KR3259

good gawd! those pix had to have been taken with a bad cell phone camera...jeez!!

interesting though, the shot of the grill with the small opening for the airflow...just stepped out to the garage and looked at my 06GT, the opening is actually about the same, its just the driving lights take up the "dead" space you see on the Bullitt grill.

VAiN

That grill is terrible. and I don't subscribe to the idea that a larger opening would cause the hood to lift at high speed. The bottom line, IMO, is Ford got cheap and used the same grill as the GTs.

05fordgt

Jim, while the prices are getting up there, you got to remember, the new Mustang, while triple the prices as what you remember, are really twice or 3 times the car they used to be, in terms of comfort, handling, performance and safety. I want a '68 Fastback made up like a Bullitt, but I wouldn't drive it near as much as my new car, as the new car is much more comfortable for long drives.

Five Oh Brian

Yeah, maybe in absolute dollars, but not in reality.....

I bought a brand new 1989 Mustang 5.0L LX Sport hatchback in March 1989. MSRP was $15,750 (loaded 5-speed car). MSRP of the 2007 Mustang GT I bought last year was $30,300 (almost double). But, was my 07 really twice the price as my LX from the good old days? Not really when you factor in cost of living, inflation, etc. I make about 3-4 times as much income per year as I did in 1989, yet a new Mustang V8 only doubled in price in that same period of time.

Dixie_Flatline

Exactly.

I forget the numbers for earlier decades, but from 1996-2006 alone, inflation was 25%. That means that anything you bought in US$ in 1996 cost 25% more to buy in 2006. And that's just changes in what the currency buys

The entire industry's trend towards more expensive safety features and the like costs everyone who buys a car in the US. Do you think Ford is paying for all those airbags in the 05+ Mustang GTs? No, you are when you buy it. Same goes with federally mandated crash testing and any other increase to the manufacturer. Talk about expensive, but boy, oh boy are those things worth it - I like staying alive quite much, thank you!

My dad remembers buying a brand new corvette for a little over $10 grand. Does that mean Corvettes today are overpriced?

Not to write a book here or anything (don't they limit wordcount for newbs these days?), but take a look at anything else. $30 grand for a fully loaded Mustang GT is a bargain compared with everything else out there. And last I looked Corvettes are $20k more from MSRP to MSRP and Corvettes have much more (and more expensive) options available. My current car (an 07 something-or-other) cost me less than that $20k spread....

These cars are a bargain.

SoFlaBoss

Even with the bad photography, I notice that the tach on the new Bullitt redlines at 6500, not 6000 like normal GT. Why's that?

Tony Alonso

The hole pattern was designed for cooling airflow. It channels air because of the way they are aligned.

Whammer

I think the redline is actually 6250. They bumped it up 250 in order for people to get a more racing feel when driving the car. The extra 250 give you a little more time before before the rev limiter kicks in.

wally05

I'm pretty sure it's 6,500 by the looks of the pic. Anyways... the pics stink, lol.

Dixie_Flatline

Yeah the exterior pics are pretty poor. Those point and click digicams can be pretty bad indoors - but you'd think someone trying to earn a living would make darned well certain their representative photos are pristine.

I make my living through sales of big ticket expenditures and people judge rather quickly on exterior appearance - and quite often for good reason. Sometimes it's one of the few things a buyer has available to judge a salesperson by when digital representations of a person's reputation can be only so much glittering ephemera. They want to make sure you're going to be around after the sale.

And from what I've seen and heard, the RPM bump is from the stock GT's 6250 to 6500. Course I don't have one yet, so can't quite confirm first hand.

Whammer

Stand corrected- I did some checking and yes it is 6500rpm- a boost of 250.

SoFlaBoss

Thanks for checking. However, what makes a higher redline allowed. It doesn't have forged internals, right?

