m05fastbackGT

I knew you were joking all along and I totally agree with you about your post concerning the 2015 Mustang..

Perhaps in another 5 years from now, Ill be financially ready to purchase a 2020 model as we currently have a 3 year lease on my wife's 2013 Escape..

In the meantime, I'll continue enjoying my obsolete 2006 GT

Dave07997S

This...

bob

If by tons you mean mostly likely 25-50 pounds over the stick axle.


If your going to use the IRS in the Terminator as an example of how heavy an IRS is it was by Ford's admission atypical in weight and not really representative of what a properly designed (read free from the constraints of also having to fit a live axle) IRS could weigh.


Are you just in the market for a 2013? Earlier models can be had for a fair bit cheaper and easily modified for greater than 2013 power with the added plus of being able to take a lot of the 2013's parts in retrofit.

FireDragon

I think that's only part of it. Some people's gripes are because they really wanted the new model to be bad **** and mean looking, and it fell a little short of their expectations and feel a little let down. I like the new design, but also feel they could have went a little more aggressive with the lines and looks. Overall, tho,

Dave07997S

I am in this camp, I do wish they went a tad more aggressive. However, I feel that the main reason for the discourse is as GTX says. Happens everytime a new model is introduced and not just for Mustang. You have to see whats happening on the M3 boards with the new M4.

steven46746

I don't so much dislike it because it makes my 13' "obsolete", I just don't care for it in general. There are certain cars I'd like to own at some point and a 15' isn't one of them. Regardless of how much better it may be performance wise, I still have to look at it everyday.

johnbeeney6

One thing i hate is the v6 and turbo 4 are both more hp quite bit more hp than the 4.6 gts and all the gts before it

typesredline

That does suck. But that's any car as tech evolves. Look at c6 vettes with more power than c5 z06's.

Also think about how the new camaro has 101 more hp than the previous gen (2002 SS). Which was only 3 yrs younger than the s197 with 4.6L.

Gotta be happy with your baby. If not, trade her in for the new one. No need to gripe or be sad. If you're questioning it, then you already have your answer.

2011 Kona Blue

Looks like you need to sell your slower 4.6.GTS and get a 4 banger or 6 banger.

bob

Or build that 4.6, nothing that a little time honored hot-rodding and a power adder won't fix.

Then again I always thought Ford should have put a 5.4 in the S-197 from the start

MRGTX

I hear you there and I applaud you for admiting it.

I think many of us are of an age where we saw the cars from 1965-1972 as being a benchmark. The machines that came out after were generally understood to be less special and less powerful and it seemed POSSIBLE to buy a car that would stand the test of time as being permanently high performance and permanently special.

For example, an LS6 454 Chevelle was heroically powerful and revered for 35 years...those days are behind us. That probably won't happen again.

Instead, we're seeing year over year improvements and it suddenly seems very hard to decide when to buy-in.

Those of us who buy a 2015 will undoubtedly feel the very same way when the Voodooo V8 shows up or when the refreshed/improved S550 shows up in a few years.

It's a strange thing that constantly improving cars causes us pain...many of us were probably secretly hoping that the S550 would be a turd...or that new regulations would kill (or badly wound!) the V8 so that our current cars would stay special.

Twin Turbo

Is this bad **** and mean looking / a tad more aggressive enough for you?

I'm not usually a fan of widebody kits, but this really suits S550!

2011 Kona Blue

The current cars are special bro. As all the generation mustangs are special. There special because there a mustang and its apart of the mustang history. Its called evolution. Cars and technology evolves at a rate faster than light speed. The 2015 will be old news when the 2016 comes out. So what. Maybe people need too be happy at what they have and enjoy. Not worried because this model has more HP than that model. Someone and something will always be better, be faster, more powerful, blah blah blah. For people who have the 4.6 engine, I say enjoy it. Its plenty fast for public streets. For people who have the 3.7 engine, enjoy and stop worrying about the V8 nonsense. It looks amazing and its plenty fast. For people who have the 5.0, there will be something better and more powerful soon enough. Enjoy what you have people.

skramblr

That thought is kind of along the lines of my thinking. In the Mid 70's the cars were lacking (no longer performance cars from the factory and just had dress up kits - aka, the Cobra II) and evolved and got better over time. The 2006 saw a step back towards their roots and became more retro, which I really liked - and performance has been ratcheting up over the last few years to truly bring back the muscle to the Pony car (this is what makes a car a Mustang for me).

