The new Mustang is getting ready for its global debut, and indeed this new 'Stang will be a global car. For the first time ever, at least on the base cars, it will be offered with IRS, a turbo four-cylinder, and a whole host of gadgets that will void your warranty, but because of these upgrades, and the price jumping up a bit, it puts the new Mustang in a spot that it’s really never been seen in. It’s now a global sports car. Because of that, it needs to be stacked up against other global sports cars.

Here’s my thought for the comparison. We know the base price, and what the Shelby will probably cost. We take that price range and find everything else in the sports car market and see where the new car stacks up against the others, and what it really needs to be able to do to achieve global success. I specify global because the American market will eat the new car up, but that isn't so sure with the rest of the world.

Let’s start with the lower-priced competitors.

Read the rest on the Mustang Source homepage.

 

Did you seriously just compare a Mustang to a Corvette? Who writes this nonsense? A Mustang GT has a starting price of 31K. A Corvette has a starting price of 53K. If I bought a 2015 Mustang GT and then dumped 22 thousand dollars worth of performance enhancement into it is there any doubt that it would easily perform as well and more likely better than a stock Corvette?

 

I think a bigger question will be, how will Dodge and GM compete globally? Are the 'murica Muscle wars ending (The Hell Cat sure thinks other wise)? Are we completely moving to only American Sports Cars now?

 

Its a shame Mustang is almost the sole bearer of Ford's high performance banner. There are the ST cars but Mustang is the whipping boy when it comes to performance offerings from other manufacturers and people lose sight of what the car really is and what it stands for.


At its heart Mustang is an affordable sporty coupe that's big on style offering various options and levels of performance even if that performance is compromised by having to offer that entry level base car.


People shouldn't lose sight of that, its admirable when Ford benchmarks the M3 or the 911 or Corvette or whatever but in the quest to meet or better those cars it increases the price of entry becoming too expensive for its biggest fans and the people most likely to buy them.


It baffles me why people want a Mustang that can hunt down a GT3 or smash a GT-R or go toe to toe with a Z06 all for the sake of bragging rights and internet bench racing since they are practically begging to be excluded from owning the car and just relegating it to the pages of some magazine.

 

It's just the thrill of busting up on a supercar with a mustang. Yes having true supercar performance since we will never own a true supercar. I got to drive a Ferrari 430 Scuderia a few weeks back. It's was a truly amazing machine. But my cobra could have taken her at least for a few laps for sure. But driving that Ferrari on a small race course was more enjoyable than anything I've ever done in the cobra. Although kicking a corvettes butt was always fun.

 

From time and time again, I'm always told that the Mustang is the poor mans sports car. In a lot of ways its a true statement. The Mustang base model is so cheap and affordable yet, it still packs a punch just like other mustangs with fancier upgrades and addons.

If mustang ever wants to compete with and even thing about being in the true "Super car" class globally, they need to rethink their whole manufacturing process.

They need to stop doing things like - build and assemble vehicles with known issues like paint bubbles under the hood or ship cars with crunched up OTA pipes. Improve on little things like have MGW class products instead of consumers resorting to the aftermarket to buy stuff that the mustang should already have and also tighten up quality control and ensure that 100% of the vehicles coming off their production plant is build and looked after as if it was a Ferrari being built.

with that said, I know the mustang is going to kill it globally, their definitely going to shake up the market in Europe. It's a new toy for them to explore and it has A LOT to offer at its current price point.

with that said. I love this car, even being it only a V6.

 

You pretty much answer the question yourself: "Its a shame Mustang is almost the sole bearer of Ford's high performance banner."

I think Ford fans want a Ford that can hunt down a GT3 or smash a GT-R but currently, the Mustang is the only Ford remotely plausible in that role since the demise of the late, great Ford GT.

Given Ford's ongoing sales successes, I think they ought to give themselves a victory lap and come up with a halo car again (neo Ford GT), or at least something comparable to the Vette (neo Ford Pantera). I would in fact prefer the latter -- some mid-engine V8 sports car to go up against the Vette in price and performance rather than a stratospheric super car like the Ford GT, not that it wasn't way awesome. Perhaps FoMoCo could make it a Lincoln to inject some well needed passion and life into that moribund brand.

 

100% correct.

 

Agreed, I'd love to see Ford with a proper sports car something above the Mustang and squarely aimed at the Vette and Viper perhaps bridging the cost and performance of the two.


Also agree on a modern Pantera (hey it was essentially a Ford product).

 

Ford needs to bring the GT back. It's an iconic car, and has a tremendous racing history.

We should bring Big Blocks back too

 

A forvette!