Other than a change in gearing it's stock, or at least it was at that time. Not sure about now, the car is constantly evolving.


Here is the underside.

 

Reread uncle phils post. He wants an automatic as an option on the future GT500. No confusion there.

 

I'm late to this party. But this here says it all. People wanting a Corvette by Ford or a M3 just don't want a Mustang! Ask Ford to add that to their line instead of asking a Mustang that is actually a Corvette or a M3. Very well said KC3333

 

Are you saying the new edges 99-04 didn't have that too?

 

Drop the IRS and the European body. The 2015 is no longer a muscle car, Ford and Dodge were the only two left that looks like the old muscle days. GM has never had a good looking car and they still don't except the Corvette. So the IRS may ride nice but it sucks for everything else, and is a money pit to tie it down. I have had they both and I am from the old days there is nothing like a live axel. So with all that said I am SOOOOOO happy I got my brand new 2014 5.0L track pack.

 

Good for you.


I guess we don't have to worry about you hanging out here posting anymore.

Now, back on topic.......

 

Mustang was never a muscle car...and sucks at everything else? Lol...please last I checked there are more cars that we can count that do everything better than the mustang with their IRS. Why did you even get a 2014 with their heavy useless brakes and fuel injection
And the original mustang has European styling lol

 

I don't want to see a Fusion front end, in any way or manner

 

Ain't gonna happen.

The Mustang, outside some late '60s and early '70s big-block models, weren't really muscle cars to begin with but rather, were a distinct entity, the eponymous Pony Car that sort of blended various American traits -- V8 motors (of modest size) and mediocre handling with trimmer size and styling of a more European sports coupe without getting too cramped.

As for the "Fusion" front end, I think the more apt way to look at it is that the Fusion, through the EOS, has a bit more of a Mustang aspect to its nose -- with equal parts Aston Martin -- and that this 21st century iteration of that nose is only belatedly coming back to the Mustang itself. The 2015 will have plently of updated and more contemporary Mustand design cues and DNA to appeal to the old boomer holdouts while appealing to the broader and younger buyers necessary to keep it a viable product well into the 21st century.

Regarding the IRS, it's really the lively axle that excels at one thing -- drag strips -- and sucks at everything else. Well, if not actually "sucking" at everything else, at least well behind contempory standards, expectations and its competition. A properly designed IRS, which I have every expectation this wll be, can pretty much excel at everything, including the drag strip.

 

I do not want to see latches on the convertible top. I want it automatic with just the push of a button.

 

I don't want to see the rear end as tall as the S197.

Also I'd like them to design the rear bumper so it doesn't look as big as it does. Yes I'm making a diaper reference because if you look at the S197 today it's all bumper. It got bad when they shortened the taillight ends and the bumper turns up at the ends. It just makes the whole back end look too big IMHO.

 

Yeah, I'd like to see the rear end tappered down, tightened and trimmed up and lifted, visually, a touch. The current Stang's, and a great many contemporary rears, are quite plump, busy, heavy-looking and droopy, which is why I coinded that "full diaper look" a while back for that's what they look like, full diapers (as the daddy of a 2-yo, I feel overly qualified to offer that comment).

Compare the rear quarters/end of, say, a '70 Stang to a '14:
'70:


'14:


The '70's is just trimmer, tauter and is carried with a jaunty visual upsweep. It just looks cleaner, lighter and more athletic. It gives the whole car a certain rake and sense of easy forwards movement. The lines and elements are much simpler, cleaner and more cohesive. One can instantly and intuitive sense the hand of a single designer (

The '13 rear on the other hand looks for more massive, heavy, busy and droopy with is visual mass seeming to sag downwards from its own visual massiveness. Any athleticism would be that of a Sumo wrestler. That huge blob of mass of the lower valence/bumper area just seems to be dragged out backwards as if it were some soft lump of lard scrapping and being pulled back along the road. The mishmash of lines and elements seem far less cohesive -- more an agglomeration of disparate elements added by seperate focus groups than the fully integrated design of a singler conceptualization.

Much can be said of all the early Stangs. Just compare their clean, concise rear ends, especially the lower valence areas, to the lumpen and jumbled mess of lines and elements that is the current Stang's.

 

I DON'T want to see a "Blue Oval" tacked on the rear, as some renderings are suggesting.

 

Great post. I totally agree. I think the spoiler delete option on the 05-09 models makes the car look a little bit better in the rear. I had the stock spoiler and also the GT500 spoiler on my old GT and it made the rear end look way too big.

