well, i was watching some videos, of the ford focus european version and i noticed that they accelerate a lot faster and run better, but i dint see any stang is there a euro version of the stang, and why does ford sell different versions to europe??

 

b/c the way they drive there is different... some places have no speed limits and you have to be able to move faster when entering traffic...

and... they have more money there i guess...

 

Well , in my limited knowledge there are 2 aspects : here we have a higher octane fuel and all the cars are tuned for it ; thinking about the absence of the stangs here ... it could be a market choice or a very different strategy between ford europe and ford usa , anyway a GT here costs 43000 euro , with import taxes and vat... try to translate it in dollars and you find it very close to a bmw price - maybe this is a reason why ford doesn't sell stangs here .
I can also tell Pat that speed limits are everywhere except on few exceptions (german autobahn) . The accelleration entering the highway is not needed , since you normally find a column of trucks doing 60 mph since it is their limit on most highways and autobahns .
Steel

 

I remmber the older mustangs with gulf spec (middle east) had more hp, since there are less restrictions on cars here, i don't know about the 2005 though.

 

The cost of exportation is high, and Ford can barely build enough Mustangs to meet North American demand as it is.

 

I paid $34.5k for a gulf spec 2005 mustang GT,, here in the gulf (middle east)

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(199 @ April 19, 2006, 11:23 PM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
I remmber the older mustangs with gulf spec (middle east) had more hp, since there are less restrictions on cars here, i don't know about the 2005 though.
[/b][/quote]
Well , nowadays in europe pollution is a main concern , so in the last years we had big campaigns to update our nationals car park , and the laws are quite strict .
In fact I can say that here with an Euro 3 car you CANNOT drive on thursday 8 am to 19 pm and on sunday - you have to use publictransportcrap or a newer car if you want to drive or ... a bicicle [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif[/img]
Restrictions on traffic worsen in winter with no rain or wind ...
Also the gas here is quite expensive and cars with a high mileage are a must as dayly drivers - this is the main reason for the big production of "euro-trash" cars...
My dayly driver is a Smart Roadster , 100 hp tuned 0,8 litres with stock turbo . The mileage is 42 city and 52 autobahn/highway at 85 mph . So good mainly for a very low profile and little weight (the car is 700 kg).
... ehm , I forgot : I hope my english is acceptable [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/rolleyes.gif[/img]

 

Having lived and drove in both Europe and America I have experienced the acceleration difference between the two worlds.
Its all down to tuning. Same octane levels but different pollution laws also. The smaller european cars have significantly more grunt than the American counterparts.
In Europe a 2000cc engine is considered large and rather fast where in America it doesnt tend to filter across quite the same.
My Ford Escort ZX2 sport is 2200cc and it has no change at beating My Ford Focus Estate 1800 diesel that I had back in England.
Almost feels like there is a huge power drain (like traction control) under high acceleration operation.
On a similar note to this, the steering and suspension is much softer than in England, it took me a while to aclimatize to the lack of feeling i was getting back from the car whilst driving.

Love America, love my Mustang, sorry England.

 

A few people that went to Germany that I know said that there's no speed limit in the entirety of Europe... I'm just going by what they say... Could've been a cabby told them that so they'd never try to drive themselves around... I donno, all I know is I'll never own anything less than a v8 now... The rumble and torque = worth more than driving 300 miles on a 10 gal tank...

 

NO SPEED LIMIT IN ALL OF EUROPE!!!!!
OMG!!!
You must be joking. He told you a huge lie, giganticaly wrong.
Talk to anyone from England, anyone one like, and say these two words...

"Speed camera"

Those things are everywhere. My friend lost his licence because he got caught speeding by 4 seperate cameras in a 25 mile stretch of motorway. Then include all the police hiding on bridges, side of the roads, unmarked cars, camera vans, well you get the idea. You only find out a month later when that nice letter comes through the post with the fine attached. I once got stopped driving 32mph in a 30mph zone but blamed on speedo inaccuracy and got away with it.
They inforce the speed limit like you wouldnt believe.
Now Greece on the other hand.......
I was driving a rental uphill aproaching a blind summit at 90mph when I heard a horrible noise at the side of me. Clapped out Lada with hardly any bodywork overtaking me (this was one lane only) then another car was overtaking him at the same time. You look at the roads over there and you see candle boxes and flowers/memorials everyewhere at the sides of the road. They are scary.

So glad America hasnt caught on yet

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tricky02GT @ April 20, 2006, 10:08 PM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
NO SPEED LIMIT IN ALL OF EUROPE!!!!!
OMG!!!
You must be joking. He told you a huge lie, giganticaly wrong.
Talk to anyone from England, anyone one like, and say these two words...

"Speed camera"

[/b][/quote]

SPEED CAMERA??? [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ohmy.gif[/img] [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/icon24.gif[/img] [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/panic.gif[/img] [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/panic.gif[/img] [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/panic.gif[/img] [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/photo.gif[/img]

Frigging hate the things! get caught at slightly over the speed limit 4 times and that is your license gone for 6 months (after which, it is virtually impossible to get insurance again!)


Ford decided that the conversion cost to RHD was too expensive, so didn't offer the mustang in the UK (although, even in LHD, it seems to be the most popular version of the Mustang ever judging by the amount on the roads!).

The import duties and the VAT would be less if Ford officially offered the Mustang here. Type approval would be given etc.

The other main for no european Mustang is the fuel cost. $6.50 a gallon is a lot when you are only getting 22mpg.......

That is all!

 

ouchh, that speed camera thing sucks, thang god here in Puerto Rico, cops dont give a poo about speed limit, some of them would even race you.... if they are in a good mood that is,

 

$6.50 a gallon??? Has the price gone down??? Last time I was back in England (AUG 05) it was 1.03 a litre.
Also how are you getting 22mpg? I average 18mpg most of the time (14 when I'm playing).

 

I guess there are some good things about where I'm from and that's cops. Sure, they will bother you for smallest things, but just give them $20 and they'll leave you alone, no matter how fast you were going.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tricky02GT @ April 22, 2006, 10:05 PM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
$6.50 a gallon??? Has the price gone down??? Last time I was back in England (AUG 05) it was 1.03 a litre.
Also how are you getting 22mpg? I average 18mpg most of the time (14 when I'm playing).
[/b][/quote]

The exchange rate has changed in the $ favour.... It's 95.9 a litre at the moment. This is the highest it has ever got here (in the north). Also depends on whether you are using US or imperial gallons (3.8L or 4.54L), the $6.50 was done on US gallons.

As for getting 22mpg, seems I worked that out on Imperial gallons..... [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/04.gif[/img]

 

You can buy covers and sprays that makes you license plate undetectable to a camera

 

but if a police car pulls you over and finds them, you get banned.....