SVTJayC

The 96-97 Tbird Sport had the same suspension, brakes, (all MN-12's have IRS). Like I said, I owned 2.


Look, I really didn't mean to **** everyone off, but...
We arent talking about a car company that is doing particularly well. For them to rush a set of wheels into production, is a bad move. Ford is easily 1 nice lawsuit away from extinction. And to think that they are going to cater to a small group of "enthusiasts" is silly too. It is bad practice. Mitsu brought over the EVO after tons of petitions and such, and it sold well for a day. Now they sit on dealer lots. Ford did the same with the T-Bird and the Marauder and got burned. Pontiac is getting it now with the GTO. It stinks, but enthusiasts just dont account for a big enough margin to take risks.

Galaxie

What this poll is intended to be is an "open letter" in case an exec happens to come across it. It is not a suggestion to rush expensive line upgrades, but to offer wheels which could very well be just sitting in a warehouse somewhere to people willing to spend the money on them. They have done it before with the 2003 Cobra, just to show there is precedent here.

This in fact would not be a huge monetary investment for Ford, the way that importing a car from Japan or Australia would be.

Dr Iven

Let's hope they make the 18's an option for '05. They look awesome, and for someone like me who probably won't own an '05, it'll be nice eye candy!

SVTJayC

Yes, but a huge monetary investment would result if it is truly the case that these wheels can not yet be manufactured safely.

Nazgul

For what it's worth, Kevin, I disliked the seats in the previous 'stangs I've tired, but the seat in the 05 was fine. Ford may have gotten that detail fixed as well.

Dan

Give me a break Jay.

People like you like to think of themselves as poor helpless consumers who are constantly getting the short end of the stick.

F**k that. You have to ask to get anything in life.

So what if Ford doesn't give a rats **** about my poll. I feel better for giving it a shot.

And I may have only talked to three execs at Ford, but I think that makes me a bit more qualified to say whether they are listening or not. Don't talk about what you don't know. There's a lot more to the story than I've posted on here. Believe me or not....... I couldn't care less.


And you know what, you're the one who should be taking a business class buddy. Then you'd know that for every customer that notifies a company with a complaint, there are 500 more who have the same complain but haven't said anything.

Do you honestly believe that there are only 40 of us on here that wish the 18's were made available prior to the 06MY??? Don't kid yourself, the number is far far greater.

Jay, you really believe that that team mustang and ford cares nothing about its enthusiasts? That's so far from the truth it's crazy. Is it because they value them? Not necessarily. Is it because listening to enthusiasts makes good business sense? YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT.

It doesn't matter how great you think you are or how amazing a product you thought you put out, if the customer (including me) isn't happy, guess what......you're screwed.

And you seem to forget the 100,000's of letters written by mustang enthusiasts which convinced Ford to continue making the mustang.

And the fact that team mustang members are enthusiasts too. You think they don't know what people want?

And the fact that Ford Marketting is extremely interested in what goes on in mustang forums....

And all the focus groups gathered when designing the new car?

etc... etc.... But that's all crap because Ford doesn't care about enthusiasts and we as enthusiasts are powerless to have any impact......Please, spare me your songs.

Dr Iven

I vote to change our name to "Brad's Mustang Focus Group."

mr-mstng

Ford's been through plently of lawsuits, and will get through more.

Um, isn't that essentially what Ford did with the Ford GT? And will do with the GT replacement? Also, what would you consider small? Ford catered to a small group of enthisuasts with the Mach 1, and planned on building only 6500 units, but was much more successful than they initially thought.

Mitsu's problems are beyond the just the EVO. The company had to right down a large number of bad loans, and DCX said no to a bailout.

No the problem with the T-bird was that it was priced a little high, and dealers priced them even higher, thereby pricing it right out of its core market. I haven't heard of any problems with the marauder as of yet.

The Grand Am's um I mean GTO's problem is two fold. One is the bland styling, the other is like the T-bird, whereby its priced out of its market. If the styling was better it would sell better, but considering the styling, its going to take rebates to move them, because if I'm going to drop $33K for a car, I will either love it, or walk away.

Chrysler has taken some risks (i.e. Dodge Magnum) and it appears to paying off nicely for them. You MUST take some risks, otherwise people will look at the company's styling as dull and boring. Young people (the fastest growing market segment) is being wooed by just about every major manufacturer. Scion was developed exclusively for this market. Was it a risk? Yes, but it appears to be working.

Dr Iven

The problem with the Marauder was it's subpar performance. It's an awesome all around car and I'd love to own one just for the sleeper factor, but 0-60 times of 7+ seconds don't justify spending $35k on a car that's performance-oriented. Unless you do this to one:





This one runs 10's!!

SVTJayC

Wow...You have obviously delluded youuself beyond the ability for rational thought. But if you want to believe there is some nice exec guy at Ford that cares about anything more than his next big bonus, you go right ahead. I won't stop you. The mustang is around for 1 reason, it's profitable. It's profitable for 1 reason, they sell lots of stripped down V6 models as fleet sales. That's why the taurus is around as long as it has been, that's why the crown vic is still around. They move big numbers. Big time corporate sales. Where is the pre release test drive that travels the country? to get people up for the car? Volvo did it with the S40, Mazda with the 3 and 6, MB, BMW, Audi. They all do it...why not Ford? They are not going to spend 1 extra dollar on getting you in that car, becasue they know no matter what they put out, the masses will buy it. Hertz, corportate, and people that will drive anything with a horse on the grille. The mustang was a dog from 94-98, and they still sold a ton of them. Got it's rear handed to it until 2003 by LS1's, and it still around. It's a cash cow. And when that cash starts rolling in, THEN, you will get your upgrades.

