Auto Express's Take...I dig it!
6/9/11, 10:56 AM
#22
If you had said this was a concept Camaro rendering, everyone would believe you, especially the taillights.
Last edited by JimmyM; 6/9/11 at 10:58 AM.
6/9/11, 12:00 PM
#24
That there is a handsome steering wheel.
I think the Auto Express (British) article is written from their point of view. If I wanted a BMW or an Audi, I'd buy one. Right now, the Mustang is a distinct car from those "rivals" that cost many thousands more. I am sure the Brits would love a Mustang that was way cheaper than a BMW and has the same quality interior and same hp and handling. Who wouldn't. But they can just buy a Hyundai if that is what they want.
American roads are long and straight with pot holes. The Mustang is an American car designed for American use. A finely tuned chassis is a wonderful thing, but the Mustang holds its own even now, with it's lumbering weight and brutal horsepower. Just ask a BMW M3 owner how they feel about the new Boss 302. They can point at the girder between the rear wheels and the cheap plastic interior, but they won't follow you to the track to prove which one handles better.
Even its cheap plastic interior is actually more liveable than a BMW interior, IMHO. The Germans have a long way to go when it comes to style. The Audi interiors use top notch materials but have as much design in them as a tug boat. I'd take the new Focus interior over an A3 any day of the week.
European designed Mustang = fewer cup holders - and that's a deal breaker for me.
I think the Auto Express (British) article is written from their point of view. If I wanted a BMW or an Audi, I'd buy one. Right now, the Mustang is a distinct car from those "rivals" that cost many thousands more. I am sure the Brits would love a Mustang that was way cheaper than a BMW and has the same quality interior and same hp and handling. Who wouldn't. But they can just buy a Hyundai if that is what they want.
American roads are long and straight with pot holes. The Mustang is an American car designed for American use. A finely tuned chassis is a wonderful thing, but the Mustang holds its own even now, with it's lumbering weight and brutal horsepower. Just ask a BMW M3 owner how they feel about the new Boss 302. They can point at the girder between the rear wheels and the cheap plastic interior, but they won't follow you to the track to prove which one handles better.
Even its cheap plastic interior is actually more liveable than a BMW interior, IMHO. The Germans have a long way to go when it comes to style. The Audi interiors use top notch materials but have as much design in them as a tug boat. I'd take the new Focus interior over an A3 any day of the week.
European designed Mustang = fewer cup holders - and that's a deal breaker for me.
6/9/11, 02:09 PM
#26
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Sure is, that would make a great new tiller.
Undoubtedly so, but then, with the world getting smaller and the Mustang going more global, it IS important to have their, and other peoples, points of view if the Stang is to survive and thrive. I have every expectation that the Mustang will remain a very distinct entity with its own character and personality. That said, it doesn't mean it can't or shouldn't benchmark off of other excellent cars from anywhere, and both BMW and Audi have some very good features, engineering and quality well worth considering. Not to copy, per se, but serve as benchmarks.
Europe -- and Australia, South America, Africa and Asia -- also have long straight roads with pot holes as well as short winding ones, smooth ones, etc., as does America. A truly finely tuned chassis will perform well across a variety of roads and conditions. The Mustang is holding its own now by dint of much finer chassis tuning than before and a boat load of horsepower out of the 5.0 (and 3.7). However, the Mustang does and will need to do more than simply hold its own into the future and especially in the past couple years, Ford and the Mustang have clearly been striving towards a far higher standard than mere adequacy -- to overall, world-class excellence without the excuses or rationalizations so common even just a couple of years ago.
Not sure what you mean by a cheap plastic interior being more liveable than a BMW interior. As for which is more stylish, well, that to a large degree is a matter of taste but I think most car buffs and buyers would put recent Audi interiors as top tier in materials, quality and style. The older A3 is a bit mundane, but the rest of the lineup has interiors that are setting benchmarks for the rest of the industry. And yes, the new Focus, too, has a top notch, world-class interior that I hope bodes well for Ford's capability with the NextStang's.
I think even the Europeans are discovering the joys of cupholders -- and the distracted driving, spilled drinks and lost storage space that goes with them!
I think the Auto Express (British) article is written from their point of view. If I wanted a BMW or an Audi, I'd buy one. Right now, the Mustang is a distinct car from those "rivals" that cost many thousands more. I am sure the Brits would love a Mustang that was way cheaper than a BMW and has the same quality interior and same hp and handling. Who wouldn't. But they can just buy a Hyundai if that is what they want.
American roads are long and straight with pot holes. The Mustang is an American car designed for American use. A finely tuned chassis is a wonderful thing, but the Mustang holds its own even now, with it's lumbering weight and brutal horsepower. Just ask a BMW M3 owner how they feel about the new Boss 302. They can point at the girder between the rear wheels and the cheap plastic interior, but they won't follow you to the track to prove which one handles better.
Even its cheap plastic interior is actually more liveable than a BMW interior, IMHO. The Germans have a long way to go when it comes to style. The Audi interiors use top notch materials but have as much design in them as a tug boat. I'd take the new Focus interior over an A3 any day of the week.
I think even the Europeans are discovering the joys of cupholders -- and the distracted driving, spilled drinks and lost storage space that goes with them!
