Just How Good Will The 2015 Mustang Be??

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Latest Specs from Car & Driver:
VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 4-passenger, 2-door coupe

PRICE AS TESTED: $45,855 (base price: $32,925)

ENGINE TYPE: DOHC 32-valve V-8, aluminum block and heads, port fuel injection

Displacement: 302 cu in, 4951 cc
Power: 435 hp @ 6500 rpm
Torque: 400 lb-ft @ 4250 rpm

TRANSMISSION: 6-speed manual

DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 107.1 in
Length: 188.3 in
Width: 75.4 in Height: 54.4 in
Curb weight: 3810 lb

C/D TEST RESULTS:
Zero to 60 mph: 4.5 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 10.4 sec
Zero to 130 mph: 17.8 sec
Rolling start, 5-60 mph: 4.9 sec
Top gear, 30-50 mph: 9.6 sec
Top gear, 50-70 mph: 9.0 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 13.0 sec @ 113 mph
Top speed (governor limited): 164 mph
Braking, 70-0 mph: 149 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.95 g

FUEL ECONOMY:
EPA city/highway: 15/25 mpg
C/D observed: 17 mpg
 
Not good. The car doesn't have an identity - what class of car is this.

It's not a BMW and certainly not a Porsche.

It'll be slower than the anything bowtie puts out... So it's competition is a 3 year old car on a different platform?

Makes no sense to me.
 
How good? According to MotorTrend not as good as we were all expecting. Yes it equals the Boss 302 in all the handling categories but it is slower the the Track Pack equipped 2014 Gt in the 1/4 and has the same 0-60 times. Not good Ford. You better fix that fast.
Yea Yea I know only redneck hillbillies care about acceleration, but you not going to pull up next to a Camaro or a Challenger at a stop light a challenge him to a race around the skid pad.
 
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What am I missing here? The 2015 Mustang is only slower in a 1/4 by one hundredth of a second. I'll repeat that so it sinks in. A single one hundredth of a second. Why are some of you acting like the sky is falling:

No good. Ford better fix that. So glad I bought a 2014 lol. Are you guys kidding or are you serious I can't tell.

The car picks up some weight so that it's a better car on a road ( which makes sense cause 99% of these cars are going to live out their life on the road) and it's not up to some of your standards? You're happy with your 2014 cause it's one hundredth of a second faster in a 1/4 mile. I understand it but my feelings for the 2011-13 models years are as follow: if I had to drive around in that interior I'd probably commit suicide before I reached the 1st stop sign. You may not see this as a car going forward but it actually is, it is maturing enough that I will be ordering one next year. It's a hot car, it looks hot and it's fast and I guarantee it will be a blast to drive. I see no problems at all. Ford doesn't have to change anything to this car until they decide to do a refresh, which will be a few years down the road.
 
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What your missing is that you are going to pay more money for a slower car. And since this is a "performance car" that is not good. The problem isn't so much that its slower, but rather that its not faster. This car should run rings around the out going model and the fact is it doesn't. Even in the handling department, we are all supposed to be impressed by the fact that 2015 GT equipped with the Performance Package is the equal 2012-13 Boss 302. That sounds great doesn't it ? Ford really hit it out of the ball park with this new chassis didn't they? After all the 2012-13 Boss 302 is the benchmark, the best handling Mustang ever ? Right? But is it really such a great achievement ? Think about it. Ford just spent millions of dollars developing an all new chassis and suspension from the ground up, just so they can build a car that goes around curves "as good" as a 2 year old car with a solid rear, mounted to 13 year old chassis design which is actually a modified version of a chassis first produced in 1999 for a 4 door sedan. How impressive is that really?
You gloss over the fact the the car gained weight, but the extra 198lbs is probably the reason for it's disappointing 1/4 mile and 0-60 times. maybe the extra weight does make it a better road car. But don't forget, reducing the weight of the "bloated s197 Mustang " is one of the primary reasons Ford decide to develop an all new car instead of modify the existing chassis in the first place.
Look I don't mean to tear into this car. And I don't want to dissuade you are anyone else from buying one. Look at my past posts. I have been 100% behind this car from day one and for the most part I still am. I love this car, I really do. But I am disappointed . With all the time and money Ford put into developing this car the performance is not what it should be. I'm sorry but that is how I see it at this point in time .
I wish this wasn't the case, I really hoped this car was going to be spectacular, and maybe it is, maybe Motortrend"s test driver sucks driving stick, or was just having an off day. Maybe there was something wrong with the test car. But baring any of that unless Ford decides to up the H.P. numbers the answer the original posters question " Just how good will the 2015 Mustang be??" is in my humble opinion : Good... but not good enough.
 
