Shifting

[TEUSeller]

I have been trying different ways to shift the gears on my ACE 30.1 to get the best, and smoothest acceleration. I discovered that from 1st gear, speeding up smoothly to just short of 3,000 RPM, and then getting off the gas pedal totally until it drops almost to idle and I feel the gear change, is the best so far. Once the gear shifts to second I press the pedal slowly, but firmly so I get a smooth and quiet acceleration to the next gear.

I go through the next gear about the same way, just getting off the gas before reaching 3,000 RPM, letting it idle down until I feel the shift, then move on. After that, it pretty much behaves well until I hit the cruise and it settles down.

Before trying this new way, I was just holding the gas pedal down and letting it "do its own thing" but too often the engine would wind out, creating a lot of high RPM noise before shifting, sometimes with a lurch, to the next gear. I hated that and was determined to find the right method to make it work well.

There are probably more ways to make the shifting smooth, so any constructive input or comments would be appreciated.

[FW28z]

The Triton V10 makes most of it's horsepower at nearly 5,000rpm, which for that engine is screaming. The first time I went to 5,000rpm on my Triton, I thought it was going to blow up.

The peak torque is somewhat less - but I think still above 4,000rpm.

There are of course a lot of theories and scenarios on this topic, and I am certainly no expert. But methinks the best gas mileage would be to just let the engine do it's thing.

[TEUSeller]

According to Ford, the triton produces maximum torque, 457 foot pounds at 3250 RPM. I think the faster you get to higher gears without lugging the engine, the better the mileage.

I am in to smooth and easy. When I drove big trucks, the best shifting RPM was always well below screaming level. And the better you were at that, the smoother the ride.

Thanks for the comments. Good point about "letting it do it's thing"

[Don and Dale]

I'm not sure what info you're looking for, but if it's a long term "solution", I installed the Five Star Tune for my ACE 29.2 V10 and it made an amazing difference in the shifting pattern and RPM's while driving. The tranny shifts so much smoother and it completely changed the RPM pattern to where I don't get that dramatic downshift to 2nd gear and reaching upwards of 4500+ RPM's when climbing a minimal incline. Just something to consider in IMHO.