finally got my self behind the wheel of an 05 Mustang GT w/ a 5-speed manual.

first impressions: wow, going from a 1.6l I4 to a 4.6l V8 is a bit of a shock, but a very pleasant one. this car has a shortage of torque like greenland has a shortage of ice. the sound alone is great. the transmission isn't very good, which really takes some fun out of the car. the 05 MC Getrag 5-speed is a far superior unit. the car i drove was fully loaded, and as such had the interior upgrade package, which lined the dash in some tasteful faux aluminum and featured the ultra cool ability to change the colors of the gauges and the Shacker audio system which blows the doors off of the HK system in a MINI. the ***** all feel nice, and the window and door locks are easily accessible and the position for shifting is nice. however, ford still makes it so you have to reach too far to get to 5th, regardless of where your seated.

on the road: this car gets almost as many admiring stares as my 04 MCS gets. the fact that this car was a mildly ugly seafoam green color might have caused less looks then say a traditional red would have. as i'm cruising down woodward avenue, i notice for the first time how long the hood is. again, this is from driving a MINI for the past 10 months. whatever gear your in, the car just wants to go. handling wise, a stock MINI will drive circles around it without exerting so much as an ounce of effort. i wish ford had dedicated a bit more development time towards the handling of the car. maybe the independent rear suspension that was supposed to be on the car would help. however, the ride is sporty without being painful (which the MINI can be at times). one thing that doesn't need any improvement is the ability to leave two long black streaks on the road. for those in the area 14 and Woodward area, said streaks are visible .

final judgement: if i had waited till the Mustang came out to start looking for a new car and if i lived somewhere where there wasn't a word for "snow" then the Mustang would without any doubt be my car. it was the only car that came remotely close to being as much fun to drive as the MINI. this car has a lot going for it. a good, fairly powerful V8 and a pleasant personality are some of the up points. but the downside outweighs the upside. price: almost $29,000 for a fully loaded Mustang GT hardtop is unacceptable. this car is about 4k overpriced. my MCS was $24,649 with all three packages and panther black leather. the Mustang didn't have a lot of the stuff i would expect from a car that cost almost 4k more. no heated seats, no steering wheel mounted radio controls, traction control but no form of electronic stability control, navigation isn't offered, no sunroof option, this is stuff that should be on available on a $29,000 car.

the good: wow, V8's are a lot of fun.
gets almost as much attention as a MINI
way way better than the old fox-based car

the bad: pricey for what you get
market will be flooded with 40-something women in V6 automatics within a year
not all attention is good. i.e. cops

waiting for: 500hp+ Shelby/SVT and drop top

grade: B-. great car, but ford has lots of room for improvement over the next couple of years.

 

Nice write up.

Personally, I am very pleased with the design of the new Mustang. Ford deserves credit for making it much more desireable.

 

My 40-something wife is looking at dumping her Fox-based mustang for an 05....V6 automatic You are a prophet:smile:

 

Very nice write-up. Thanks.

My first car was a year old '66 Mustang 289 4-Speed. Needless to say, it was a great car. Now I haven't driven the '05 Mustang, but the '05 MINI is an even more fun car to drive than the earlier Mustang though we did some great motoring. Of course, maybe I've gotten past the need to light up the tires and a dual glass-packed V-8 sound!

Saludos

 

asodestrom, i know i'm a prophet

p.s. i'm thinking of going into automotive journalism, so anyone that wants a write up on a car can PM me and i'll get right to work on it common sense when requesting write ups. i can't do Ferrari or Lambo and such

 

I gots a nice new Mustang all modded out on NFS-Undground2 for PS2
We'll have to see what Ford/SVT has going next for the Cobra. There's none going for the '05, '06 model year. Same goes for the Lightning. Maybe '07 will be a wicked power intro from SVT for the Cobra and Lightning. Loving that Lightning concept truck. And then there's the possibilty of a new Camaro too from Chevy. Some good toys coming up.
If ya have the bucks, Unique Performance has the Super Snake available to order, which is like a replica of the GT500, backed/signed by Carroll Shelby himself. Damn sweet fine car.
Cheers,

 

There's a lot that went into the compramises to this car......

I agree there ought to be an option like nav or heated seats, that's a no brainer (but no one ever accused the american car companies of always having brains) and items that shouldn't have been missed. But on the suspension, I agree completely with what Ford did. Here's why....

Most of the people who get these won't appriciate the difference, so they saved costs. The real performance nuts are going to change the parts anyway....
http://www.griggsracing.com/products.html
Ford did lots of consulations with the various Mustang groups about items like this. And on the last body style, the independant rear end was very, very heavy. Most racers took it off and threw it away. When I went to a torque arm, coil-over, pan-hard bar set up on my 65, I could not believe how much power I could put down in 2nd gear without loosing traction. I hear that the IRS they prototyped on this model wasn't as heavy though. I've been in the Griggs modified cars on Laguna Seca and Sears Point, and you'd be shocked how well they stick to the track. And unlike a FWD car, you can steer with the gas OR the steering wheel!

But the cars are so different, after driving one or another for any length of time, it's really hard to drive the other one at first. The Mustang is harder. It seems like the hood goes on forever, and I'm always going too slow into the turns. Takes about a day to get over......

Anyway, it looks like a sweet ride.

