I understand. My point is that some people think the Mustang is a corvette when in fact it is (and always has been) an entry level pony car. It will always share technology with other brand cars. It was built off the Falcon and will continue to share parts to save money in orer to keep it at its current price point.
Look at it this way. From a handling point of view the S197 with its POS live axle will run circles around a terminator as far as handling goes. The IRS doesn't offer THAT much of an improvement...especially at our price point. There's a phrase you can put lipstick on a pig.....lol.
The problem is that an IRS (although more desireable) would add weight and expense to a car that many consider overweight and carefully balances its price in order to remain competitive. Don't forget that the Corvette was actually discontinued just a few short years ago. Once you get into a $40K price range the market is incredibly finicky. I think we can all admit that the Vette is probably the best "bang for the buck" car you can buy off the showroom floor, but the main reason Chevy keeps it is name recognition vs profitability. And Ford is in worse financial shape than GM so the bottom line is getting larger every day.

 

Did you mean to say "the Camaro was discontinued"? The Vette did actually go out of production for one year (1983). I agree and to be honest I like the solid rear panhard in the 05' is much better than the IRS in my Cobra. The Cobra handles well but it is impossible to eliminate the rediculous wheel-hop! I'm affraid to have a hard launch because it wheel hops and makes me feel like im gonna break it! I agree that the 05' outhandles the 03-04 but maybe not the 99,01 Cobras. The biggest problem with the terminators and now the GT500s is that the car is VERY noseheavy. I think its weight is something like 65/35 while the 01 Cobras like the 05 Mustang are closer to 50/50. I may be wrong but I think the 01' Cobra is a better handling car than the 05' GT.

 

The 99.01 are lighter but the IRS is the same kind of bandaid.

It handles better than the live axle, but crap+1, while better than crap...its just 1 better

The 05 handles nicely due to its overall structure/setup. The pre05s were all bandaids, and while they did a good job, the newer platform (and rightfully so) handles leagues better than the Sn95s.

Put a handling pack on them and they are amazing, but at the expense of a harsher ride. The stock setup is an amazing compromise.
And even the SRA 3 link in the stock setup, while not perfect still handles extremely well.
Most people who dog it, have never driven one (S197)

The other thing is MOST people have no idea about whats underneath.
They could care less. They might only know it has a SRA and spout that its bad because they were told so, not because they know a lick of difference between the 2.
I'd go out on a limb and say that a majority of the population wouldn't know the difference in driving one or the other.

I still think the 2010 will have a SRA beefed up.
And leave the IRS (if in the works, which I would imagine) with the huntsman global platform...to help offest the costs.

 

I agree, its funny how car magazine editors praised the SRA back when the 05' was first launched and now these same writers bash on the set-up. I feel that if the already expensive Mustang (most GTs on the lot are over 30k these days) will go up 3-4k in price with the IRS then leave it alone or make it exclusive to SEs like a future Boss, Cobra R or Shelby, while the Mach1 (a drag car) and GT, V6s can keep the SRA. Another possibility is maybe make it an optional feature in the future models.

 

there is no reason why the car would increase 3-4k with inclusion of the IRS.

 

Sorry if the figure is not accurate but thats what i read in an artical explaining why the 05' didnt have it. maybe it was 2-3k

 

And on top of that the MN-12 IRS is not the greatest IRS design in the first place. Suspect IRS design Band-Aided into a flimsy, obsolete platform = disaster.

 

Nope I was referring to the Vette. You are right in that GM did not produce a vette in '83, but they decided to hold out for the '84 redesign to align with the 30th anniversary. In 95/96(?) GM actually decided to discontinue the Corvette. Luckily they changed their minds and proceeded with the C5. I'm not a Corvette expert, I could find out specifics if you are interested.

 

Agreed. Although I never owned a Terminator, my previous car (to my S197) was a Kenny Brown Cobra. My S197 offers 90% of what that car could do with a much better ride quality. And keep in mind that KB tend to be the most street friendly of the tuners.

 

Y'know interstingly a well designed IRS takes up less space than a live axle, since the whole of the supsension doesn't have to move (this is probably best exploited by FWD cars since there is no need to put a diff back there) so the impact of having an IRS/SRA capable chassis isn't probably all that great. I'd hazard a guess that the biggest pain would be getting the trailing links of an IRS just right? However if you using a SLA type IRS, it might be even simpler (you could dispense with trailing links and use strut rods instead to keep toe in check)

 

Was the foxbody IRS MN12 based (lower control arms maybe)???

 

I do not recall any magazine editors (other than Ford only & Mustang only magazine editors ) ever praising the S197 SRA. The best I remember is sort of faint praise to the effect of "For a SRA it's acceptable". Translated, "It's the best execution we've seen of inferior technology."

 

My understanding is the SN-95 Cobra IRS was taken straight from the MN-12 and adapted to the Cobra.

 

The Cobra should have been so lucky. There are some similarities which indicate that Ford definately took as much as they could from the MN12 design. For example, with minor mods Cobra shocks can be employed on an MN12 based car, the same is true of the hubs, and the carriers will swap out (although that last portion isn't so significant......Ford used the 8.8inch carrier in virtually everything, even the Explorer)

Unfortunately all of the really important stuff, like the control arms themselves and virtually all of the suspension geometry, are noticeably different. The MN12's front and rear IRS setups were really, really sweet stuff. In fact, in the early 90's, the MN12's IRS was easily the best IRS from an American car maker and possibly the best in the business whatever portion of the earth you might be discussing.

Unfortunately Ford never tapped the cars true potential and it died with most models possessing suspension tuning more appropriate for a Crown Vic than a large GT American or otherwise.