[John9412]

I have been reading your forum off and on for awhile and finally decided to jump in with my first post. Actually, it’s a couple of questions.

I continue to thoroughly enjoy my 2005 GT with its manual transmission and only have rare utterances of frustration when the transmission hangs up in routine shifting (the dealer could not identify a problem and the problem is much less frequent now with usage). My son liked the car so much that he just got himself a 2007 GT model and added a couple of Ford performance kits. The one thing I particularly noticed in the '07 is that his transmission (being new) shifts noticeably cleaner than the ’05 (with 17K miles) and his clutch pedal requires less pressure to operate. The local Ford dealer says the shifter was upgraded but has been unable to determine what was actually changed. Does anyone know?

I have also been curious about the gear ratios in the Tremec 5-speed box. Does anyone know what they are and how do they compare with the ratios of the 5-speed automatic?

Thanks in advance for any help that you can provide.

[don_w]

Here you go... (these were for the '05 models at least)

GT Five-speed manual (Tremec 3650) Gear ratios:
1st: 3.38
2nd: 2.00
3rd: 1.32
4th: 1.00
5th: 0.675

GT & V6 Five-speed automatic (5R55S) Gear ratios:
1st: 3.22
2nd: 2.29
3rd: 1.54
4th: 1.00
5th: 0.71

V6 Five-speed manual (Tremec T-5) Gear ratios:
1st: 3.75
2nd: 2.19
3rd: 1.41
4th: 1.00
5th: 0.72

[stlwagon]

First off, welcome to AFM...

Your dealer is wrong. Nothing has changed in the 3 model years. Bottom line: the stock shifter in these cars is not very good. How they call it a short throw shifter I'll never know. It is well identified that it misses 3rd gear routinely. I could no longer stand it and slapped in a Hurst. Haven't missed a shift or ground the gears since. Plus it's 4 inches less from 1st to 2nd.

[John9412]

Thanks, Don, for the table of gear ratios. I remember a dealer telling me before I purchased my GT (from another dealer BTW) that the automatic had two overdrive gears. I doubted that statement then and your table just confirms it.

Thanks, stlwagon, for your thoughts on the shifter. I plan to go back and bug the rep' at the Ford parts counter. In the interim, I'll be thinking about a Hurst unit. I am more suspicious now that my '05 shifter unit was defective from the beginning but could never convince the dealer. It's frustrating that a car owner has to wait for something to actually break before the dealer agrees to a warranty repair.

[stlwagon]

Originally Posted by John9412

Thanks, Don, for the table of gear ratios. I remember a dealer telling me before I purchased my GT (from another dealer BTW) that the automatic had two overdrive gears. I doubted that statement then and your table just confirms it.

Thanks, stlwagon, for your thoughts on the shifter. I plan to go back and bug the rep' at the Ford parts counter. In the interim, I'll be thinking about a Hurst unit. I am more suspicious now that my '05 shifter unit was defective from the beginning but could never convince the dealer. It's frustrating that a car owner has to wait for something to actually break before the dealer agrees to a warranty repair.

The bushings in the stocker are actually quite squishy. Mine really started to lose a lot of its touch after 15k miles. The Hurst with the poly bushings is much firmer, albeit a bit notchy, but I'd never go back. The install is actually quite easy for a do-it-yourselfer as the shifter attaches only to the body, not to the transmission.