Mildman

I was faced with this decision last week myself - having owned a BA MK2 5spd manuial, then a BF 6 speed manual - now I'm picking up a BF2 in the 6 speed auto. After driving the auto I found it changed faster than the manual and in normal driving was much more adept at keeping the revs down saving fuel. The ride was smoother and faster. Also forget the notion that the manual has less drive train loss than the auto....it doesn't anymore. With torque lockup the auto looses less in the drivetrain than the manual. The only reason left I had to own a manual was that I like to change gears and heel toe downshift. (I've got a manual circuit car to do that with now). Here is one of hundereds of massive threads on this issue of auto v manual. Big thread

I find 303 Aerospace protectant nicer than tyre shine on black plastic....really looks the good and stays looking good for a couple of weeks.

Depends entirely on how rigorous your dealer drive was.....and if you were trying to promote it to get a 200 score as quickly as possible...... It showed me enough of the potential after two 30min test drives to convince me. I'll save the heel toe for my circuit car - cause none of the public roads around where I live have ripple strips...

Tmac I've owned an XR6T 6spd manual BF for the last year - and have now test driven 2 XR6T ZF autos. Driven them to within an inch of their (and my) life - and finally I'm convinced the auto can shift faster than me, downshift mostly better than me too. It definitely is more economical than the manual and a smoother ride too. To be honest the manual is feeling a bit clunky by comparison. I am now gong to order a XR6T BF 2 with the 6 speed auto! The only reason I had left to drive a manual is I like changing gears and heel toe shifting....I now save that for the circuit car - so I've run out of reasons to own a manual! I think there is little technical superiority arguments left for the manual and all that is left is personal choice. I appreciate the feedback from this community and understand why so many of you are supporting ZF auto!

I'll have to check for you. I know 90 isn't too much of a drama...I'm not usually looking at the speedo when entering a corner at 100 - I'll try it in a straight line and see. Otherwise I was exagerating....surely not. 85kph should be easy though into 2nd - if you get your heel-toe right it should be as smooth of 5th to 6th at 100kph.

If it hasn't already been overstated the biggest secret I find to heel-toe downshifts is to use the ball of your foot in the brake pedal. This gives you total freedom to spin your foot on the ball to use the other side of your foot to blip the throttle. Once you can drop it into 2nd at around 100kph with even feeling the change I think you can say you have the skill down pat.

Errr I think you'll find Opel, Ford, Toyota - and anything American are the sh*tboxes in Europe. BMW, Mercedes and Audi are still prestige cars over there.....just not as prestige as they are in Australia. An M5 is still a real pricey car in Germany....

Wow that's a serious reply replicant - which I completely read too. I'm leaning towards the auto now, Saturday's drive should seal it.... With a dedicated circuit car....err not a Ford....I can live without heel toeing every gear change in my daily, and the auto will pull the car trailer with less clutch smoke than the manual. It's another step down the compromise of going from a ricey sports cars to a hybrid sports car / family car / cruiser that the XR6T is. I'm starting to see that auto as the best of both worlds, just like picking the XR6T has been the best of both worlds - performance and comfort. If I wanted race car like suspension, comfort and handling I'd drive a race car. Thanks for the input replicant as always I appreciate it and the XR6 Turbo community.

Appreciate the feedback - maybe there are some issues with the manual. I sometimes have trouble hitting third when I'm giving the car some serious loving...it just bounces out. I think that's probably more to do with my clutch work than the gearbox though. It's one thing I'm not going to miss - the old bounce out of third scenario. Sounds like I've just about made my decision. Any down side people have found to the auto transmission?

I really kicked on in the guts today....just seemed a little sluggish compared to the manual - without a G meter though it's hard to tell how much is because it's smoother. It seems to shift about as quick as a manual, kick down feels a little slower but again subjective. I'm busing my hands and feet with changing gears so I notice the timing passing a little more, in the auto as I don't have anything to do but let the computer handle it if you know what I mean.

