Stormbringer

What the hell are these mutton chops people keep talking about. I'm looking at the car and I have absolutely no idea what you people are seeing that look like giant sideburns.

Mustang Buster

The are the black plastic triangles that connect between the lower grill and the front of the front wheel wells. I cannot stand them, and I think they are tied with the black plastic on the rear of the car for the worse features of the 2010 redesign.

TampaBear67

Mutton Chops.

Starfleet007

Mutton crap!!

stangfoeva

At least they are functional.

houtex

Explain 'functional'. A hole in the bumper would have been 'functional' as well.

stangfoeva

Simple, they reduce the drag on the car. There is an explanation of exactly how it works in one of the design blurbs released by Ford

fdjizm

how can a triangluar pocket facing the front of the car effectively reduce drag?

stick your hand out of a car window while its moving and make that shape tell me what u feel lol

TampaBear67

They're not really deep enough to "Catch" the air as you put it. They direct the air around the side of the car, and around the tires, thereby, along with the Belly Pan on the GT, reducing Frontal Lift by 23% over the 05- 09's, I believe they claimed. Honestly they are close to the front splitter on a GT-500 except they tied these into the new lower grill. I like them actually. They're not my favorite aspect of the 2010 but they remind me of the aerodynamic aids used in the 60's and 70's in a new and modern way.

stangfoeva

Thanks for explaining it Tampa.

Don't forget fdjizm that drag is not only about surface area, but also depends an shape as well....

tom_vilsack

it's a seinfeld thing

http://noolmusic.com/youtube_videos/...for_mutton.php

topbliss

UGLY.. would be nicer if they were body colored... maybe

boy, when I saw the preview shots of the 2010 I was so excited and was prwetty sure I would be buying one. no way. Ill keep my 07 beauty.

MustangGuy

The 2010 needs to be cleaned up, too gimmicky The front and rear have far too much going on.

rhumb

I suspect they are functional, or one would hope that that's the rationale, but they are a clumsy and artless design solution at best. It looks like the engineers essentially tacked these on late in the game with little interest in truly integrating them with the overall styling.

eric n

I sat in the 10 at the LA auto show. I unfortunately liked it considerably more than my 05. Though the mods will have to start immediately. The factory 400 hp SC package sounds nice as well. Certainly makes it more competitive with the Camaro.

These are interesting times. Pony cars everywhere and the economy is in the ****ter. We shall see.

houtex

Thanks Tampa. Exactly what I needed on that!

Now, I have another question. How fast does the car need to be going to realize this benefit? Corollary: Why isn't this on all 2010s and not just GT if it's so awesome? Further corollary: Does this improve MPG in any way?

Thanks again!

Black GT500

LOL Over the speed limit anywhere in this country anyway...

Black GT500

Sideburns are patches of facial hair grown on the sides of a man's face, in front of the ears. The term "sideburns" is a 19th century corruption of the original burnsides, named after American Civil War general Ambrose Burnside, a man known for his unusual facial hairstyle that connected thick sideburns by way of a moustache but left the chin clean-shaven.

The word "Sideburns" is also a broad term that encompasses several other distinct types of facial hair, such as Mutton Chops and Friendly Mutton Chops. Mutton Chops are sideburns named for their mutton-like shape as they extend down to the corner of the mouth, while Friendly Mutton Chops connect both sideburns with a "friendly" moustache — a style of facial hair not unlike the one worn by Burnside.




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sideburns

TampaBear67

Quote:

Originally Posted by houtex

Thanks Tampa. Exactly what I needed on that!

Now, I have another question. How fast does the car need to be going to realize this benefit? Corollary: Why isn't this on all 2010s and not just GT if it's so awesome? Further corollary: Does this improve MPG in any way?

Thanks again!

As for the speed that one needs to be going for this to be of benefit, I would imagine anything over 50-60 mph as far as lift is concerned, as speed increases, so also does drag. The more air that can be directed over and around the car rather than under it reduces frontal lift.

Also, the reduced frontal area of the 2010 benefits it's aerodynamics. The front grill and headlamps are narrower and the reshaping of the bumper, along with the "Mutton Chops" as aerodynamic aids all help to reduce the frontal area. Thus decreasing it's coefficient of drag. No one Touts these C/D Numbers anymore, like they did in the 80's. The lowest I remember on a production car was a C/D of 29 for a Pontiac Firebird.

The GT has a different style than the V6, that the Designers decided to tie them into the Lower Front Grill actually making the "Mutton Chops" and the Lower Grill all one piece. The painted lower section of the front Lower Grill is a separate piece as well I believe, after looking at many Hi Res pictures.

Here is a pic of the V6, where you can see where the "Mutton Chops" evolved from. Clearly the V6 is much less of a High Performance car so The Effects of This Aid are Required less for High Speed Stability, as the GT would require a bit More.



I have a feeling the Designers intended the Front or Center Portions of the "Mutton Chops" on the GT to Be more of a Stabilizer Strut for the Lower Lip of the Splitter/Lower Grill section similar to those found on Race Cars like this Mustang.




And lastly, YES. Any amount of Aerodynamic Efficiency affects the Miles Per Gallon, you asked about. The lower the Coefficient of Drag or C/D Number is the "Slipperier" the vehicle is, thus requiring less power , and thus less fuel. That is why Ford was Leader Of the Pack in the early Eighties, when they introduced the Aero Styled Thunderbirds, and They Cleaned Up the NASCAR Tracks against their Competition.

Stormbringer

AHHHHH! This picture helps. I can see the resemblance here. I kept thinking 70's Elvis but this is much closer.