My fear is Ford's direction with the latest models is TBD in my opinion. The look is more euro, GT is the top model right now, & a 4 cylinder (hopped up focus ST engine?) has been added. Are we seeing ford continue to build upon the last generation of successes? Or is this the beginning of a turning point that will see the mustang deteriorate into the next 70's era Pinto Mustang (or in today's models a Focus Mustang)?

I think ford wants to stay heading the performance direction - but the 4 cylinder thing puzzles me. Sure it looks good on paper, but is making a more fuel efficient mustang really the direction we need in a Mustang? Or should that be relegated to the the Fiesta ST, Focus ST, etc type cars that are supposed to be fuel efficient oriented? Is ford spreading the Mustang too thin by trying to create a higher horsepower monster (maybe the next SVT model) and also a fuel efficient 4 cylinder lower end car? Are they confused? What market are they chasing?

2011 Kona Blue

Ford is chasing the European market and expanding there customer base to be global. Many places on earth have much higher fuel prices and extra taxes for larger displacement engines, therefore other areas in the world don't need a huge displacement for it to be sporty and fast.

Mainly Americans get caught up in how big and cylinders does there car have. The European market wants sleek , fast cars with a smaller displacement and gets good fuel millage. Look at Porsche, they don't need big displacement. 4 and 6 cylinders all day long.

2011 Kona Blue

The make more profit market. Lol

Moustang

Why?

# of cylinders does NOT equal power


When the base model 4 cylinder Mustang can outrun a 5 year old 4.6L V8 Mustang GT, what is there to worry about?

Other than they might come along and turbo up a V6 that will outrun your car.

2011 Kona Blue

Totally agree. What's the problem?

m05fastbackGT

The S550 is wide enough as it is.. Adding body kits just look too cartoonish and bulky along with breaking up the Mustang's sculpted lines IMO !

rhumb

Yeah, the 1970's (post '72-'73) were pretty abominable for American performance cars and being a teenage during those years, well, given that all you could get were gaudy dress up kits, folks may understand my unrelenting disdain for functionless flash (must be some PTSD thing or something.)

The 1979 Foxstang was in one sense a step back to the Mustang's more conceptual roots, even if its styling took a very different, modern turn. But conceptually, the '65 and '79 shared a lot: both based off midsized sedans (Falcon, Fairmont), both tidy of dimension, both a fusion of American and European aesthetics, etc.

In another sense, whereas the 2005 hewed much closer to the '65 stylistically, it was perhaps a bit different conceptually, being a unique platform, bigger, eschewing contemporary European stylistic influences, etc.

In that context, I see the 2015 falling somewhere between these two approaches, being a bit more trim of size and cosmopolitan in its styling (ala the '65) yet still retaining at least a modicum of specific Mustang stylistic cues. As for sharing a platform, well, the 2015 may end up doing that bass ackwards from the '65 and '79 with potential sedans being based off its platform rather than the other way around.

I have little fear that the 2015 will replicate the Mustang II timeline and trends. Yes, it will (need to) become more efficient but Ford is far better at doing that now than in 1974. All three motors are fully contemporary, powerful and efficient for their sizes/kind, and I see little danger of the V8 disappearing entirely as with the Mustang II.

Recall, by the numbers, most Stangs are the low end 4 or 6 banger models and that these motors are now aluminum, 4V, fully modern designs makes them quite distinct from the dray mills Ford had generally relegated those low end Stangs to.

Ford does seem to cover a wide spread in the markets/niches the Mustang covers, maybe a touch too wide. I would agree that at the lower end, the Focus/Fiesta STs probably make a lot more sense and perhaps more enjoyable drives. At the other end, Ford, lacking a true halo car like the Vette or Viper, sort of has to fill that gap, sort of, with the Stang. Perhaps Ford really needs to revisit the idea of a neo GT40/Pantera/what ever.