6/9/11, 02:40 PM
#27
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It sounds like the white car will be the next mustang. If it's true I can't believe they would make the front end worse than the curent mustang.
I'm sorry but I could not drive something so ugly looking.
I'm sorry but I could not drive something so ugly looking.
I could grow to love it. It's certainly not offensive, but I'd prefer them to lose a little more of the Giugiaro concept (which I think these renderings are based on).
The rear is bold.....but I like it. The front needs to lose the slight "wrap-around" of the headlamps and keep the current sharknose.
I'd give it a 7.5 outta 10
The rear is bold.....but I like it. The front needs to lose the slight "wrap-around" of the headlamps and keep the current sharknose.
I'd give it a 7.5 outta 10
6/9/11, 03:22 PM
#28
That is kinda my point exactly. The Giugiaro Mustang was designed by a European designer - to appeal to his own taste. It is cool, but it is NOT very appealing to most Mustang fans. I don't like it.
Rhumb, I agree with all you are saying. And my choice of words about the cheap plastic interior is sarcasm aimed squarely at critics who can't find much else to criticize the current Mustang about.
Rhumb, I agree with all you are saying. And my choice of words about the cheap plastic interior is sarcasm aimed squarely at critics who can't find much else to criticize the current Mustang about.
6/9/11, 03:46 PM
#29
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Not a big fan of the Giugiaro Mustang either, certainly not one of the firm's better works, IMHO.
6/9/11, 03:51 PM
#30
I don't want to hi-jack the thread, but I want to ask a question of you all...it relates.
How many people here would be OK with China having 75% say in the design of Ford's new product line? Even the Mustang and F-150.
India and China are becoming more and more affluent and they are buying more and more cars. America may one day be the second or third biggest car market in the world, and as the American comsumer dollar shrinks, so does his ability to have a say in what gets sold.
So as a corporation, you play to the biggest market - it just makes dollar sense. So how do you all feel about the shrinking voice of the American car buyer?
Cadillac is hinting about taking manufacturing out of the States (to China most likely), most modern sporty cars spend time at the Nurbergring before they are launched, and tons of concept cars are introduced at the Beijing Motor Show before they are ever seen in this hemisphere.
So how does this sit with you all? How will it feel when you are fed foreign poop and told to like it since we are (will be) a minor market?
How many people here would be OK with China having 75% say in the design of Ford's new product line? Even the Mustang and F-150.
India and China are becoming more and more affluent and they are buying more and more cars. America may one day be the second or third biggest car market in the world, and as the American comsumer dollar shrinks, so does his ability to have a say in what gets sold.
So as a corporation, you play to the biggest market - it just makes dollar sense. So how do you all feel about the shrinking voice of the American car buyer?
Cadillac is hinting about taking manufacturing out of the States (to China most likely), most modern sporty cars spend time at the Nurbergring before they are launched, and tons of concept cars are introduced at the Beijing Motor Show before they are ever seen in this hemisphere.
So how does this sit with you all? How will it feel when you are fed foreign poop and told to like it since we are (will be) a minor market?
Last edited by VALCAD; 6/9/11 at 03:54 PM.
6/9/11, 05:48 PM
#31
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I don't mind if Ford wants to appeal to a wider audience, but I refuse to buy from any car company that openly caters all of its products to the Chinese market. What will happen then is that the Mustang will become a cushy, four-door sedan with smooth-as-glass ride quality at the expense of power. Think of a Mustang II, updated for the 21st century with all sorts of technological bells and whistles, but without any of the "fun-to-drive" quality that we Mustang owners prize so much.
Maybe I'll buy one of the last 2013 models left on the showroom floor...
Maybe I'll buy one of the last 2013 models left on the showroom floor...
6/9/11, 09:54 PM
#32
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Something to bear in mind for those worrying, the Mustang's appeal in Australia, Europe, and the Mid-East would be the same here: they want it as an American Muscle/Pony car.
6/9/11, 09:58 PM
#33
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It's an artist's impression, or rather an artist's photoshop, based on a concept car from a couple years ago. The Next Mustang is NOT going to be that.
6/9/11, 11:46 PM
#34
Shelby GT350 Member
The Mustang best not succumb to using the same wheel every other Ford uses. That new corporate Ford wheel is a chunky bloated mongloid looking mess which looks like to me they took two power mirror switches and stuck them on the steering wheel spokes. I personally like the wheel in our Fusion SE with Sync better than this one. However the Mustang looks best with a sporty round hubbed wheel.
Last edited by watchdevil; 6/10/11 at 12:10 AM.
6/10/11, 12:28 AM
#36
Looks cool, but how do we get in? Hop in from the roof? Because that door isn't going to/can't open
6/10/11, 01:34 PM
#38
GTR Member
Certainly that i true of the current owners of the S197 in the UK. We love it for the fact it's NOT European and doen't look the same as every other car on the road.
However, as long as the Ford marketing department realise this and don't try to "europeanize" it, we'll be OK
6/10/11, 02:11 PM
#40
Team Mustang Source
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A Global Stang will be a great opportunity for aftermarket companies here and abroad. The Mustang is loved for what it is all over the world. Tweaking the handling/ride/size/displacement/ergonomics does not make it less American...it makes it World Class and it will never lose it's American Swagger...Trust Ford.
Last edited by Topnotch; 6/10/11 at 02:12 PM.