jokerstars

The Pelosian eco-gods do not approve of this statement. You earth hating homophobic racist!

TAXES LEAD TO PROSPERITY





slavery is freedom

day is night

(you don't REALLY like not paying taxes for internet shopping, do you?)

http://hotair.com/headlines/?p=90973

Lancel

I think it's more meant to just entice the manufacturers to make more fuel efficient cars. The gas guzzler tax isn't officially paid by the consumer, it's paid by the manufacturer, just that the manufacturer also sets prices, so they can just pass it on to the consumer, but that just reduces incentive to buy a low gas mileage vehicle.

At least that's the theory. In practice there's plenty of competition from outside to where a purely capitalist venture would work, especially with people becoming more and more concerned with gas mileage. These days I think it's outdated (the tax that is, I mean it's what? 30 years old?).

As for the Camaro SS/Corvette, yes, it's VERY annoying on those cars. Basically if you're ever going ahead at the same pace as the rest of traffic (which is, oh, whenever you're stuck behind the rest of traffic) it WILL turn on. And no you can't go to 4th and push the gas to get it to a more reasonable RPM, you're stuck behind the rest of traffic.

I mean come on, the Mustang GT with 3.73s has ridiculous gearing I'd still hesitate to put it in 4th at 15 MPH. That's not even 1000 RPM. I'd hate for a Camaro SS or a 3.31 Mustang to have to go through it.

Norberd

Had the car for almost 2 months now and honestly it's only forced me into 4th like 2 or 3 times.

The info flashes up on the display alot, but it rarely forces me to shift into 4th.

stangfoeva

That's what I try to do too Dan. Just hold 1st until after 3000rpm. But right now I have to try to conciously remember it since I typically shift earlier when just around town to not draw unwanted attention from the po-po. (Having GB doesn't help )

Crap

So when it flashes, it hasn't necessarily locked you out yet? Thats why I thought it was turning itself on and off earlier. Whenever that light comes on fear instantly comes over me cuz I don't wanna shift into 2nd accidentally and break something lol.

All in all it isn't THAT bad. My post earlier may have been a little harsh because I was still a little pissed from this morning. I'd rather have it than the GG tax thats for sure!

coffeejolts

Joker- you realize that the tax (right or wrong) started back in the Carter presidency, right? Neither Reagan, Bush, nor W. Bush bothered to push to get it repealed. Whether you like it or hate it, blaming it on Nancy Pelosi makes no sense.

I'm not arguing your politics, just your blame of Pelosi for a 32 year old tax. The gas guzzler tax is probably older than you are.

dragstart

In that case, I feel good about it.

jokerstars

Right, just as I realize Bush is probably more to blame for CAFE (and probably the upcoming amnesty for illegals) than Obama. I'm just poking fun at a nanny-state ghoul for kicks.

Agent

I'm glad to read all your comments. I have ended up going 1 to 4 several times just driving around without ever noticing the skip shift light. Obviously, I need to go out for a couple of hours ;-) to experiment with provoking and avoiding skip shift.

JobeNole44

After driving mine for a month, I have noticed something. I do not think this skip-shift feature actually makes you shift into 4th. I have shifted into 2nd several times with the message on the display with no problems. BUT... I have noticed that this tranny likes to go from 1->4 on its own. What I mean is if I simply pull straight back on the stick, it will go slightly right and into 4th, message or no message. To get to second I have to pull back and to the left when shifting. Even if I do that, it still feels like there is some resistance when I shift into 2nd. Kind of like the car wants to go from 1->4. BTW, I feel the same with 5->6 shift. I have to pull back and to the right to go to 6th, otherwise it wants to go back to 4th. Anyone else concur?

Agent

JobeNole44, you took the words right out of my mouth. Sorry to hear it doesn't get better with time.

MRGTX

While I agree that the tax sucks, I think you're wrong that "There are ZERO third-parties affected."

We all share the atmosphere and the world is becoming an ever more crowded place...like it or not, we have to adjust our lifestyles at some point. Besides, we all share an interest in consuming less gasoline for national security reasons, environmental reasons...and just for the fact that it's a finite resource and the more we burn, the sooner we'll be out...though nobody knows when that will be, I guess.

I'm also a lifetime (hopefully) muscle car driver and I don't think that a bit of indulgence is a bad thing but we should be conscious of the impact of our choices.

BTW, the tax was introduced back in the 70s to discourage automakers from producing guzzling vehicles...and seeing as how we have 26mpg/400hp hotrods, I would say it did some good.


I'll live with the skip shift. No big deal. I skip gears all the time in my 2009...regularly get 24-25 mpg...

