Interesting. Didn't know that. I had a new F150 5.4 with the 6AT a few weeks back and drove it for 5 days and 1500 miles. While the exterior/interior styling has remained largely unchanged, Ford did thier homework on the seats and driving dynamics of the truck. It's by far the best driving truck I've had, Titans coming in a close second. That 6AT does wonders for performance. It's geared well and is responsive. Neither could have been said for the prior gen truck. The seats are a HUGE improvement. Gone are the wide and unsupportive fat American seats and in are nicely bolstered and fairly narrow seats. Steering is the best I've felt in a truck. All it's missing is that new 6 liter motor or the Ecoboost TT6 both of which should be in the truck in a year.

 

I didn't know they were putting the Ecobust TT6 in a truck! Same one from the SHO?

 

the 2 AT Gs that I drove with VB upgrade both shifted faster and crisper than my AT.

 

Right now, the rumors are that the F-150 and the Mustang are going to get the 5.0L modular V8 with 400HP/400TQ for 2011....as a base model engine. The 6.2L could be a higher engine..who knows.


The Ecoboost TTV6 should be available late 2010 model year on the F150...same engine as the SHO and the MKS. The Mustang won't get Ecoboost though...which is stupid IMHO they are losing out on a whole market with a turbo stang. The rumored engine is their new 3.7L making 315HP N/A

 

Maybe different cars respond a little bit differently to VB. I thought VB is mainly used to prevent transmission slip (thus heat) when you go FI. Regardless, I think Gs (including G37s I had test driven) have one of the least responsive automatic transmission compared to, say, a 335 or A4. Just my two cents. I want to learn how I can improve my transmission's responsiveness too. What's the purpose of a bigger stall if someone can shed some light?

 

More torque multiplication (ie hard launch). A torque converter works like this. Visualize to fans facing each other. Turn one fan on and the other will start to spin. In theory, the fan that is off should come up to the same speed as the fan that is on. The stall speed is basically the speed at which the fan that's not on has matched the speed the turned on fan. This is basically how a torque converter works. Instead of air, it's fluid. Instead of fans, the coupling device between the spinning flywheel and the transmission. The higher stall speed means more rpm before the TC is fully engaged. It's basically like driving a manual and launching at a higher rpm. However, the initial torque multiplication of the converter is FAR greater than what you'll get out of a manual. We're 50% more torque multiplication. However, this initial hit in launch is not sustained very long (about 1 second or so). Add a higher stall TC and you could be looking at an additional 80% increase.

The downside to the higher stall TC is increased slippage and lagginess during most driving because the TC will be below the stall speed. This also increases tranny temp. The G already comes with a relatively high stall TC (~2800rpms full stall) however the tires will tend to break loose at 2400-2500rpms.

 

Funny you say this cause I find the stall on the G35 too low for the engine. One of my Grand Prix's ( the N/A one ) had a ~3000rpm stall and it made gobs more torque than a VQ at low rpms yet was very streetable ( and obviously launched much much harder ). I think a 3000-3200rpm converter would be much better suited for the G considering the weaker low end power and still maintain a somewhat responsive feel. I'm seriously thinking of doing this.

 

I agree, the car could use a little more stall. There is a clear surge in power at around 3000rpms which I believe is either the valve timing changing or the power nanny lessening her grip.

 

Has that been confirmed? The new 5.0 sounds badass and I really like the new revisions to the Stang. With the 5.0, I'd rather have the Stang over the Camaro and the Stang should have roughly the same acceleration as a the LS3 Camaro now too. The new V6 NA Stang should be a low low 14 second car now which is funny considering that's were the prior gen Stang GT was.

That's sad that the Ecoboost won't find it's way into the Stang because I was hoping we were going to see a "SVO" Stang with a lot of Euro flavor, just like the previous SVO turbo Stang. I guess Ford didn't want V6TT to crush the new 5.0. I'm sure you've heard that there is already new SHO with a tune running 12.8s@109mph. In a 1,000lb lighter car, that would mean the V6TT Stang would be going easy 12.0s@116+. Yikes. Sounds like fun.

 

I doubt it's the power nanny because the supercharged grand prix ( gtp ) has a slightly lower stall ( similar to the stall of the G35 and it also has somewhat lower compression ) than the N/A GP GT ( I've had both ) and when I took the supercharger off the GTP to turbocharge it...it was an utter DOG even when I put the N/A programming on it. The GT on the other hand would smoke it's tires with only a slight bump in compression and a higher stall ( about 500rpm higher ). Although the GT also has a better final drive...I guess it's a combination of all sorts of things.

I really believe a 500rpm bump in the stall of the G35 would make it a completely different beast off the line.

 

My 04 doesnt do that.

 

Doesn't do what???
Doesn't downshift in manumatic when you floor it, or doesn't stay in the gear you put it in?

 

Ope no downshifting whatsoever. Only in auto mode.

 

So yours is an 04 and doesn't downshift at WOT in manumatic. Do you know if it's a first half 04 or a second half? My guess is it's the 04.5.
Anyone got an 04 that DOES downshift under WOT in manumatic?

 

Not sure what exactly 04 or 04.5.