That was a pre-production photo. Ford had pulled it off, of course. It is not available. No Aftermarkets that I am aware of....yet.. It is highly desired amongst 05 owners
nah, i think it was just a cost cutter. the designers and the bean counters have to aurgue over ever little piece and i think the bean counters won that one.
Don't get me wrong I love the new GT's but when it comes down to it to get the price out of the 30k range ford went cheap with alot of stuff like the suspension. An engine cover wouldn't make that much of a difference but still, I'm not surprised. Now I don't want anyone biting my head off because I don't like the suspension, and I know ford said it was for drag racing but we all know that it was to be cheap.
well you pretty much asked for it...the suspension is not cheap, car holds more on a skid pad than most other cars. A three link with a panhard rod from the factory and 355 gears...obviously you have not driven one. I hate the IRS setup...wheel hop is not a problem here. Coil over struts on the front....find them on your stang or did you have buy them after market?
I am just curious, are any of you "pro-engine cover" guy's the same guy's who all hated the fake hood and side scoops on the '02-'04's???? As far as the rear suspension thing goes, only one answer for no IRS.....CHEAP. If a solid axle was the way to go you would see them using them on Enzo's, Ford GT's, Porsche GT's, Vette's, etc.... Fact is the Stang is the ONLY car with sporting intentions with a solid axle. Ford did a great job with it, but they did it because it was cheap.
They probably realized how silly it was since it served no purpose, like those scoops on previous models. I honestly like the bare composite manifold better though.
And they kept it because thats what all the stang owners wanted. People complained when they suggested the next GT have IRS. All the drag racers wanted the live rear. So they got it, and a nice version too!
Actually according to Popular Hotroding's latest issue(the one with the yellow Mustang on the cover) says that it will be available as a dealer installed item... as far as the bickering for the no IRS suspenson please stop that, there are far more mustang drag racers out there than there are road racers, dont get me wrong, i like road racing too, but the for what it is the Mustang should have rightfully stayed a solid rear axle car as it did. If handling is truly your passion(even then all the reviews i've heard is that it handles great) then either wait for a special edition stang(possibly a boss 302 or cobra) or modify it even more.... of course if you HAVE to have IRS then just wait for one of the SE cars. By the way i remember reading on a magazine somewhere that there really wasnt that much difference in cost between a solid axle and an IRS set up. It was in the neigborhood of around 300 bucks or so, granted this was for the old "fox-4" chassis.
