Original Sin

Hey everyone, put this in the Special Edition forum but EVERYONE should watch it. What a hoot...and listen for journalist talking about the "stiff" suspension on the Roush - it's classic !!

http://www.stangnet.com/Videos/Exhib...GT500/details/

Enjoy - Mark

grabber07

Sounds like Roush paid for a commercial, lol. Nice vid though.

SteelTownStang

Don't like the driver, but I do like the Roush- and you can get it cheaper than the GT500. Nice vid

Jeremy

sweet video! I LOVE the 69 at the start of the video

G.T

Jeremy Clarkson is a retard.
since i watched him in 'The Good, The Bad And The Ugly' from which this clip was taken, and saw him talk **** about every American car and car manufacturer, and topping it all up by "mistaking" a Mustang v6 for a GT, i've wished there's a way to remove his voice from the videos and just enjoy the show ...

HOTLAP

Nice video - but he had some of his facts wrong about the Shelby....principally the "beefed up 4.6" is actually a 5.4 (with 500hp not 475) and the Shelby does have upgraded braking and handling compared to a stock GT....I can't speak for the Roush but he should get his facts straight first....kind of essential when doing a comparo between two cars.

Anyone know what the Roush Stage 3 retails for in US $$'s?

Badandy

I love Jeremy Clarckson, he really knows what he's talking about most of the time. Sure, he gets on his little American-car hating rants, but you know he really doesn't mean it when he steps in a car and criticizes it then say it's "brilliant and exhilerating." But he's so funny.

"The Roush sits 1 inch lower than the standard mustang, and is 35% stiffer. And to be honest, so am I."

one_mean_marine

I agree with HOTLAP he definitely didn't know his stuff the Shelby does have a 5.4 and not a 4.6 supercharged! When i heard him say that on the video and even show the motor with the svt valve covers i started laughing. I'm wanting to see how it compared to what the british had too offer like it says on the end of the video? Anyone seen the rest of it?

SteelTownStang

The guy is NEVER right. He is an idiot. Like Louie stated, He can't even tell the difference between a V6 and GT. You'd think that he'd do a little reseach before babbling. I'm not real familiar with this guy... What's his claim to fame, and how'd he become an car expert...NOT!

LBJay

Whole thing is on Google Video.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...clarkson&hl=en

Got an hour+ to waste?

Badandy

Steeltownstang: The guy is HUGE in England and all over Europe. He's not very educated on American cars, but really, he's hilarious. Sure, he got some facts wrong, but he judges cars fairly if you strip away some of the bias and get to his core emotions. Even though is was badmouthing American cars all the time, it's obvious from little comments and his emotions that he loves a few of them. He also thinks the Ford GT is one of the greatest modern cars, in every way. He's from the show TopGear, a really famous show. He does a lot of cool stuff like race cars downtown against free-walker/parceur type people.

celticstanger

Oh, the irony!

Clarkson is a car guy, but my guess is, he's like most top journo's - they no longer do their own research, but pad whatever an assistant gives them. Not good, and no excuse, but I'm sure that as far as the GT/v6 blunder was concerned, he was probably handed the keys, told it was the v8, and took that at face value. Same for the info on the GT500.

As for what happens with Brit v Roush S3, an Exige BARELY pips the S3 - and that's probably the least fair fight you could pitch on a winding track. The wrap gives the win to the Exige (which Clarkson refers to as a "toaster"), but to me, it's further kudos to the Roush.

Mongoose

That turned me on.

wjones14

Yes, he does get some facts wrong, inexcusably, but one thing you have to admit - he does know how to drive. And he's driven many of the best cars in the world, full out on race tracks no less... There are a couple of videos of him on youtube.com teaching some stunt driving skills, like doing a 360 in (I think) an M roadster.

ttbit

Haven't seen a Brit not dog the Mustang in some way yet. You ever see one drive a GT500 that didn't have a smile the whole time? I guess they love American torque like the rest of us. That's what the Mustang is about. The Fox platform was never considered great, but anyone who has driven them will say they were fun. Been that way forever... My Mustang II with a 302 was even very fun to drive, yet everyone dogs it.

neil07gt

I am impressed with the Roush cars. The Roush stage 3 is more of a complete package. The GT500 still needs mods. JMO.

wjones14

Thanks for the link! Actually I did watch the whole thing and didn't think it was a waste of time at all. It was quite entertaining in fact.

