RetroBird
LVC Member
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2015
- Messages
- 36
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Hello 
I am a happy owner of a 2003 Ford Thunderbird, similar to the LS under the skin, but the T-Bird forums lack much of the technical info you folks enjoy sharing. Admin asked me to expand on 'who I are': I am a retired automotive engineer and mechanic and enjoy the luxury of a one bay well equipped service shop with a Rotary Lift (and 12' ceiling). I may be a septuagenarian but I still ride a 1300 cc motorcycle (Honda Fury) occasionally 500 miles in a day. Love Dogs . I have also posted my question below here.
I am interested in understanding the disadvantage, if any, of linear shift over SST for my type of driving. My car has SST and I normally drive in D5 for full automatic shifting and I am not interested in the 'sporting' use of SST but occasionally want to downshift lower than D4 for engine braking on long downhill stretches.
vs. 
With SST down shifting beyond D4 requires rocking the selector repeatedly until reaching the desired gear. Although I have not driven a linear shift version of this automatic I assume it is similar to conventional ones where one pull on the lever (OK, right and back) to the desired gear is all that is required. I am considering a switch to the conventional shifter and would appreciate any comments on this. Please remember I only downshift manually for hill descent and I do not touch the shift lever for any other aspect of 'performance' driving.
I am a happy owner of a 2003 Ford Thunderbird, similar to the LS under the skin, but the T-Bird forums lack much of the technical info you folks enjoy sharing. Admin asked me to expand on 'who I are': I am a retired automotive engineer and mechanic and enjoy the luxury of a one bay well equipped service shop with a Rotary Lift (and 12' ceiling). I may be a septuagenarian but I still ride a 1300 cc motorcycle (Honda Fury) occasionally 500 miles in a day. Love Dogs . I have also posted my question below here. I am interested in understanding the disadvantage, if any, of linear shift over SST for my type of driving. My car has SST and I normally drive in D5 for full automatic shifting and I am not interested in the 'sporting' use of SST but occasionally want to downshift lower than D4 for engine braking on long downhill stretches.
vs. With SST down shifting beyond D4 requires rocking the selector repeatedly until reaching the desired gear. Although I have not driven a linear shift version of this automatic I assume it is similar to conventional ones where one pull on the lever (OK, right and back) to the desired gear is all that is required. I am considering a switch to the conventional shifter and would appreciate any comments on this. Please remember I only downshift manually for hill descent and I do not touch the shift lever for any other aspect of 'performance' driving.
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