My 60,000 mile review of my own 5.0: http://www.kylerohde.com/2014/04/04/...0-mile-review/

 

Premium ecoboost? Does that add a different engine package?

 

What you guys are completely missing is that Ford DOES compete directly with the German brands all over the world, where the Mustang is now being sold for the first time. For example, in England, the Ford Mondeo (our Fusion) has a starting price within £3,000 pounds ($4,576) of the BMW 3-Series. They compete in a lot of categories and, since Ford only has the Ford brand throughout much of the world, since Lincoln isn't a global player, Ford goes upmarket.

Just like the Corvette is continuing to improve to the point where it can compete with the European sports cars, there's no reason Ford can't. The GT-350 is going to be every bit as high performance as car as the BMW M3/4, for example.

@xtc.inc, your comments about the quality of American cars makes me wonder if you've driven one since the 90's. Those kinds of beliefs are so tired and outdated.

@Varilux, that definition of a muscle car hasn't really been accurate since the 70's. There is no muscle car category anymore and continuing to trade on nostalgia isn't going to work with the baby boomers reaching their 70's. It needed to evolve and the S550 is a great step in that direction. Sports cars and 2-door cars in general are suffering greatly in sales so, again, they had to do something beyond another 60's retro job.

I don't think it's perfect either but it's **** good. I don't think we can fairly judge the success of failure of it until we see how it sells throughout Europe and Asia, and here in the US.

 

No, it gives you the option to switch the engine mode between "normal" "sport" "track" and "snow / wet" where as the entry level ecoboost just gives you normal mode only. In sport mode there is a noticeable improvement in the off the line performance and across the RPM range.

 

Trust me, I've driven it. A 4 is a 4. Performance is "ok" for its class. Those features you mention don't make that stark of a difference.

Again, it's a good car, but if I'm in the market for a sporty car and had a budget of 30-40k, not sure if I'd pick the new pony.

 

I think I have some experience that qualifies my opinion. I currently own:

2012 Boss 302
2013 SVT Raptor
2014 CLA45 AMG

Past vehicles: BMW 335 vert, Porsche Cayenne Turbo, GLK350, Audi A4, Mazda rx8, Honda S2000

My first american car was the Boss 302. My second was the raptor. As much hate as there may be for the CLA45, its a solid car and better than many realize. It lapped VIR faster than many exotics and cars above its price range. It can keep up with the old C63 and m3. It is the right size in a world of ever growing performance sedans. But I get it... It's not for everyone, and mine is fully loaded with upgraded interior, so my experience is better than others I'm sure. My wife drives it most days.

That being said, I can tell you with absolute conviction that the Germans certainly do upscale materials better than ford. However, when it comes to build quality...

Every last one of my german cars have rattled on the interior or have required some sort of significant tsb or warranty work.

The fords have been flawless and totally rattle free. I feel they are the best screwed together of any car I've owned. Built like a tank in my mind-- especially the raptor. And I drive this thing off road and through blizzards.

I feel there is a real difference in PERCEIVED build quality vs what's really going on. Give a higher end ford 20 years of hard abuse and do the same to a german car, and I would bet money that the german vehicle will require far more repairs and cost far more to keep running. It will also likely age far worse. My cayenne interior looked like garbage after several years. The 2012 GLK350 I owned didn't feel very "premium" and actually felt like it used the same plastics as my mustang. The brakes on that car were horrible, and warped almost every year. The cayenne went through two radiators. The 3 series had a constant buzzing noise from the stereo when the car was off. The A4's door handle ripped out of the door panel when closing the door one day, and the AC condenser went out on it that very same week. So far the cla45 has been solid, but has a tsb out for a turbo rebuild. I have had no such problems with the fords. I suspect they won't be as trouble free as japanese, but better than euro.

I'm not sold on the German hype around premium build. It certainly has not been my experience, although I love all my cars objectively.

 

boss 302

 

The Europeans have invested a lot work in convincing American consumers that their brands are somehow a cut above. I don't buy it either. I've seen too many Audi owners with a long list of complaints. Pretty much anything built by VW / Audi in the last ten years is questionable quality at best. I personally know a guy who owns a Lamborghini that rue's the day they were bought out by Audi because the quality of Lamborghini has suffered as a result.

