say you were driving your SVT on a flat open straight highway, and you were driving between 65 and 75mph, which gear would you drop to if you wanted to accelerate as quickly as possible?

4th

3rd

2nd gear tops out at around 65

I'd hit 3rd. I dropped into 4th once and it lacked power, 3rd and I whooped. Live and learn, or ask. [thumb]

3rd gear - but be make sure to shift into 4th the redline approaches rather quickly when ur around the speeds of 75mph and 3rd gear tops out at 90mph .....I was driving to my friends place in charlotsville yesterday and they only had 1 lane roads and where passing was allowed i dropped it down into 3rd at around 70mph and get by the slow moving people with ease but when i dropped it down to 4th gear at 70mph it wasn't as fun as it is in 3rd gear. anyways enjoy

3rd for the best accel.....for best accel...keep the rev's above 5k.

ok thanks a bunch. [thumb] ill use 3rd next time.

Yep, 3rd is a great bet...especially up in the 6s and low 7s the pickup is the best, great to downshift to when at highway speeds and some guy just begs u to show off the proness of the SVT

I luv the cruisin @ 50 and downshift to second what a howl.

3rd?! Those of you who said 3rd, how often do you make that kind of a downshift? Just curious. For max acceleration, yes, but for transmission/drivetrain longevity, no. In everyday driving if I want acceleration on the freeway, I just hit fourth and that's enough. Frankly with the problems I've been having, I'd be afraid to hit 3rd, too scared my tranny might be in my rearview mirror as I looked back. [rolleyes]

Originally posted by SVT4ME
3rd?! Those of you who said 3rd, how often do you make that kind of a downshift? Just curious. For max acceleration, yes, but for transmission/drivetrain longevity, no. In everyday driving if I want acceleration on the freeway, I just hit fourth and that's enough. Frankly with the problems I've been having, I'd be afraid to hit 3rd, too scared my tranny might be in my rearview mirror as I looked back. [rolleyes]

Definitely. That's how you get your focus in the shop. If you're going 70 MPH and you shift it into 3rd, you're taking a chance to break something. I'd say stick to fourth.

why would you break something? you rev it up to the right rpm before letting the clutch out. that is in no way bad for the tranny.

I've heard that the Getrag tranny isn't exactly one of the stonger ones.

3rd, drive e'm like you stole e'm.

warrenty rocks on and ford love to fix trannies ...Not

^^^^^ lol. as long as u rev-match and not just let the RPMs drop then release the clutch, it wont put to much strain on the tranny and clutch. u should be alrite downshifting into 3rd at those speeds as long as u rev it up before dumping clutch. if u feel a big "JERK" after uve let out the clutch and began accelorating, that means you did it wrong. sure ur gonna feel the torqe, but if done right, itle be minimum and ull just have smoth accel. have fun :)

oh yes, i do rev match anytime i downshift to accelerate.

Originally posted by xgambit
oh yes, i do rev match anytime i downshift to accelerate.

3rd works well 4 me to get it moving the best

i downshift to 4th. your tranny will thank you in the long run

As quickly as possible? Third. Most of the time in that situation? Fourth.

I don't bother blipping the throttle to match revs - I just don't take my foot off the gas when doing the downshift - by the time I get it into the lower gear and the clutch re-engaged (pretty fast), the revs are matched. Try it - takes some will power to leave your foot on the gas while clutching and downshifting, but there's no real risk (we have a rev limiter) - it works great. As soon as the clutch is back in, just nail it - you're gone.

Most of the time, when I need to downshift for real acceleration, it's because some axxhole next to me is trying to block me from moving over so I can pass someone who hasn't quite woken up yet (I commute at 5 am). In such a case - where the axxhole doesn't realize he's about to get handed his axx by an econobox on steroids - I use third. I am normally quite proficient at matching revs, however, on one exceedingly embarassing (and heart-stopping) ocassion I matched revs like a true pro - then I hit first. Normally, it's difficult to do such a thing, but I suppose I was a little wound up and I managed to ham-fist that shifter right into the lowest - and most inappropriate - cog available. Actually, reverse would probably be the most inappropriate one...

