With regard to the physical size of the next car, last I heard was that they were shooting for Fox-body like dimensions. Of course, the fact there haven't been any spy shots of heavily camoflauged prototypes roaming the streets probably means they haven't finalized the design yet.

 

I think Ford has done a tremendous job with their lineup lately and a particularly good job with the Mustang which is why I can't imagine they'd do something so foolish as to get rid of grey for 2012. While I personally wouldn't choose grey for my Mustang, the color, along with silver, black, and white, is among the most popular colors for new automobiles. I could see Ford replacing Red Candy Metallic with Lava Red or simply adding Lava Red, but getting rid of grey for it is moronic, in my opinion.

I also think Ford is foolish for not offering the Brembo Brake Package and the V6 Performance Package on automatic equipped cars. They're just leaving money on the table with these decisions.

As for as the automatic transmission, the 2011 GT I test drove had a US made transmission. If the transmissions are, in fact, Chinese made, I'll probably buy another Challenger for a daily driver instead of a Mustang.

 

The manual trans comes from China...

 

If you're worried about where a component comes from, then you have no faith in quality control principles and should just give up on any new car you buy.

 

The E92 M3s tranny is a Getrag as well. Probably made in China as well..I have no issue with it as long as the QC is there.

Dave

 

I don't have any faith in QC principles as it applies to China. Basically it all boils down to who is doing the QC. If it is Americans or Europeans (Germans, basically) doing the QC in China, then I trust it. If it is Chinese doing the QC, then I don't trust it one iota. I have nothing against China or Chinese people (they're great guys, I'm sure) but their trustworthiness in manufacturing principles leaves much to be desired.

 

Well, IIRC, you'll have both. There's internal QC set up by Getrag and Ford to meet customer requirements/demands, and then some random sampling by Ford again during production to make sure components are as expected.

 

But is that just assembly QC or is it materials QC as well? The Chinese are famous for substituting lower quality materials whenever they can get away with it. And the number one problem with the trannies so far is pressure plate bolts backing out!? That doesn't scream great QC to me. We're hearing reports of rough syncros, Skip-shift solenoids that don't like to get out of the way when they're not getting used... this is all amateur bull**** that should be picked up real quick by any competent QA and QC.

And how do we know that substandard-strength aluminum and steel isn't being used? Are they doing NDI and hardness testing? For that matter, are they doing DI on batch samples? And because I'm sure they are, the real question is, are they really trying? What is their mindset - to not rock the boat and cause problems by finding defective units? Or to ensure that quality product goes out, if it means a whole batch gets rejected? In Germany I can be most assured that the mindset will be of the latter; they will throw an entire days' production if enough sample units fail, throughput be damned. In China though, history has shown that they are far more concerned with output than with absolute quality.

And the worst part is, all these PP bolt problems are only proving out my fears... I mean, that's just a stupid, stupid problem to have. Seriously, do they not use loc-tite?

 

How is it "proving out" anything? You don't even know when the pressure plate is put on, it might not even be put on in China, it might be out on here when they sub-assemble it to the engine. Do you know?

 

Seeing as how it would be impossible to bolt the flywheel to the engine with the clutch plate in the way, I'll go with the bolt problem being a North American one.

 

The "flywheel" is usually bolted to the engine at the engine plant (it was when I worked there), apparently there has been a problem with the pressure plate which is on the other side of the clutch plate from the flywheel; the clutch plate gets sandwiched in between the flywheel and pressure plate when the clutch is released.

My point is that if I was Ford and building transmissions in China I would ship everything rearward of the input shaft because everything forward would be vehicle-specific. The advantage to making stuff in China is to save money in gear-cutting and assembly. The extra cost in shipping weight of extraneous parts would detract from those savings, especially when you consider the opportunity for that clutch assembly to get damaged in shipping.

 

any updates on the order banks? they opened today right?

 

Second that, planning on ordering today.

 

Third. I plan on ordering today. I'd love to know what packages/options are available.

 

Welcome tot he site NoMo and Beans!

 

...Still watching for it, haven't seen anything yet.

 

Well, I just dialed into the order banks, and the 2012 Mustang still doesn't show pricing and results in the same message as before:

HOLD - 2012 MUSTANG ORDERING
VEHICLE LINE N/A FOR JOB #1 ORDERS

No order guides yet either, so the waiting continues!

 

Thanks!!

 

well apparently my order went up higher :/ gotta check it out...

 

In for updates...