram4868]

The throttle is electronic and takes frequent driving for me to master. I've learned to blip the throttle but it is tricky and if the radio is on it becomes harder to judge.

[dragpack70]

I agree that it is too slow to come back to an idle, and the idle seems a little too fast and variable.

 

Also, if I shift fairly quickly, but not speed shift, the RPMs actually increase just as though I am still on the gas with the clutch pedal down, even though my foot is off the gas. Slowing the shift down more to granny speed causes the engine RPMs to drop during the shift, as it should. The throttle acting like this makes it hard to learn to drive smoothly.

 

If it were my old 70 Mach I, it would need the carburetor dashpot backed off. I'm sure that it's better for emissions purposes. And, I'm guessing that the supercharger having the intake pumped up might be causing the strange (to me) throttle action as the intake tracts would be pre-loaded with pressurized fuel misture with nowhere to go except into the cylinders.

 

Maybe that's why they say don't drive it in cold weather. If the road were icy, the rear tires would be spinning all the time at the wrong times.

[mciarochi]

The limited slip differential will transfer power to the opposite wheel when one spins up. In these differentials, it's accomplished with a clutch pack.

 

The traction control is tied into your ABS. When the computer sees a wheel spinning, it grabs it with the brake on that wheel. If you spin your tires much with T/C on, you can expect to burn up your rear brake pads along with the tires.

 

In snow or rain, the two systems will compliment each other.

 

I know that a controlled return to idle is an emissions function. If you just cut the air off, it increases emissions. As far a blipping the throttle, I thought this car does it pretty nicely. The engine spins up very quickly. I do it on the downshift, practicing heel-and-toe whenever I can. I've never quite figured out why people do that on upshift (Stevie did this in the Bullit chase scene). It seems you want that car in gear ASAP - why would you pause to rev the engine?

[mciarochi]

If it were my old 70 Mach I, it would need the carburetor dashpot backed off. I'm sure that it's better for emissions purposes.

That's exactly what the dashpot was for. Now it's programmed.

 

 

Maybe that's why they say don't drive it in cold weather. If the road were icy, the rear tires would be spinning all the time at the wrong times.

Who on earth says that? Probably the same guys who think the car melts when it gets wet. This car is actually very nice in snow. Once, facing a long drive in inclement weather, I left a rental car and took the Shelby because I felt the Shebly was a much safer car to drive, and I rather selfishly value my hide.

[dragpack70]

I've never quite figured out why people do that on upshift (Stevie did this in the Bullit chase scene).

 

He was double-clutching, which is a technique to synchronize the RPMs with the road speed and take the pressure off the transmission synchros (if it has any). The procedure is necessary with straight-cut, non-synchro transmissions.

[CRQuarto]

Reading this thread makes me realize I need to learn a lot...

[thewheelman]

Yes, when you watch the movie, Stevie was definitely double clutching. Totally unnecessary in today's car, but so totally cool! As a matter of fact, I was driving the GT 500 tonight listening to the soundtrack of Bullitt--it's dangerous to listen to the chase scene while behind the wheel! I learned the art of blipping between gears on my '59 MGA and carried it over to every carb equipped car I've owned. Even taught my sons to do so. The JH sounds incredible with a good crisp blip--guaranteed to turn heads. The Fiat is FI and not so easy to do, but much more so than my last Mustang (91 LX 5.0, 5 speed) and this car.

 

Ok, so I'm not so far off track as I thought.....thanks guys!

[6-Speed]

He was double-clutching, which is a technique to synchronize the RPMs with the road speed and take the pressure off the transmission synchros (if it has any). The procedure is necessary with straight-cut, non-synchro transmissions.

Recently I've been double-clutching when down-shifting from 5th to 4th to 3rd. If you do it right and blip the throttle just enough while in neutral the downshift/clutch release is soooo smooth. I know it's unnecessary with today's synchros, but it's a cool technique to learn and it's probably easier on the tranny.

[TurboGT]

I first learned to double clutch when I drove an American LaFrance fire engine in my previous life as a firefighter. This was an absolute necessity because anyone who has driven a heavy truck with non-power assisted old style air brakes knows that you cannot depend on the brakes alone to slow or stop from high speed more than once. That plus the fact that that fire truck tranny would grind mercilessly in every gear unless it was double clutched. Even though it's completely unnecessary in modern vehicles, after years of driving a manual tranny that way it's ingrained into my habits - plus it just sounds cool with an aftermarket exhaust!

[FiaCobra]

I didn't notice any delay in returning to idle but then again, i heel-toe downshift.

Car sounds awesome with the SLP's.