WARNING: spoilers below in case you are planning on watching this...


Parts of the show were maddening. Maybe most of it... I was finding myself getting angry at Jeremy a lot, being American myself of course and having to endure his slagging of everything American. He got some technical points inexcusably wrong - somehow he got in a V6 Mustang and started talking about it like it was the GT, talking about its 300 horsepower and so forth - makes you wonder if he actually thought that was the GT model!? He pointed out a couple of good things about the Mustang, noticeably that the designers got it exactly right with the blend of retro and modern, and made a totally cool car. And then he totally trashed the reputation of the Mustang by racing this V6 model around the Willow Springs racetrack against a real Mustang horse! At least he should have conceded that it was the V6 base model Mustang and not the 300 hp GT.

The highlights of course were when he drove a '68 390 Mustang GT, the new Shelby GT500, and the Roush Stage 3 Mustang.

The Roush Stage 3 vs the Lotus Exige race at Willow Springs was quite cool. Prior to the race, Jeremy actually loved the Roush, and proclaimed it far superior to the Shelby GT500 in terms of handling and overall function as a daily driver. He had a huge grin on his face while driving it, and this is where he made the hilarious comment that it was "15% stiffer than the standard Mustang, and right now, so am I." But then the Lotus actually beat it on the racetrack, and he slagged the Roush off as if it was a crappy car, losing to a 4-cylinder no less.

Same thing with the Z06 Corvette. He loved it while driving the snot out of it on the track - had zero complaints about it, and said it was pretty much the equal of the $250K Ferrari. But then he drove it for an extended drive on the street, and complained about pretty much everything from noisy tires to a too-stiff ride. And ended up giving the car thumbs-down overall rating.

Grudgingly he gave the Viper some respect as he blasted that around the track. As far as performance, he couldn't find much fault with it, other than that perhaps the brakes were not quite up to the performance of the rest of the car. But then came a race between the Viper and a BMW Z4 (Euro version with 315hp M3 engine). The Viper easily took the Z4 off the line, but the Z4 had the lead after the first turn. The Viper kept close through the next couple of turns, and regained the lead rather easily on a long uphill straight. Into the last corner the Viper understeered and took the turn wide, while the Z4 took the shorter route on the inside and passed the Dodge. The Viper made up the difference on the last straight, and the race ended in a dead heat. Then Jeremy slagged the Viper, saying it couldn't even beat a "middling" European sports car.

So, with all this slagging, how could I possibly find it entertaining? Well, there were quite a few humorous bits. For one, he cut a hole in the roof of a 1994 Lincoln Town Car, and proceeded to try and fill it with water from a tanker truck! The water was pouring out the door jams faster than he could fill it, and he could never get the water level even as high as the seats. He then did the same thing with an older Jaguar, and of course it filled up to the dash, thereby proving his point that the build quality of American cars was inferior to the Europeans. And then he staged a contest between British and American teams, where each team had to destroy a Buick Park Avenue (the worst car ever...) so that it would fit piece by piece through an airplane window. There was also a segment where an angry truck owner shot a Neon that dared to park in his spot with everything from a .357 magnum to a .50 cal machine gun!

Finally, and fittingly, he got hold of a Ford GT. This is the only American car that he couldn't find fault with, and I think he may actually own one. He said this is the one car they got right. But then he couldn't resist insulting American ingenuity one final time, by reminding the viewer that while the Ford GT is truly one of the best cars in the world, it is really not American made. The transmission and body are British, wheels are Italian, etc...