Test drove a GT today. The interior is nice, but a little gimmicky with the toggle switches. The ride was smooth, but didn't feel like my 2014. It felt sort of sedan-ish comfort wise. I actually dislike that feeling in a sportscar. The best thing about it was the color. I never thought I'd like orange, but it would look killer with black side and rally stripes to match the black accents and wheels. But that rear is a deal breaker. I absolutely hate it.

 

It's intriguing to know that since I started this thread, a few of you have chimed in with your own experiences and your thoughts of the s550. It's interesting to note that most of you share some similarities with my sentiments towards the new car and the S197.

Keep em coming. All opinions, pro or against either generation.

 

I feel the same way about the '13/14 rear... the license area in particular. Gave serious thought to picking up a closeout '14 several months back, but just couldn't get past the rear. Local dealer has a low mileage black CPO '13 California Special that I'd be very interested in except for that one glaring item (and that it's black... sworn off black four times now!)

I like the rear on the '15 other than the piano black panel. To my eye, that just looks wrong on anything other than black. One of the things I'm hoping they'll 'fix' with the '16... but not holding my breath.

 

I saw a DIB S550 with black wheels and blacked out emblems at a local mall yesterday, this will be my next car if I ever sell my 14. Told my girlfriend I was going to test drive one today and she said no, keep your mustang forever babe :-)

 

New forum member here and here's my two cents of why I chose the S197 over the S550...


I took a test drive of the S550 anniversary edition automatic in black and it was a compliant ride with a nice interior, and then took a pre-certified 2014 S197 GT Premium with stick test drive right afterwards.


I then parked the S197 and S550 nose-to-nose and preferred the sleeker lines the S197 has despite the outgoing body style.


The S550 is a nice ride, but it didn't give me that mustang "muscle car" feel, and for me that's what the Mustang is all about.


To be honest when I do see a S550 on the road I think what the heck is that and then see the ugly rear end and say to myself... that's why you didn't buy the S550...

 

Ditto. My sentiments exactly. I like the interior and the performance, but I can not stand the rear end, and I'm not thrilled about the Fusion front either. Both deal breakers for me.

 

X2 to that

 

Welcome to the Forum and thank you for a great post.

 

So much about this post I agree with. . Thanks for the insight

 

I hear ya, too. I think a 550 is in my future, but compared to the S197s, I'm still loving' those more.

Was out with my daughter yesterday. She thought Mustangs were a 'dad thing' until we went to the 50th in Vegas. She fell in love with them there. She especially loves the New Edge style. We went for ice cream and she drove - she's practicing her MT skills, and doing great.

We were outside enjoying the day and our snack and had a view similar to the below of my V6, with a generic sedan near it and she says "My GOD your car is hot. I mean look at that thing!"

Thats exactly how I feel when seeing the 10s+. Add the drivetrains of the 11s+ and the S197's are really in a class of their own.

 

The more I spend my time waiting for my car at the ford dealer, I seem to keep on day dreaming of the new one... I found my self sitting in all of them the longer I wait the more I want one... **** you Ford! I test drove the 5.0, now want to check the ecoboost... I refuse to trade in my GB 13.

 

^ don't. If you get one, get one in addition.

For me, the 15 is a nice car, but not enough to compel me to get one. I much prefer the S197 (mine) over it.

btw, you're not missing much on the ecoboost.

 

Man I never thought I would be in such a small minority about that motor. Interesting.

 

Yeah there is no way I will be trading the s197 esp since these will go down as the ones remembered in history. Anyhow I want to try the Eco boost not because I want one but I can see me owning a new 4 cyl motor for Europe ( I am from Serbia ). I love my v8, there is no replacement for displacement. I am just enjoying the ecoboost 2.0l 15 escape that ford gave me as a loaner.

Edit: if I do get one it will be 16 or later, and it has to be a specialty viechele.

 

In person, I love the 15 rear end, especially from the rear 3/4 view. The car has so much presence on the road, even the base rental models. Maybe because it's new and there's 100k S197s in my area? Possibly.

I don't even mind the front end that much anymore, especially on the GT350. The interior is okay - I was more impressed with the design in pictures, versus the actual feel in person. The cupholders are definitely an improvement! I still haven't driven one, and don't know when I'll ever get time to, but for now, I enjoy seeing them on the road and I see more and more every day. They always give me a thumbs up and I do to them as well. No one wants to see the Mustang go away, even if it's not styled to their liking. I don't think any car is perfect, and there are things I don't like about the S197 too, so I don't fault the S550 for not being perfect either. There are just things I like about it more than my car, and a lot more about my car that I like better than the S550...

That said, I've said this a dozen times here...if Ford offered it with a Glass Roof, I would have bought one instead of my 2014. That was the deal breaker for me. I'll never buy another car without glass over my head. I love it. I can't stand driving a metal roof car anymore!

 

They do make a retractable canvas roof for it.

 

The 2016 Focus RS will probably be my next performance car, if the GT 350 doesn't reel me in.

 

Okay, so they gave me a 2015 V6 loaner while they fixed the hood corrosion on my 2014. I had it for about 24 hours and got a fair amount of time behind the wheel. First thing I would say is that if I was in the market for an S550 at the V6 / Ecoboost price range I would go with the V6. It has a good interior and the performance level is good enough for daily driving to give the owner some spirited driving. Paying the extra money for the premium interior would not be worth it in my book.

Secondly, the cabin noise is noticeably quieter than in my S197 and while the car does have good handling characteristics it also feels heavy and clumsy at times. I don't know what they have done to the 3.7 but it just didn't feel like it had any grunt like mine does. Maybe they had it in demonstration mode or something. There are a number of minor improvements over the S197 but frankly I didn't see or experience anything that would incline me to trade my 2014 for one. It's just not worth the increased price tag in my opinion.

 

I definitely agree there. That was one of my observations right away too. More isolation of road noise, etc. More refined… good thing for sure. But for my toy muscle car, I want unfiltered

 

Lol at a $5k premium. Although, I think the S550 looks best as a vert, with the top down. I just don't care for convertibles with the top up, and the price/lack of security that comes with the territory.

And as far as refined, less road noise, I would more than gladly give up road noise on my S197. The car simply resonates with road and tire noise too much. Blocking out road noise doesn't mean exhaust noise needs to be blocked out - they're two completely different frequency ranges.