Downshift Delay on Hard Acceleration

[StripeyGray]

New to me 2006 GT with 4.6L V8. When I put my foot in it, varying from 3/4 throttle to floored, there is a fairly significant delay before the automatic transmission downshifts to really give me the power.

I'm wondering if a tune can improve this response. I know I've read that a tune will improve throttle response. Does that improved throttle response result in faster downshifts by the transmission? If not, is there another way to get the transmission to be more responsive under hard acceleration?

Thanks in advance for any advice you can provide.

 

[skwerl]

Many items can be addressed in a good tune, including shift timing and also the dreaded 'throttle lag' if you hit the gas, let off and hit the brake, then jump back on the gas again.

Lito on this forum specializes in 3v Mustangs and can send you a great tune if you can do a little leg work and buy your own tuner (SCT4 handheld) and can datalog if needed. If you just want something that works out of the box, talk to the people at VMP. Justin at VMP has tuned 3 of my vehicles, and the 2 stock ones I ran his tunes straight out of the box with no modifications necessary even after several years.

 

[07 Boss]

Transmission tuning can be tricky. It took me forever to get my tranny to shift the way I wanted it. A lot of trial and error. You can probably up the line pressure in the tranny for quicker firmer shifts. One thing to avoid when utilizing the cars kickdown feature is to not let it go from 5th to 3rd. One it is s slower downshift because it is going two gears, and it is super hard on these trannies. I'm on my third one. If I knew I was going to get on it I would click off the OD first and then proceed to floor it. This prevents the two gear downshifts that will prematurely kill the transmission. I currently manually shift my auto tranny about 90% of the time now anyways after I reverted to a more stock tranny tune, but I also have a ratchet shifter.

 

[StripeyGray]

Transmission tuning can be tricky. It took me forever to get my tranny to shift the way I wanted it. A lot of trial and error. You can probably up the line pressure in the tranny for quicker firmer shifts. One thing to avoid when utilizing the cars kickdown feature is to not let it go from 5th to 3rd. One it is s slower downshift because it is going two gears, and it is super hard on these trannies. I'm on my third one. If I knew I was going to get on it I would click off the OD first and then proceed to floor it. This prevents the two gear downshifts that will prematurely kill the transmission. I currently manually shift my auto tranny about 90% of the time now anyways after I reverted to a more stock tranny tune, but I also have a ratchet shifter.

Goot call on toggling off the OD gimmick 1st! I'll try playing with that, thanks. Part of the reason I bought this car was my love for the aesthetic of the shifter on the automatic tranny. Can I shift that manually? I guess I can, I'll just experiment with that in daily driving & see how I like it. Thanks!

 

[StripeyGray]

Many items can be addressed in a good tune, including shift timing and also the dreaded 'throttle lag' if you hit the gas, let off and hit the brake, then jump back on the gas again.

Lito on this forum specializes in 3v Mustangs and can send you a great tune if you can do a little leg work and buy your own tuner (SCT4 handheld) and can datalog if needed. If you just want something that works out of the box, talk to the people at VMP. Justin at VMP has tuned 3 of my vehicles, and the 2 stock ones I ran his tunes straight out of the box with no modifications necessary even after several years.

I know I've seen people reference bama tuners and their tunes. Good to know you've had good experience with both Lito and VMP. Thanks for the recommendations!

 

[07 Boss]

Stay away from BAMA, far away.

You can shift it manually with practice but I always found it cumbersome and clunky. Don't think you can get these any more but a good shifter can make a difference.

 

[Laga]

Lito did a great job tuning my transmission. He had it tuned for drag racing, but that did not work on a road course track day. I had to give it too much throttle to downshift out of a curve. So it was a choice of slow exit or spin out. I told him the problem, and I have two tunes now that work great so I can pick and choose.

 

[fli_pp_er]

Goot call on toggling off the OD gimmick 1st! I'll try playing with that, thanks. Part of the reason I bought this car was my love for the aesthetic of the shifter on the automatic tranny. Can I shift that manually? I guess I can, I'll just experiment with that in daily driving & see how I like it. Thanks!

I also always shift mine manually and only put it in "D" when going on the highway, down shifting also works fine