Just to bring this point back from the dead, I'm up for a new XR6T again, I've just test driven an auto and it felt fairly good....it seemed to have less from 5K - 6K than my 6spd manual....but hard to say if that's tranmission or a car with 15km on the clock that is still a little consevative. I am planning to test another auto XR6T on Saturday into some corners and then make a decision. How many recent auto converts are there out there? As I'm starting to waiver from my die hard manual position...

I don't think the question is that power reduced as the density of air decreases with temperature - more that you wanted someone to confirm that a motor magazine article made the statement that the F6 engine management system accounted for hotter temperatures by increase boost (to maintain the same amount of oxygen available for combustion) That's what you wanted to know right?

If you need more confirmation my BF also has backlit window switches....I like how the electric windows stay on for a while after IGN off too.

I think some of the waxes out there would be far superior to the paint protection they sell. Someone gave me about 5 bottle of that paint protection stuff - but I think the Autoglym wax makes the car look somewhat better.

Cro Thanks for the info, sounds like the best way to go trawling for all the spec numbers for each brand might not be the internet, maybe giving a few tyre places a call. Obviously there is a lot more to a tyre than those numbers written on the side - as the Pirelli P Zero has the same specs as the Michelin PP2 - but by the sound of peoples practical experience the numbers don't tell anywhere near the full story. Can't see why anyone would want S03's on a street car...unless they didn't mind buying tyres every 10,000kms. Thanks again Cro, Mildman

Cro I checked the link - but can't see where you get this traction, treadwear, temperature data from. I'm interested in comparing a number of tyres and wonder if there is a consolidated source of this information. You've just about sold me on the PP2....but we all have to undertake the pretence of obsessive research.

Hmmm I use the Auto headlight switch in my BFT - in fact it has barely moved from that position since I bought the car. The lights come on when its dark, and turn off when it's light (daylight). They stay on for around 15sec after you turn off the car. But the lights staying on particularly when you select the OFF position sounds like a fault...

No change to the braking package, styling changes, badging changes, a few interior changes (cup holders), new starter (1.4kg lighter). That's about all I've been able to find out.

I've heard there are a number of cost downs in the Mark 2 that have me worried. They have been trying very hard to come up with a smaller rear brake package for the car, a lighter starter motor..and maybe a few more things. I'm going to do some detective work this arvo to see what I can find out.

Leasing is cheaper than a personal loan you will find. Since leasing Fords I've much more in the pocket/ (Admittedly I also pay CSA) so the leasing helps with that. But fuel has a 15% discount, it's also before tax, the payments are about $800 a month for a 3 or 5 year lease. Wouldn't be more than $1000 a month for you on a 5 year deal.

Still for sale?

So what is the "out of the factory map" 91 or 95???? ← It has a ignition advance map for both fuels, sort of like an upper timing map and a lower timing map. I think the ECU can also tell which fuel is in the car....but a bit hazier on that. It definitely contains the two separate sets of values (one set for 91 and one set for 95). The owners manual recommends 95RON for T's though. I think in that long thread it was determined that both petrols cost about the some /km to run a T but the 95 was a better quality fuel so might as well be the one to use.

http://www.fordxr6turbo.com/forum/index.ph...topic=23830&hl= Here's a big thread about fuels raised a few months ago It basically states the T has a 91RON map and a 95RON map in the factory ECU - as well as knock detection. It also says 98RON, 100RON are OK, but the stock T is not programmed to take full advantage of these fuels, a modded one is more like to get the advantage of higher octance fuels. The one risk with higher octance fuels is shelf life, 98,100 etc go "off" in about 4 weeks or so. If you buy premium from a low volume servo it could be very close to the end of it's life. When it goes off the octane rating drops dramatically (sometimes lower than the 91RON). So in stock form 95 is probably best, 98 is OK but not required, 100 is probably overkill.

Isn't the cause the infamous loose streering rack? I've got the same problem at the moment, but am getting around to taking it back to Ford for it's warranty rectification.

I suppose I shouldn't feel as bad that I only got $25K on a trade in of a Nov 2004 XR6(non turbo) in Nov 2005. Really these cars should go for a lot more second hand than they do....