Don't you think the test mules riding around with an IRS gives us more than a 50% chance now? Don't get me wrong Ford has dine a great job with the 05-13 cars but I'm sure they are getting sick of the criticism they get in reviews for it. I for one, living in a part of the country with crappy roads welcome it.

 

There really isnt any debate about it. The new car will have IRS.

 

True, this^. Perhaps a better discussion would be on the possible design and characteristics of the inevitable IRS.

 

I'm sure it will be plenty strong to handle an SVT powered version making 650+HP! With launch control I don't see wheel hop being an issue either. I'm hoping that the launch control from the current GT500 trickles down to the GT for 2015!

 

Good to hear. I think they can do some great things with an IRS system. Would also love to see what the boss can do with one.

 

What do you mean? The prototype s197 control arms, links and other components were aluminum. Another argument is the fact that an IRS setup has a lot less unsprung mass (dead weight). You cant agrue with physics and a dynamically superior rear end setup. The only reason they ditched it was because it was cheaper to produce in mass quantities. I dont know what this Steve Ling was informed but it seems like he thought it was made out of lead!
The Mustang has always moved forward with the times and now it will again. I rest my case.

 

In regards to the S197, the IRS was only a tad heavier overall and it ended up only costing I believe $80 per unit more. I think the main issue was the Ford of old mission statement was "almost is good enough". Why the new Ford doesn't want to do business like this anymore.

As far as the 01-04 Cobras IRS, it wasn't the IRS was bad..it was the rest of the cars tolerances were so bad that it was almost impossible to get a proper geometry setup on the car. The S197 fixed all this as the IRS was to be in even the base 6 cyl. cars.


Dave

 

I recall reading recently that in fact, the last minute change over to the SRA actually ended up costing more per car than had they stuck with the essentially ready IRS.

The S-197s development was a rather prolonged and tortuous one, starting with a DEW-lite chassis but eventually, and much delayed, ending up with the current Mustang-only platform that bears little commonality at all with the DEW platfrom.

Apparently some on-high suit indulged in some brainless last minute penny-pinching slash and burn campaign and decreed the supposedly cheaper lively axle replace the ready-to-roll IRS. However, that was so late in the game that all the changes necessary to switch over ended up being pretty expensive and resulted in the live axle actually costing more in the end.

As for weight, the IRS only weighed maybe less than 50lbs more overall, but far more importantly, had massively less unsprung weight which is far more critical to overall vehicle performance.

 

Makes sense. All of these last comments do. I wonder what the outcry would be, if of some reason, the 2014 had an IRS? I mean why waste the development dollars on fitting one to an S197. It's not that you can't do some preliminary testing with it. But with the Chassis being so different I just think its strange. If its what you have then run with it.

If this were the case, I think the demand for an IRS in the previous S197 models would possibly be huge! Or not. Make it a Boss only option, haha! A man can dream right?

 

The SRA is probably more economical to use if you base it on warranty costs also. Lot less components to be replaced with the SRA. The price of steel may have also been a factor. The S197 chassis is so stable as is, that the IRS would have just been overkill and not really needed until the competition caught up. Looks like they are finally catching up and it might be time to check back into IRS options. I've always had SRA sports cars and the IRS in the cobra really makes a big difference. An 03 gt handling doesn't compare to the cobra.

 

What I think we see here is parts of the new car with a "shell" of an S197 to disguise it. I know it sounds silly but I have seen other mules for the next gen Infinity G car and it has the body panels of the current car and a covered up interior.

 

Yeah it's not the first time a test mule was used in that fashion.

 

Yep a mule, GM has gone as far as completely switching bodies as opposed to just grafting parts to or grafting a body from an older model.

I want to say it was a camaro grafted to a next gen vette chassis but I cant remember. Or perhaps it was the other way around????

I suppose we have another year to year and a half before we see something.

 

I wonder if we get a concept car in the next year. I remember the concept for the 2005 was in 2003. So maybe we'll get something before the production model.

 

Probably this Detroit 2013.

 

Don't know if they'll just wait to Jan 2014 to show the car if it goes on sale after the birthday to keep their cards close....2013 seems to soon I would think.

 

Ford's recent thing has been to show very close production intent concepts. The Vertrek was a very close relation to the Escape, the Evos was a lead-in for the Fusion/Mondeo, etc. I think for this reason, like Boomer said, we won't see a concept like we've seen for some of their other vehicles. That doesn't mean the streets of southeast MI won't have a heavily camo'ed car running around that hides the 2015 car.

 

Whilst I'd love to see a 95%-close concept at least a year before the official launch, I think the Mustang's 50th birthday is such a big event, they're going to want to keep the design secret right up until the big launch.




(looking forward to all those camo'd mule spyshots though )

 

I would rather not be blue balled with concepts. See FT-86.

 

See current Camaro as well.