From wikipedia:
The National Energy Act: Energy Tax Act of 1978 (US), or the Gas Guzzler Tax, imposed set tax penalties on car manufacturers who fail to meet the minimum fuel economy level of 22.5 mpg. This does not include minivans, sport utility vehicles or pick-up trucks. It is intended to discourage the production and purchase of fuel inefficient vehicles. In determining the tax, the fuel economy figures used are different from the fuel economy values provided in the Fuel Economy Guide. This tax is collected by the IRS and paid by the manufacturer or importer after production has ended for the model year. It is based on the total number of gas guzzler vehicles which were introduced into commerce in the United States. The amount of the tax paid by manufacturer is displayed on the vehicle's fuel economy label on the window

Norberd

I've noticed this as well. Also when it's cold the gears seem to have notches (third especially) but once it warms up it's silky smooth!

It's almost second nature now to shift into 6th with my palm slightly open to the passenger side.

MRGTX

I think that's pretty normal for most manuals, isn't it? It's probably a good reminder that we should be gentle with the trans while the oil is still cold.

JobeNole44

IDK, with my 2001 Mitsubishi Mirage and my 2006 Mustang GT, both 5 speeds, I would only pull straight back from 1->2 and it would go in no problem. I just figured it was a symptom of having a 6 speed. Anyone else driven other 6 speeds and had to pull to the left to get to 2nd?

Also, only 2nd gear feels like it is resisting for me, and this is only some of the time. For all other gears the stick goes in very smoothly. Figures there was a solenoid for the skip shift feature that was making the 2nd gear gate slightly smaller or something. IDK, figure if there is a problem a TSB will eventually be released and we will all get a repair under warranty. Not to worried about it, haven't ground it yet, knock on wood.

Lancel

Nope, I've noticed the same thing. Second is a bit rougher to put the shifter at. Not had any trouble picking the right gear really, though I think the metal shifter **** makes it a little easier to pull at any direction you want. I have also noticed that 6th seems just a little further out than the rest.

shotzy

When Installing my clutch stop. I have also found out that if you dont push the clutch in far enough that will have a big effect on going into 2nd gear And it more of a problem shifting at a higher RPM's as well. If it seems a little notchy going into 2nd just make sure you are going far enough with the clutch.

I had originally set the stop to high. And while it seemed to work fine 2nd was a little tight and I was unable to shift hard into second. (ie wasn't able to chirp second)

I dropped the stop just a little lower and the notchiness went away and I can chirp second all day

orange3.9stang

It's called a "spring-centered" or "center-biased" shifter ... The B&M Ripper I put on my '98 & '04 T5 transmissions worked this way too.

This was not needed with the old 4-Speeds as there was not a "center" gate.

Once you get used to it, it can actually "help" you find gears.

Without an external double H gate (typically seen on MT Ferrari's and other high end imports), I would NOT want to have a non-center biased shifter in a 6-speed car ... nor would anyone.

I'm still getting used to it in my V6, the problem is I still need to "think" about it. Last night, I went to pass a row of slow cars sitting in the left lane. I was trying to downshift into 4th from 6th (should have been easy if I let the center bias do it's job), but I ended up in 2nd and wound motor out to 5500 RPM. No big deal with these engines 6.5k+ redline, but it caught me off guard and certainly got me flustered !!

Played around with it a bit after that incident and with the 2.73 gears that I have, a downshift that puts it in the power-band at 65 MPH would have been 6th to 3rd, not 6th to 4th.

A V6 with 2.73's ...
2nd would be ideal at 35-45 MPH (3000-4000 RPM range)
3rd would be ideal at 50-70 MPH
4th would be ideal at 70-90 MPH

A V6 with 3.31's ...
2nd would be ideal at 30-35 MPH
3rd would be ideal at 40-55 MPH
4th would be ideal at 55-75 MPH

Doug

corvettedreamin

Solution for GT Skip-shift problem: Get a V6. Same transmission, no skip shift.

Seriously, if you have all that power quit granny-shifting the darn thing. Try to hit 3,000 RPM once in a while. Or 4,000. Your smile will be directly proportional to the RPMs.

orange3.9stang

I've noticed this too with these new cars.

Very narrow window for "fully disengaged" ... between hard pressed on the carpet and not too far off the carpet seems to be it.

Be nice to be able to adjust ... but since this is a hydraulic clutch, I can't see "how".

Doug

shotzy

Actually there is alot of play off the floor. I created a clutch stop from home depot for under $10. It is real easy and makes a huge difference.

I probably cuts about an 1.5 inch of clutch travel