 

Do you know what the most reliable car in the world is? Its the same car the germans tested over and over and rated as having the least faults and breakdowns.

Its the Toyota Corolla.

Why do you think that is?

Its because that car features less parts than more complex superior German cars. Its technology is very simple and straight forward. Based on simple probability, that vehicle has a smaller chance of malfunction. It doesnt mean its a better car. It has roll down windows, so there is no electric motor for the window to go out, break etc...

Pretty simple concept to grasp. High end cars are far more complex and feature a greater amount of parts. Of course its more likely something will go wrong.

Thats just like saying i have 4 cows, and billy has 400 cows. None of my cows die but billy has 4 cows die. I must have better cows than billy.

Is that really true, or is it just that the more cows you have the more likely it is that some of them will die?

Lol who cares man, its the internet. Why you take your threads so seriously lol. I remember when you made a 5 page thread about 20$ gas cap with a write up the length of a college term paper

Im just screwing with you lol, but i have driven the car and I did state my opinion and you had nothing to say lol

LOL i have a mustang as you can see in my sig. Who would have thought huh?

People dont realize that these companies could never sell Lexus, Infinity, Acura, Lincoln etc in Europe. Nobody there is dumb enough to pay a 20k premium on re-badged nonsense.

Be honest with me, but more importantly be honest with yourself... what do you think is a superior car... Ford Fusion or BMW 3 series?

Americans always had great engines and provided great bang for your buck but cut corners else where. Up until very recently, possibly even still...they made passengers cars with a chassis and leaf springs. Im pretty sure thats not even legal for roads in Germany LOL.

To be honest, id rather have a GT350 than a BMW M4... only because the M4 does not offer a naturally aspirated v8.

Like i say, Americans make great performance cars but they cut corners to offer such performance at a lower price resulting in crappier cars that are just as fast if not faster.


------------------------

Anyways, back on topic to keep Burton happy LOL.

The s197 hits the pony car mark and succeeds in it. It offers the performance, styling and driving characteristics of something in no other class and no other price range.

Why do i drive a mustang gt? Because i cant afford a BMW M6, Maserati GT or Aston Martin Vantage.

Thanks to Ford, i can experience my dream of front engine, v8, 2 door RWD coupe for much less money and still be satisfied. Thats why and how they make money.

The s550 should not be compared to euro spec rides, its still not a premium vehicle so why compare it to one. Just enjoy it for what it is, and be happy you dont have to eat chinese noodles and sprinke kool-aid packets on them for flavor everyday to get a v8 power band with recaro seats

 

@Varilux, that definition of a muscle car hasn't really been accurate since the 70's. There is no muscle car category anymore and continuing to trade on nostalgia isn't going to work with the baby boomers reaching their 70's. It needed to evolve and the S550 is a great step in that direction. Sports cars and 2-door cars in general are suffering greatly in sales so, again, they had to do something beyond another 60's retro job.

I completely agree with you that the build quality of the Mustang is leap years beyond where its historically been. Without a doubt, my '14 is the best Mustang I've ever driven (and I've owned quite a few from every generation).

Just to clarify, I'm not a Boomer- I'm a Buster (in fact, I turn 47 today). I get your point about the muscle car category changing since the 70s (the last great pure muscle car IMO was the '70 Boss... preferably in Grabber Orange ). However, that doesn't change the fact that my '14 GT is definitely something different from the sports cars being put out by the Europeans. Even my French Audi-driving boss grudgingly admits there is something primal and "beastly" about my S197. All I'm saying is that that "beastly" aspect was the differentiating feature of the Mustang- its "value proposition" if you will- and with the S550 Ford is unquestionably walking away from that positioning. I personally think the direction they are going is going to be a LOT harder to differentiate, and differentiation is what sells any product!

Now if I could only afford the new Ford GT with its twin turbo six...

 

Yeah that was kinda my point.

 

Dang Johnny's got the pimp juice lol

 

Lexus sells cars that do everything your precious european brands do, are just as nice and guess what, Lexus is the single most reliable brand on the market.

 

Because its a Toyota. Ha ha ha

 

Happy Birthday!


