Hallelujah!

 

Amen to that, my fellow brethren

 

Problem i have in the IRS vs solid axle debate is, if IRS does cost more then i would not want it.

Sure they say only $400, but with the mustang, which is supposed to be affordable, you have to just have to cut some places, if you start adding $400 here and oh seats could be better for only $100, wheels could be lighter for $150, little things start to add up and price the mustang out of its own segment.

To me the mustang is about performance per dollar, performance not comfort. So if they add IRS, then use those cheap hard plastics in the inside of the car, use a fricken 1 peice drive shaft, that stupid two peice has gotta cost way more then a one peice and who cares if the car would feel as smooth with the extra dampening, if they do stuff like that to make it a better performing car to add IRS then i am all for it. But I am not about increasing price here and there, cause if you contiune to do that you will end up with a BMW M3, and cost the same too. No manufacture in the world can build a BMW M3 for the price of the stang. You have to cut things to allow the price it is.

/rant.

 

A 400 dollar increase in a 26,000+ car is minimal. Even a $1,000 increase is minimal percentage wise. When you factor that into the typical monthly payment, it's only like 20 more per month. If you are nit picking over 20 dollars a month, then you shouldn't be buying a 26K+ new vehicle. Mustang buyers are willing to pay a little more for added content. You can see this as the S197 progresses through its lifecycle.

 

But the point is if you keep saying oh its just a little here and a little there, it ends up a lot more.

Its the same mentallity that causes so much americans in debt, oh little payment here little there till its so many monthly payments you use your entire paycheck to pay bills.

mustang is already bloated expense wise on other stuff, so if you are going to add irs, take out some other stuff to equal it out. Its a dangerous path looking at little things by themselves because it never seems large by itself, but you add all those little things together and you are in trouble.

 

Ummm... Door #1 please!

 

With the new GRWD platform coming online, and with various cars on it...
...the cost very easily be brought down with the suspension being carried across the board.

Infact it would cost more NOT to have it, and split it between 2 different types of rear ends.

 

Exactly.

 

yup, which is why IRS wont be on the stang till '13 or '14 or maybe even '15.

It's okay with me though, I like the stang the way it is now.

 

You can also see it in the exorbitant amount of money many spend on mods.

Just give us a properly equipped car to begin with.

 

Exactly, it's called manufacturing amortization.

 

Ford had a chance to do this with the S197 too, but chose not to at the last minute

 

Different time and different circumstances.

Makes me think now, if they KNEW when they made that decision that the 05-09 stang was going to be the only car on the platform.
Because if I remember correctly, once that decision was made, it made changes to the platform that wouldn't just allow the IRS to be dropped in a moments notice.

Which kinda sucked because most if not all the work was already done on the IRS

 

Well you can thank Ford's greedy cost cutters, for that not so bold move.

 

Bold Stupidity?

 

And then some

 

Count me in too please!

 

IMHO: If our fellow members really think that the current rear suspension is so very terribly bad, someone now makes a very nice but also very spendy IRS conversion kit for our S197's! Doubt if anyone here really steps up to buy and install that pro IRS system! just too expensive for most of us here!

All of the statements here are very strong arguments by all, about what could have or should have been done on our S197s! And also about the future. Our own CalStang is no world class road racer. It was never ment to be. But it does handle quite nicely. Going around the fun high speed curves and on some of the wonderfully banked interstate clover leafs! I'm sure that the nice wide 18" BFG's are a big help here also. No real big handling disappointments with our CalStang!

For us here. A lot of world class happy for the price of ownership!! Yes it could always be more refined. But at what price? And if you make the package too spendy, then you lose the very reason everyone has loved these fun Mustangs for over Forty-five years. And that is IMHO, it's own great affordability for the American Mustang loving masses. Let the good times continue to roll!! CalStang

 

Do you think owners of other car makes and models complain about thier cars as much as Mustang owners? Is anyone ever completely happy with the cars they own or can every car be improved on? Would everyone be willing to pay 35-40K for the Mustang to have everything everyone wants?
IRS, upgraded interior, 400+HP, ect?

 

I think the main point here is- Ford needs to do something to upgrade the Mustang. Otherwise the car is just not going to compare 'on paper' vs. the Challenger and the Camaro.
Both those cars bring a lot of features to the table that the Mustang lacks, and the cost of those extra features is not much more than a premium GT.

In a few months we will see what Ford has planned for the 2010 model. All this competition is good for the consumer- let the automakers fight it out for our money. The only loser will be the person who is so brand loyal that he refuses to switch automakers even if the car/model is badly outgunned by the competition.