hey guys, ive been enjoying the forum for a while but never registered. I wrote this story for my high school paper and would like some feedback/fact checking. If you have any advice, or spot any fallacies i would appreciate it if you let me know.




The New Mustang...Really its New This Time

Fans observed the Ford Mustang’s 40th anniversary with the same enthusiasm one might expect on Christmas day. As a birthday present to the old stallion, Ford funded the first complete ground-up redesign since 1979. From its inception in 1964 the mustang has symbolized three cherished qualities of the American dream: power, beauty, and utter superiority. Outliving its muscle car competition (mainly the Camaro/Firebird, but also the Road Runner, Cuda, Challenger, GTX, Charger, Chevelle, Nova, Duster, Superbird, and the obscure AMX), the 2005 Mustang shows Ford is willing to take the 60s muscle car spirit to future generations of speed hungry Americans, but is it able?
The 2005 Mustang benefits from 25 years worth of technological advancements, and these innumerable improvements make it an exponentially better car than its predecessor. The 2005 Mustang may be amazing, but such drastic upgrades take nothing away from the laudability of the 2004 Mustang; as a matter of fact it is a technological achievement in its own right. Ford tweaked and modified the same chassis since the switch to the Fox platform in 1979. Riding on 25-year-old technology makes the 2004 Mustang’s somewhat vague on-center steering feel, lacking of structural integrity, and overall lacking build quality understandable. “But wait,” you say “I remember the Mustang being redesigned for model years 87, 94, and 99.” True, the Mustang did change for those years, but they were mere sheet metal changes and body reworking. Besides the switch from the 5.0-liter engine for model year 95 to the 4.6-liter, all of the major chassis and driveline components have carried over from the now-obsolete 1979 all the way to the 2004 model. This time, Ford isn’t trying to dupe the buying public with a sleek new body on the same old Fox platform, rather everything is absolutely and completely new, not revamped not tweaked, new. So what are these new technologies and what benefits do they provide?

Might and Muscle

The new car’s engine (for the GT) is a 4.6-liter SOHC MOD V8. Yes, the 2004 Mustang also used a 4.6-liter SOHC Modular V8. No, it is not the same engine. The new engine has a three valve per cylinder design, as opposed to the old two valves per cylinder layout. The car’s extra intake valve per cylinder allows the engine to benefit from much deeper and easier breathing, meaning the engine doesn’t have to work as hard to get air and fuel into the combustion chambers. In each cylinder Ford placed the sparkplug in the middle of a triangle of valves. The centralized placement of the sparkplug allowed Ford to safely increase the compression ratio thereby increasing power. The 24v engine also benefits from a chain driven variable valve timing (VVT) system. This technology is similar to Honda's VTEC and Mitsubishi's MIVEC systems, but 2005 marks the first application of this type of technologies to a Mustang, or any V8 RWD coupe for that matter. Ford also changed the bore and stroke lengths to facilitate a wider torque band and more linear flow of power. This new engine, which is no bigger than the pervious car’s, puts out a conservatively rated 300hp, a 40hp improvement over last year’s 260hp. Channeling this power through a Tremec T3650 close-ratio 5-speed manual transmission, the 2005 Mustang GT should be capable of sub-5 second 0-60 blasts (about half a second quicker than last year).

Plush and Posh

True enthusiasts will invariably be more pleased by the 40hp bump than any other improvement, but all buyers will appreciate where the car’s most noticeable enhancements were made: the interior. Soft leather, coordinated colors, eye candy aluminum, ergonomically placed controls, and myriad other aesthetically pleasing changes add up to the much improved interior. The progress made is so drastic that the interior would be at home in a forty to fifty thousand dollar car, rather than the twenty-five thousand dollars it can be had in, or the fifteen thousand dollar car-like look of the 2004 Mustang's interior. Options such as interior leather that can be ordered in colors compatible with the cars exterior paint bring a new level of sophistication to Mustang buyers, who for the most part have only experienced this if they also drive a BMW or Mercedes. The inspiration for the new interior obviously lies in the Mustangs heritage. The double-canopy dash, three-spoke steering wheel, retro gauges, and many other styling cues evoke the old 1964-71s. Ford combines the retro-look with modern technology and industry-wide firsts. The LED lights of the gauges and controls can be customized to shine with any one of over a hundred colors, which the owner can select and reselect to match his (or her) mood (or outfit) whenever they please.

