As mentioned before, the sheetmetal comprising the look and the platform (chassis) on which it sits are two different things. Given the smaller budget and timeframe Ford had at at the time to evolve the Mustang and prevent it from being discontinued, the FOX-4 chassis was a good evolution to keep the costs down. It definitely could have been made more "modern" but the definition of modern at that time (late 80s/early 90s) was front-drive coupe (Probe).

Compaing the body rigidity and build quality of the '83-'93 and '94 models, there was a world of difference. The style was also eyecatching at the time and reinvigorated sales.

While I would not call the SN-95 Mustang design obsolete when it was introduced, I would say that the chassis portion was a compromise that seems "dated" when compared the current Mustang's platform.

Also, the current chassis is strong, I would love to see it updated to shave some weight and maintain strength. I hope we also get that long-awaited IRS. Those updates, if they can be done without changing the hardpoints that compromise the future "hips-based" styling, will be a meaningful modernization.

Thoughts?

 

Is the mustang just styling? If so, how did it maintain its unbroken(barely, a couple of times) manufacturing history? Or, alternativly, did it need tough competition in sales to evolve?

Engineering elegance was never Mustangs hallmark, and much of the legend is based on tweaked "specials" and misty eyed recollection.

There is also the matter of how cheaply it was to make for Ford, based as it always has on a simplified sedan chassis.

And one last factor, it was always playing in a very small pond, I submit that both expectation and competitors have increased rather dramatically. Perhaps not direct competition, but the number of (relatively)25k "sporty" cars is three times what it was in 94.

 

As of April 2006 when the Lincoln LS ceased production, D/EW-98 is dead for N. American produced vehicles. Some of its spirit carries on in the current Mustang.

The Jag S-type still uses D/EW-98. Jag has said the next S-type (2008??) will use an "all new" platform. However I believe that's BS. The next S-type platform looks to be an improved D/EW-98. Jag is most likely saying it's "all new" to distance itself from its cheap American cousins.

 

I think if Ford would have used D/EW-98 platform ,we would be looking at a 40k+ Mustang JMO Ford was trying to keep the price of these cars down for the common folks!

 

Which is exactly why I clearly stated in my previous post, that it was really a shame Ford couldn't have found a way for D/EW-98 to be more cost efficient in other words ? (less expensive)

 

Is that platform appealing because of the suspension components front and rear or for some other reason?

Thanks for any comments.

 

Tony - I realize this is not very "scientific" but I had an '01 LS V8 Sport with the DEW98 platform and it was an excellent handeling and very well balanced car. Battery was in the trunk for better weight distribution....it's too bad Ford didn't run with it and phase in a "7 series & 3 Series" rwd line up to compete with the Euro sedans.....the LS was very underappreciated and killed (in large part) by Ford's inept handling of the Lincoln brand and the PAG fiasco....finally glad to see some new models coming out of Lincoln as Caddy has owned them for the past decade!

 

I'll put it this way ? If Ford had only designed D/EW-98 where it could have been produced much less expensive ? it would have had potential for ie not only could the Mustang have been built upon it ? but Ford could have also built their RWD sedans, wagons and other RWD coupes as well..case in point the Lincoln LS had a lot of potential as well as the discontinued T-Bird which IMHO didn't sell due to lack of quality or poor design ? the bottom line was because of their expensive price tags especially with the T-Bird..

 

Thanks for your clarification. Given Ford's state of executing platforms, and what is undergoing change right now with the new CEO, I suspect your suggestion is definitely ahead of what they could have done.

I think I read that for Mustang they would have had trouble meeting weight targets with the convertible because of the structure needing a lot of bracing in the back and therefore removing the room from the backseat area.

 

Thanks for the comments. I agree it was a missed opportunity to reuse that platform for Lincoln. I also thought the LS was a great car - handsome styling!

 

The Lincoln LS & T-Bird (D/EW-98) vehicles were expensive to build because they shared very few parts with other Ford N. American vehicles (lower voulme = higher parts costs). The LS & T-Bird are more like Jaguars than Fords. All their suspension parts are aluminum, they use full double wishbone suspension front & rear, the rear end differential is a Jag design, they have an expensive dual zone climate control system, the '00 - 02 models used an expensive hydraulic motor to run the cooling fan, they have motorized tilt & telescope steering wheels, the door lock mechanisms are Jaguar type, even the power window motors & mechanisms are out of Jaguar and are not a cost effective design.

