Going Full Real

[Romanator21]

The settings you posted (35 and 2600rpm) are close to cruise settings on the Mustang. You won't have a great rate of climb this way, but you should be able to get at least 1000 f/min. I find that those settings work well at high altitude for whatever reason - It's much easier to climb there with those settings. Best rate of climb is about 200 mph indicated in the Mustang.

It's ok to use max continuous power in game though. This is easy, because this is marked on your gauges by the red mark, and top of the green arc (50 and 2700). If diving, lower RPMs, if climbing, increase them.

You might as well close the radiator on the Mustang as it wont overheat, provided you don't use boost/WEP (especially at low altitude). At low level, boost doesn't provide any increase in speed, but causes engine temperatures to soar.