Dixie_Flatline

No, forged internals would probably have jacked the price up another couple grand. Would have been nice in a sense, but I doubt many Bullitt buyers are going to modify their engines that drastically anyway. The stock 4.6s will take a low boost F/I pretty well from everything I've heard. Forged internals are needed after about 450 rwhp?

I think the upped redline comes from the CAI and pretty conservative tune FRPP uses. The car also has some sort of adaptive spark plug program that automatically senses the fuel octane and adjusts spark burn accordingly. I'm not sure how that may allow a higher redline - maybe not as much worry of accidentally burning high octane fuel and melting things that are better off not molten? They do make a point of saying there is no drop off or gain in upper end hp/tq #'s, but with higher octane the program will reach peak #s sooner in the RPM bands.

But I also read somewhere about a slightly different piece up top - I'm certainly no mechanic and for the life of me can't find the article that mentioned it - there've been so many articles recently on this car and I've a short enough attention span as it is!

AFBLUE

I think dealers do the ADM thing in hopes that they will hook an uniformed buyer (under the sucker is born every minute theory).

All they need is 1 person that falls for it.

RCSignals

it isn't just the Bullitt grille with that size opening. Fogs in the GT grille just hide the fact more.

goesfast

It also has a different crank damper/balancer than a regular GT. This would allow it to "spool up" or rev quicker to the 6500 red line. Perhaps this is what you were thinking about.

goesfast

There is no question that the new Mustang is a better all-around car than the previous ones. They still represent the best value out there for a performance car. The consumer has demanded more in the way of safety and performance, which has resulted in augmented pricing over the old "bare-bones" Sn95 platform. Most people lease cars now and do not take on the total price of the car when they drive away to make the payments. I use my own gauge to determine just where valued pricing is now versus yesterday: When I bought my first new Mustang GT, my yearly salary was about 2 1/2 times the price of the car. Today, I'm well under the doubled price of a new Mustang. Perhaps I just haven't had the salary increases that most others have realized (or I'm getting too old!), as I feel the prices are starting to get a tad too high to substantiate the "wow, what a steal this car is!" factor anymore. The Mustang is, and in particular the Bullitt, good or better value but not great value, than other performance cars on the market. But the good news is that I'm partial to the Mustang and always have been. Relative to what else is out there, it's about all I can afford. Mustangs have always been a poor man's hot rod and continue to be (in stock form). That's how I developed the desire for the car that remains today. Sure, I'd love to have a Ferrari, but I can't sleep in it. Because Mustangs are reasonably priced, it makes them that much more fun to drive. More fun per mile!

Dixie_Flatline

Auto insurance on a new Ferrari is upwards of $20k a year too. : )

Cars have been getting more and more expensive decade after decade. I've read plenty of cost vs. income economics case studies and everything we buy keeps getting more and more expensive. Taxes keep going up on everything and it's not just incomes that are taxed anymore. And we have to pay for things we never even dreamt of having 20-30 years ago. Cell phones? Cable TV? Internet? Computers?

Yeah, things keep getting more expensive all right.

But when you can buy a bottom of the barrel import that hasn't been road tested for a year, let alone 40, for the same price as a V6 Mustang - which one's the bad deal? Another couple grand (fine, 8k without any negotiations) for the GT? Anything that compares is immediately 10-15k more when you've fully specced it out and added leather seats and shiny muffler coffee cans or whatever. Yeah, compared to past Mustangs, these may be pricey, but hot **** are they ever worth it! And compared to anything else out there? I'm sorry, but there's not really any decent comparison right now.

Dixie_Flatline

Yeah, that was it! Thanks!

KenB

The pics in the beginning of this thread are from about 800 feet from here, lol. That is my local dealer. I for one have no problem with ADM if they can get the money for it.

Sorta like stock, if you bought some at $100 and it went up to $120 would you only take $100 for it? If someone is willing to pay it, why not make the extra profit. That's what built America. If you have a problem with ADM, then don't buy it.

That one above sold to someone in England for a good markup.