The car comes with a built in shift light on the dash to tell you when to shift during everyday driving. I couldn't believe it. What a joke. (By the way, it says to shift way to early, I guess for gas mileage)
Many years ago I worked for General Motors at their proving ground in Milford, Michigan so I can give you a little history behind those shift indicator lights ...
They were put in cars to make it easier for manufacturers of cars with manual transmissions to meet/pass EPA fuel economy regulations. The deal was that the manufacturer would install the shift indicator light, which was designed to maximize fuel mileage, BUT the manufacturer had to then prove that customers actually used the shift indicator light.
Every some number of years GM would have to do a fairly large customer survey to find out how many of them actually used the shift indicator light. If the usage was above a specified percentage - and it was, then GM could use the shift indicator light recommended mileage.
I suspect Ford was doing the same thing as GM.
As they say ... your actual mileage may vary. <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />
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