And more on topic: My 2014 GT has had some rattles, mainly the front dash (solved with some thin strips black fabric wedged in the right places between the plastic), and also somewhere near the rear right window which I've mitigated but not yet solved. And this after only one year - my 2000 Celica GTS didn't get any rattles for at least the first five years. In terms of fit and finish on the inside, the Toyota does win out - attention to detail was higher. Like sculpting out the spot on the doors to make it easier to get in/out, whereas Ford put a huge speaker there for your feet to kick whenever trying to get in and some idiot has parked too close so it's a squeeze, or the plastic panel parts with sharp corners under the steering wheel which are occasionally the bane of kneecaps.

I haven't gotten in a 2015 yet, so hoping they improved those issues, though that won't do me much good as I still won't trade in my 2014 for a 2015...

 

That's fair. However, if you haven't ever driven a Mustang, which will be true for almost everybody outside the US, and you drive the S550, I am very certain it is going to feel and drive very different from the sports coupes/cars/etc. that they've driven before. At the price it's going to be sold at, it will absolutely be compared to the BMW 4-Series, Audi A5, etc. and the styling and performance will feel very different, without the crude/rough feeling that you guys like and think of as primal, but someone new to the car would perceive as cheap and crappy. Mustang is probably the best-known car in the world, except maybe the Beetle, and there's going to be a ton of people interested in it for that reason alone - I think the S550 is going to be a far better first impression for them, while also bringing in some new blood in the US, while hopefully not pissing off too many of us. That's all

 

Make it look a little better and I'm fine with it.

 

If I didn't already have my '13 (and it is paid for), I'd get a '15 GT. They do look a lot better in person than the pictures I've seen, and I like the adaptive cruise, cooled seats, etc. But, since I do have my '13, I hope to enjoy it for quite a few more years.

 

The 2015 definetly doesn't look better in person. That rear looks far worse in person than pictures.

 

And more on topic: My 2014 GT has had some rattles, mainly the front dash (solved with some thin strips black fabric wedged in the right places between the plastic), and also somewhere near the rear right window which I've mitigated but not yet solved.

The only car I've ever had that didn't rattle a bit was the BMW Z4 Coupe- that car was super solid (it had to be, the suspension was so stiff you'd lose a filling when you drove over a dime ).

In my '14, I spent a year chasing the most annoying rattle (which sounded like it was coming from the middle of the dash). I took everything apart, installed some rubber strips, and still the stupid rattle persisted. Then one day I went to adjust my rear view mirror (while driving over some bumps). The second I touched the mirror, the rattle disappeared... arghhhh! Yep, a small strip of rubber between the mirror body and the windshield, and no more rattle.

Seriously, my 2014 feels like a very solid car. During the 10 year evolution of the S197, the improvement in build quality was astounding. Ford really squeezed every ounce of goodness they could get from the S197- maybe that's why they moved on to a new platform, but I think a little of the angst here is the S197 was just at the point of being perfected when its lifespan came to an end!

However, if you haven't ever driven a Mustang, which will be true for almost everybody outside the US, and you drive the S550, I am very certain it is going to feel and drive very different from the sports coupes/cars/etc. that they've driven before. At the price it's going to be sold at, it will absolutely be compared to the BMW 4-Series, Audi A5, etc. and the styling and performance will feel very different, without the crude/rough feeling that you guys like and think of as primal, but someone new to the car would perceive as cheap and crappy. Mustang is probably the best-known car in the world, except maybe the Beetle, and there's going to be a ton of people interested in it for that reason alone - I think the S550 is going to be a far better first impression for them, while also bringing in some new blood in the US, while hopefully not pissing off too many of us.
Fair enough- and I hope you're right! I have a lot of French coworkers (many of whom are into cars), and it does seem like that IRS was key to getting them to even consider the Mustang a serious car (of course, when they ride in my '14, the universal observation they have is "this handled a lot better than I would have thought"). Since perception is reality, perhaps that's the biggest argument for the IRS. Many of them drive Audis (and are becoming quickly disenfranchised with the experience), but it is surprising how many of them are into Subarus (something about autocross or something)! I will say the WRX is quite an experience to drive!