Retro-tough Exterior

If the 300hp and world class interior, just aren’t enough for the high expectations of Mustang buyers, Ford decided to wrap it all in sheet metal that makes an Abrams tank look like one of Martha Stewart's craft projects. The fastback coupe profile combined with Shelby-like grill mounted oversized fog lamps, 67 style headlamps, triple section vertical tail lamps, long hood, short deck, classic flared fenders, three-quarter window, aggressive forward leaning front end, and clean body lines all cumulate into the single-most testosterone exuding body ever seen on a car since Ralph Nader closed the door on muscle cars in 1974. The Dirty Harry-tough design mimics the mustangs golden years, combining favorite elements from the 64-73 ‘Stangs, and will undoubtedly delight all but the most diehard VW Beetle fans (what was Ford thinking? not building a flower vase into the dash...).
So will Ford’s supply of birthday-induced benevolence hold out beyond its infinite generosity it showed in the Mustangs redesign? Or, will buyers mourn the loss of their affordable pony car, as its world-class improvements chase the cost into the world-class price level? Yes, and no respectively. The new Mustang GT will offer higher performance than the 2004 $29,000 Mustang Mach 1, luxury on par with the $40,000 BMW 330i, looks that cannot be beat at any cost, and yet a price that's only about a thousand dollars more than its 2004 equivalent. The new, really new, 2005 Mustang passes the pony’s torch on to a next generation of fans scorching GM and Camaro enthusiats everywhere.



2005 Mustang GT 5-speed Manual


Estimated Performance
Price $25,000
0-60 mph 4.8-4.9 seconds
1/4 Mile 13.2 seconds
600 ft slalom 66 mph
100-0 Braking 120 feet


thanks in advance guys

 

Looks alright to me! You might wanna have to site your sources though cuz I know teachers look for that crap. I know mine did. You don't want them to think you just copied word for word out of a car mag and end up with a F paper.

 

nice article sounds accurate to me.

 

Good job!>

I wished we had people at my school more interested in cars.

 

Excellent article!

It might also be an idea to point out the similarities with every other mustang and play on them. Ford have made sure they have been on every stang. Three bar tailights, "C" scoops on the hips, etc, etc, also, try to point the longevity of the Mustang brand, 1964-2005, how many auto makers can boast that??

Good luck in your project!

James

 

Nice article, wish my school had people that were actually interested in doing something other then boring sports articles about the game I saw myself the night before. Well, times are changing I suppose, 10 years since I graduated high school, and it's about time someone realized that reporting on school events was boring to the reader. I say GOOD JOB and KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK

 

Good job, a few minor spelling and capitalization errors, but I'm anally retentive! :smile:

Nice to see the younger kids finding true interest in the Stang!

 

Yep. Other than that, a very well written article.

 

dude that rocks. i wish there were more people like u @ my skool. btw, r u in Cali? if u r, what skool?

a lotta ppl i know my age interested in cars are looking @ hondas n acuras and all that $#&@. there are very few ppl like me interested in older cars/ muscle cars any more... its so sad

 

0-60 mph 4.8-4.9 seconds <<<

i remember a commercial for a porche in the late 80s early 90s and they said 0-60 in under 6 seconds.. and me and my dad were like darn.. thats fast... just amazing how far we've come

 

A++++++++

 

awesome article, i dont think i could write that well if my life depended on it. hopefully it will make the kids more aware of the new 05

 

I personally think the Abrams tank is a little meaner looking but that's just my opinion. I thought it was pretty good and I give it an A. EDIT...Sometimes I forget that I know how to spell!