I dont doubt that you want 18's. heck, I want 18's. I just doubt you'll get them any sooner by whining.

kevinb120

Give me a break Jay.

People like you like to think of themselves as poor helpless consumers who are constantly getting the short end of the stick.

F**k that. You have to ask to get anything in life.

So what if Ford doesn't give a rats **** about my poll. I feel better for giving it a shot.

And I may have only talked to three execs at Ford, but I think that makes me a bit more qualified to say whether they are listening or not. Don't talk about what you don't know. There's a lot more to the story than I've posted on here. Believe me or not....... I couldn't care less.


And you know what, you're the one who should be taking a business class buddy. Then you'd know that for every customer that notifies a company with a complaint, there are 500 more who have the same complain but haven't said anything.

Do you honestly believe that there are only 40 of us on here that wish the 18's were made available prior to the 06MY??? Don't kid yourself, the number is far far greater.

Jay, you really believe that that team mustang and ford cares nothing about its enthusiasts? That's so far from the truth it's crazy. Is it because they value them? Not necessarily. Is it because listening to enthusiasts makes good business sense? YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT.

It doesn't matter how great you think you are or how amazing a product you thought you put out, if the customer (including me) isn't happy, guess what......you're screwed.

And you seem to forget the 100,000's of letters written by mustang enthusiasts which convinced Ford to continue making the mustang.

And the fact that team mustang members are enthusiasts too. You think they don't know what people want?

And the fact that Ford Marketting is extremely interested in what goes on in mustang forums....

And all the focus groups gathered when designing the new car?

etc... etc.... But that's all crap because Ford doesn't care about enthusiasts and we as enthusiasts are powerless to have any impact......Please, spare me your songs. [/b][/quote]
I have a feeling we wont have any problem selling them

Tone

There are two reasons kicked around for wanting the 18s -- appearance and performance. The first is subjective -- personally, I think even the 16s on the v6 look pretty good. The second I'm not so sure about.

My understanding is that the only real function of larger diameter wheels is to allow room for larger brakes. In addition, the larger diameter provides a way of moving to lower profile tires without reducing the overall tire diameter. But, you could go spec lower profile tires on smaller diameter wheels while designing the car without too much trouble.

The disadvantage of larger wheels is they tend to be heavier. Wheels weigh a lot more than tires and unless the larger wheel is made of a lighter weight material, the result is a heavier wheel/tire package. This is more unsprung weight, which actually hurts handling.

From what I can tell, from a pure performance point of view, a switch to a more agressive 17 inch tire would likely offer a greater handling improvement at a better price than switching to the 18s. Of course, if you can find 18s that are, in fact, lighter than the stock 17s and use lower profile tires, you will likey be quicker through the corners. But, you will also likely pay dearly for them!

No doubt, soon after the 2005 debut, there will be Mustangs rolling the streets on 19s and 20s. Whatever floats people's boats, but a well engineered 17 inch package will likely provide better performance.

kevinb120

Jeeze dude, just go buy a GTO or something

kevinb120

We have had 5 of them here used, regardless of the timeslips, the car is fun as heck to drive around in, and sounds good, even as old as the platform obviously is. It is my first choice of a vehicle if 3 friends and myself were to take a road trip to vegas in . Everyone is getting stuck on 1/4 mile=value.

kevinb120

Its all about ballance. The reverse L's lower control arms that allow seperate force bushing compounds(road forces AND ride tuning) and the springs being moved directly on the axle for more precise ride tuning and damping rate leave for a car that handles quite well and confidently. The 17"s for the mainstream mustangs is to make up for the live axle's ride in day to day use with the higher profile and hide any penalties for a stiffer spring to reduce roll rate. Other things such as (obviously)cost- and not in the sense of manufacturing, but end-user costs. 95% of the owners do not like the idea of $1000 sets of tires on their 'sporty' car. Ford also knows that the tuner/hot rod crowd will simply modify them anyway. Even with 18's from the factory, youd still be seen as rolling 'stockers'.

I personally only wanted them for the tires myself. The wheels would go bye-bye as soon as possible(even 'chrome' wheels would simply be cheapo cast aluminum with plating anyway-not exactly Weld EVO forged stuff). B.F.D., I will sell my 17's to a V6 owner and buy another set. I am only waiting to see what wheels are available(should be no problem there), and what tires are working well for the first 'guinia pigs' who try the different rubbers out there for noise, grip, and wear and size clearance. It makes total business sense the way they have it now. To cap options to meet the expected demand they have already put off the vert untill spring to get the stocks up, they will broaden the options spectrum after the supply catches up so there are choices out there.

Dan

Okay, lets assume you are right and that no one at Ford gives a hoot about us.

WTF is the problem with me posting a poll about getting 18's early even if I'm deluding myself? Who made you God and gave you the power to cut initiative down?

Piece of advice, if it doesn't involve you and you have nothing positive to add, keep your trap shut and don't ruin it for other people.

For some reason, people have the need to express their distain for what other people are doing. Its like "attack anything that doesn't follow my logic".

A post like "I don't think you are going to get anywhere with this poll though.....Ford won't release it early because they are a business and only care about making money not customer wants" would have been better than your
"whinning" and "you obviously haven't been to business school" remarks. That's just being a *****.