Lincoln's inept markting of the LS was intentional. Once Ford killed plans to sell the LS in Europe, and killed follow on D/EW-98 vehicles, the D/EW-98 platform was in trouble as the sales volume of the Lincoln LS & T-Bird would never pay for the engineering & tooling costs. So Ford actually was trying to sell fewer LSs & T-Birds so they could kill them off sooner.

As many of you know, the original plan for the 2005 Mustang was to build it on a cost reduced D/EW-98 platform. However D/EW-98 was not really suitable for being used in a convertable (The T-Bird's fatal flaw is body flex) and so much had to be changed that it became a better engineering decision to start over with a new platform for the Mustang.

The Mustang carries over a few similarities with D/EW-98. The floor pan stamping is similar, the dual gas tanks over the drive shaft, a 2 piece drive shaft with flanges instead of U bolts, the 5R55S auto trannie and the ETC.

 

Which is just another reason why Ford is in such financial ruin ? they knew how expensive D/EW-98 was going to cost in engineering & tooling costs but despite this ? they still went ahead with producing the T-Bird and Lincoln LS knowing full well they weren't going to sell enough to cover these costs therefore why in the hell even bother to produce both vehicles off such an expensive platform in the first place ?? Just what exactly was Ford thinking ?? talk about screwing up Geez.. then to top it off as you pointed out about Lincoln's inept markting of the LS was intentional so they could kill it off even sooner just goes to show this platform was doomed before it even began and yet Ford has no clue as to why their in such a mess right ? Go figure lol.

 

It sounds like the situation was in response to something that happened AFTER the business case had been done (canceling plans to sell the LS in Europe). While I am not a marketing guru, I do know that udnerstanding the market viability, along with total costs to meet the anticipated demand, is a dicey proposition. Hopefully, the new CEO's mark will be to change the culture so that global planning happens more effectively.

 

Originally sales of the LS in Europe were delayed until follow on D/EW-98 vehicles came out so there would be a product family to sell in Europe. When the first of those models got canceled ( a smaller LS was the first to be killed ), the plans to sell the LS & it's stillborn siblings in Europe got canceled which then snowballed into killing the LS & T-Bird.

We can sit here and 2nd guess what Ford did wrong with the D/EW-98 platform until the cows come home. Ford just can't seem to make the financial #s work unless they sell at least 100,000 / year of any given vehicle (including different grille clone models). So with planned North American LS sales of 50,000 / year the #s never worked from the start unless other vehicles that shared the LS's parts were also built.

Another fatal flaw in D/EW-98 plans were that it shared so few parts with any other N America vehicle. While the AJ-V8 is a marvelous, incredibly smooth & refined engine, instead of spending hundreds of millions of $$ to add an AJ-V8 engine line in Lima, Ford should have spent the $$ improving the 4.6 mod motor, fixing its NVH issues, getting VVT & 3V heads out a couple years earlier and improving the 4V heads with VVT, etc. Ford should also have used other N American parts like the rear end out of MN-12, used existing window regulators, etc. to take advantage of econimies of scale.

When the Lincoln LS was introduced, Ford said that there would be 9 to 12 additional vehicles that would use the D/EW-98 platform. As we know only 1 of those additional vehicles made it to production.

The sad thing is that it appears Ford is in the exact same situation today with D2C. When the 05 Mustang appeared Ford said that there would be 7 to 9 additional vehicles that would use D2C. Here we are 2-1/2 years after the start of production on the D2C and the S197 Mustang is STILL the only product made on D2C. Ford seems to be struggling to find other uses for D2C and can't make the deal work.

 

...and there you have it. Hence the need for a better integrated "one Ford" company instead of the current semi-autonomous "regional Fords". The thing is, the company's track record with attempting to use a "global" platform isn't that great. The only vehicle that comes closest to being a success is the C1 chassis - Euro Focus, Mazda 3, Volvo S40... it seems to be doing well overall. Even in the U.S. - though not as a Ford (as it should've been from the beginning?) which still leaves me wondering , given economies of scale, the R&D expenditure to update the current NA Focus, the rebates offered to get them moving, and all that. Ok, back to topic!

 

One more bit of history.

At the time the Lincoln LS was being designed & introduced, Lincoln was part of Ford's Premiere Automotive Group along with Jag, Volvo & Aston Martin. Ford had lofty goals to make Lincoln an American BMW. While I'd certain would have liked Lincoln to be selling a family of LS type cars, one has to scratch their heads as to how an upscaled Lincoln would fit in with Jag and Volvo since Jag already competes with BMW and to a certain extent Volvo does too.

In hindsight it sure seems like Ford was trying to jam in far too many overlaping brands & models into the small and already crowded luxury market space.

 

No 09 Spoiler Info as Of Date!

KC