The 5.0 Mustang with manual transmission may be equipped with a feature that creates smooth and efficient transitions when shifting to lower gears. It’s called rev matching.
How Rev Matching Works
Traditionally, rev matching, or heel-toe downshifting is a driving technique that involves quickly tapping the accelerator pedal while the clutch is depressed to raise the engine’s RPMs in order to match the engine speed of a lower gear while downshifting. This puts less stress on the clutch and helps maintain a smoother power transfer when shifting to a lower gear.
With rev matching on the five-liter Mustang, the driver no longer needs to manually raise the RPMs before downshifting to a lower gear, and can focus more on steering or braking.
Let’s say you’re cruising in fifth gear and decide to downshift to fourth. As you depress the clutch and select the lower gear, your vehicle’s computer will automatically raise the engine’s RPMs to match the proper engine speed of that gear as it’s engaged. You’ll notice this on the tachometer and hear the exhaust get louder as the computer blips the throttle, causing the RPMs to increase.
How to disable Rev Matching
If you prefer, you can turn off rev matching. There are two different ways, depending on which instrument cluster size you have.
12-inch instrument cluster display
- If you have the 12-inch instrument cluster display, press the Mustang button on the steering wheel.
- Scroll down the menu to “Rev Matching” and press “OK” on the steering wheel to disable the feature.
4-inch instrument cluster display
- If you have the four-inch instrument cluster display, use the five-way control on the steering wheel to scroll down from the main menu to “Track Apps”.
- Then press the right arrow on the steering wheel to view more options.
- Scroll down to “Rev Match” and press “OK” to uncheck the box. Now, rev matching will be disabled.