 

I'd like to see the few long-term quality issues common with the S197 FIXED by proper design engineering.

1) cowl leak issues. bad sealing of sheetmetal seams, bad a-pillar gasketing, bad cowl drain plug design thats hidden/easily clogged, bad grommet design where the cowl cover snaps into windshield base.

2) stupid spark plug issues. know ford redesigned the 'break off' 4.6 plugs in '08, but that was after the 'improved' design in '04 - prior to '04, the 4.6/5.4s tended to blow plugs out of the heads... hope next gen engines wont suffer from such stupid design flaws.

3) proper hood hem prep/sealing/paint. anyone that saw the pics I put up from the auto show this year saw Ford was still putting out very poor work in the hood edges- pretty much every S197 WILL suffer paint failure there. lookied under my UNDRIVEN 2009 mustang yesterday (4.9 miles, only been wet a few times- sits undercover in the garage) and the paint blistering has begun to expand... Ive had pics from a few yrs ago of factory blemishes, they are definitely spreading- this is simply unacceptable for them to put out such shoddy work. I'm still reading of new models suffering, and pics I took at the auto show confirmed- AAI cant build a decent hood still- over 8 years after the S197 debut...

love the mustang, glad she's still around 50 model years going- but Ford needs to get their head out of the sand on things they MUST know were needing work to be even just 'acceptable' quality, not even 'good'.

Styling is one thing, will always have fans and non-fans- but when the cheapest Hyundai at the auto show has PERFECT hood hem sealing/paint, and the new BOSS302 on display, has dirt/wire/jagged edges under blistered/unsealed hood hems, it really pisses me off.

think about this stuff- lets not 'bash ford' about it, but please DO COMPLAIN to dealers/ auto show folks / ford customer service/ anyone that can pass info upstream to kinda hold their feet to the fire about customers expecting better... if we speak up, the mustang can become a even better car


as to styling:
while I really liked the 13 over the 10-12, never really looked at a rear 3/4 view... and I agree the bottom is still dragged out, not a very attractive look from that perspective... it looks like they tried to make the car smaller without shortening the underpinnings, still lots of room for improvement. hopefully the next one will be a little more trim/less bulky

 

Agreed on Ford fixing and improving the list of already known issues. Why did the e brake handle have to have a flimsy 2 piece plastic case that breaks apart when doing and center console work? No telescoping wheel, c'mon? Keep the legroom, hated the sn95 and new-edge with the curved cockpit. Lose the plastic panels that pop the retainer pins under spirited driving. The cowl, oh God 50 years later and it still leaks.. No folding mirrors? Hood rot, c'mon Ford its been 8 years.. Fit and finish, like was posted, if the Stang was on par with fit and finish of even the Elantra... Even with all the flaws I still love the S197 and keep coming back to it, hope the new Stang is just as inspiring.

 

I know this will be a bit unpopular, but it must be said.

MUSCLE CARS SUCK!!!


And I know, I've had quite a few. 73 Olds 442, 70 Cougar XR7, 72 Pontiac GTO just to name a few. They weren't that fast in a straight line and cornered like a boat. Oversize, heavy, vague steering, huge displacement with tiny horsepower, gas guzzling land yachts.

You're right, Dodge is the only one still producing such a car, and it's the slowest "Muscle car" you can buy right now. Even a V6 Toyota Camry is faster than the Challenger R/T. Yes indeed, the Challenger is very much a muscle car.

My question is, why would you want the next-gen Mustang to be a slow, poor handling, land yacht that can be beaten by a Camry?


It's 2015, time to move beyond 1970s performance and technology. The rest of the world did long ago, which is why there are 4 door sedans from Europe, Australia, and Japan that are faster than any current American "muscle car".

 

Some people like the look of a muscle car... I know I do. If I had to choose between a 2013 mustang vs. a 1967 mustang I'll go for the latter. You'll end up getting more compliments from the ladies

 

I would agree, the Mustang is best when it is what it is, a pony car not a muscle car. Muscle cars can be fun in a kind of goofy, one-dimensional sense but are just that, one-dimensional in their performance. That the 2015 Mustang seems set to enhance its pony car persona in a world-class, 21st century context will be for the better and best ensure its long term viability. The "small" 5.0 will continue to have straight line performance that will obliterate any of the lumbering big-block muscle car Mustangs from the days of yore. Now, however, it will be matched with a dynamic competence undreamed of by those lively axled behemoths.

 

I wouldnt want any drastic changes i like the oldschool look