Originally posted by biketcher
Actual, reverse would probably be the most inappropriate one...

Haha, my dad did that once in his old Escort (automatic transmission) that was a company car while on the freeway. He had it in neutral and when he went to put it back into drive, he accidentally put it into reverse (hey, I don't know either, he must have had his mind elsewhere)! He said the car revved like crazy, stopped like he had run into a brick wall, and the engine stalled. He started it back up, put it into drive, and drove on; the car ran great with no transmission problems for years after that.

Originally posted by biketcher
Most of the time, when I need to downshift for real acceleration, it's because some axxhole next to me is trying to block me from moving over so I can pass someone who hasn't quite woken up yet (I commute at 5 am). In such a case - where the axxhole doesn't realize he's about to get handed his axx by an econobox on steroids - I use third. I am normally quite proficient at matching revs, however, on one exceedingly embarassing (and heart-stopping) ocassion I matched revs like a true pro - then I hit first. Normally, it's difficult to do such a thing, but I suppose I was a little wound up and I managed to ham-fist that shifter right into the lowest - and most inappropriate - cog available. Actually, reverse would probably be the most inappropriate one...


^^^^^^ OUCH. my worst mistake was redlining third, shifting into4th, but missed and went into 2nd at about 80-85 mph. revs instantly hit 8k ( max on tach but im sure it went farther ). i thought my motor was gonna blow up. scared the Sh** outta me though

Originally posted by iRebound
i downshift to 4th. your tranny will thank you in the long run

[thumb]

3rd will get you about 92mph at redline

im usually dropping to 4th and ive used 3rd a couple of times now in this situation and its worked wonderfully.

i rev the engine up first before i drop the clutch and the car accelerates smoothly and quickly. thanks again guys.

I think some of you learned to drive from the same place you learned about reading comprehension. He asked about maximum acceleration, not longevity of the tranny. For max accelleration just shift to third. Dont waste your time revving up the engine before shifting, just ever so slightly let off the gas when pushing the clutch in and shifting, then when letting the clutch out after the shift floor the gas. You will be just fine. I drive like this daily and have had no problems. I also redline just about every shift when taking off. I have nevr beat the hell out of a car as bad as this one, and it just keeps performing.

3rd is a viable option, no need to hesitate with the rev match. Of course mine still hangs on RPM's so it's almost matched to begin with. I like fourth for moderate acceleration. Third or fourth should be both viable options, that's why we have a 6 speed. to keep the engine in the power range with closer ratios between gears. Just depends on how aggressive you want to be.

Originally posted by dingaling
I think some of you learned to drive from the same place you learned about reading comprehension. He asked about maximum acceleration, not longevity of the tranny.

Thanks for the compliment there, chief. I can read. Being that this is a public forum and each person gets to add their own input, I am allowed to bring up other points besides simply answering the question that was asked. Shift to 3rd gear from 70mph as much as you want, I don't care. But with seemingly *everything* on this car being weak or fragile I fail to see how beating the hell out of it is going to be good for it. I guess if you're only planning on having the car for a couple of years before passing it off to some poor unsuspecting dope who doesn't realize he's buying a thrashed car, beating on it is fine. But some of us plan on keeping the car longer and frankly I'm not interested in footing the bill for a rebuild of any major mechanical components any time soon. [thumb]

Wow, this thread definately expoeses the abuse most of you put on your cars, and then complain about blown clutches. Amazing. I knew I should have bought that BMW, I would be in a whole different demographic. Dont get me wrong, Im not raggin on anyone, I just find it amusing. Anyway, they are your cars, beat em up.

beh.. all you do is rev-match before the clutch comes out and you power into 3rd. Play around a bit to see what rpms you need to be at for a smooth downshift then stomp on her... this car was meant to be DRIVEN!

EDIT: doh, sorry kinda repeated some comments, didn't notice the 2nd page of posts [:)~]

Yes 3rd is the gear you want to hit, especially at 75mph, at the slower 65 you may get a slight boost out of going to 2nd but you will be shifting to 3rd right away anyhow. So 3rd is my answer.