Here's mine... http://www.mustangdon.com/listing.php?id=8

Matt

 

love your classic stang! there is nothing like a red mustang!

 

The new Mustang is amazing. It's the only car that's made me reconsider my decision to purchase a MINI. In the long run, I know I'll be better off with the MINI, but it sure is tempting. I love the design and the interior, but I haven't driven one yet (the Mustang).

I like Ford, always have.....and this new Mustang proves why.

 

time to fire up the beast! It's been in the garage for a while during all our rain, but it's some time to smoke some tires and burn up some dead dinosaurs!

I almost fear the drive down the hill in the morning... It's been so long that I'm sure it will take a couple of days to hit the apexes again!

But the torque, the torque.......

Mattt :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile:

 

Just wondering, rather off topic for MINI, but what is or was a GR350? It has been a very long time since I owned a GT350 (1966 model) and I wonder if that line has been renamed--perhaps due to retroactive correction or some dispute over ownership of the name. Mustangs are amazing. A marketing success that Ford almost destroyed (Mustang 2, Boredom 0?) and has been able to revive.

 

This is an aftermarket suspension set up from Griggs Racing. they do aftermaket stuff for Mustangs. If you want the Ford to stick, you go to them, or a company called Maximum Motorsport (but they only do newer mustangs). It's a pretty complete kit: New k-member to mount the motor and create better suspension attacemet point. Ajustable A-arms, and Koni coil overs in front. A torque are, lower control arms (3-link rear), panhard par and coilovers in rear. I can put down about 1000% more power without sliding. The torque arm (long arm that attaches to the differential and pivots up by the fron universal joint) prevents wind-up in the rear end (think traction bars gone mad).

Do you miss your Shelby? Gess how much that car would sell for now..... When I was in Grad school, I could have bought at 65 Shelby Mustang for around $30k. I wish I had. Now you need lots more to get into one.....

Matt

 

Excellent information on the GR350. Panhard rods confused me (what did it have to do with the Dyna Panhard vehicle?), but one of your other posts described it as an effective assist in transfering torque to the pavement.

Thanks for inquiring after the GT350. Surprisingly I don't miss that car (I could never call it a Shelby) except to look at it--such well balanced lines accentuated by crisp cosmetics. I dreaded driving it because people would stare and teens would honk and wave. It was an excellent commuter car, but missing some amenities other drivers took for granted (such as windshield washer fluid reservoir). I got it as a partial swap when I was tired of owning an AC Cobra that felt even more conspicuous to drive (even Hells Angels gave that one the thumbs up). It was unfortunate for me that cars I admired for their clearly executed concepts were also ones that drew people's attention. Before they became investments we car nuts could buy or trade them for a fraction of their original cost because they were used cars. To have them become icons of the automotive arts is bizarre to me, but I understand some people are beginning to search for original condition Ozzie, Apple and **** computers for their Silicon Valley home galleries. Such a world.

 

are used to locate the rear end laterally. For leaf spring cars, the leafs locate the rear end because they don't flex side to side, just up and down. Well, an ideal one would. They're pretty crappy, and that's one of the reasons that leaf spring isn't a good suspension.

A panhard bar goes from the frame on one side of the car, across to the far axle housing. It's mounted with bushings or heim joints, and it's purpose is to keep the rear end on center. You can ajust handleing charecteristics there too:
http://www.rpmnet.com/techart/panhard.shtml

A Watts linkage is attached to the frame on both sides, and to a third member that is attache to the differential housing. It has a pivot there, and heim joints to attach to the cross bars and the frame.
This one is more complicated than most, but included a real cool drive shaft parking brake...
http://tsmmfg.com/Watts_Linkage.htm

To bring this back to the thread, the 05 suspension design started with a panhard bar. Don't know if it's in the final revision. If it is, I think if you drive one, you'd be surprised how well they work.


Matt

 

Excellent links! Not easy to be so descriptive using so few words. Thanks.

 

Don't forget. We're spoiled. We have so many options for such a relatively inexpensive car b/c it's MINI. Not a MINI, it's mini! It's tiny! Remember that. The Mustang is a considerably larger car. That costs money! So does a V-8 engine. That costs a load more than a 4 cylinder, supercharged or not. And with 300hp out of the new GTs, I think the price is an absolute bargain. A bigger bargain than the MINI. The MINI is still my hands-down favorite car.

Thanks for the good write-up though. I hope to add a new Mustang GT convertible to my arsenal before long. Hopefully very soon...

Mustangs used to be my favorite car but I had TWO GTs in the mid-90's including a convertible. So I got over it a bit but I always missed that convertible. With the new redesign, it's hands-down my second favorite car. I think a GT convertible will complement my S very nicely.

 

update: Metro Detroit dealerships just got Mustang Convertible in

 

V8s use too much gas.

 

Yep my son in law got the new 05 Mustang loaded to the hilt. I must say, there is nothing quite like the sound of a good ole American V-8. I don't remember what he said 0 to 60 was, but I can tell ya, it was damn fast

 

That's the truth about American V-8s. I believe it does 0-60 in the low 5's. 5.4 or something.

 

I honestly don't get cars that are that fast, especially if that's all they do well. I mean....why??? It's a disease, I think.

(I know....minority view here. )