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What am I missing here? The 2015 Mustang is only slower in a 1/4 by one hundredth of a second. I'll repeat that so it sinks in. A single one hundredth of a second. Why are some of you acting like the sky is falling:

No good. Ford better fix that. So glad I bought a 2014 lol. Are you guys kidding or are you serious I can't tell.

The car picks up some weight so that it's a better car on a road ( which makes sense cause 99% of these cars are going to live out their life on the road) and it's not up to some of your standards? You're happy with your 2014 cause it's one hundredth of a second faster in a 1/4 mile. I understand it but my feelings for the 2011-13 models years are as follow: if I had to drive around in that interior I'd probably commit suicide before I reached the 1st stop sign. You may not see this as a car going forward but it actually is, it is maturing enough that I will be ordering one next year. It's a hot car, it looks hot and it's fast and I guarantee it will be a blast to drive. I see no problems at all. Ford doesn't have to change anything to this car until they decide to do a refresh, which will be a few years down the road.
.
What you are missing:
707 hp Mopars
650 hp GM offerings.................435 hp is like a knife @ a gun fight !!
 
What your missing is that you are going to pay more money for a slower car. And since this is a "performance car" that is not good. The problem isn't so much that its slower, but rather that its not faster. This car should run rings around the out going model and the fact is it doesn't. Even in the handling department, we are all supposed to be impressed by the fact that 2015 GT equipped with the Performance Package is the equal 2012-13 Boss 302. That sounds great doesn't it ? Ford really hit it out of the ball park with this new chassis didn't they? After all the 2012-13 Boss 302 is the benchmark, the best handling Mustang ever ? Right? But is it really such a great achievement ? Think about it. Ford just spent millions of dollars developing an all new chassis and suspension from the ground up, just so they can build a car that goes around curves "as good" as a 2 year old car with a solid rear, mounted to 13 year old chassis design which is actually a modified version of a chassis first produced in 1999 for a 4 door sedan. How impressive is that really?
You gloss over the fact the the car gained weight, but the extra 198lbs is probably the reason for it's disappointing 1/4 mile and 0-60 times. maybe the extra weight does make it a better road car. But don't forget, reducing the weight of the "bloated s197 Mustang " is one of the primary reasons Ford decide to develop an all new car instead of modify the existing chassis in the first place.
Look I don't mean to tear into this car. And I don't want to dissuade you are anyone else from buying one. Look at my past posts. I have been 100% behind this car from day one and for the most part I still am. I love this car, I really do. But I am disappointed . With all the time and money Ford put into developing this car the performance is not what it should be. I'm sorry but that is how I see it at this point in time .
I wish this wasn't the case, I really hoped this car was going to be spectacular, and maybe it is, maybe Motortrend"s test driver sucks driving stick, or was just having an off day. Maybe there was something wrong with the test car. But baring any of that unless Ford decides to up the H.P. numbers the answer the original posters question " Just how good will the 2015 Mustang be??" is in my humble opinion : Good... but not good enough.

First and foremost I need to make a correction. Where I stated the 15 Mustang is a hundredth of a second slower I actually meant to say it's a tenth of a second slower. Now onto the replies.

You should probably tell me what you're expecting for the performance numbers from this Mustang. Keeping in mind we already knew what transmission and engine it was going to get, there were going to be no surprises here. As far as a "new car" should be faster and run rings around the outgoing model is a nice idea. But not an idea any of the car manufacturers actually follow at all. Some examples:

For example when the new Evo X came out it was much much slower than the outgoing Evo IX series. I'm sure if I dig hard enough I could find more examples. I'm pretty sure that the STI's also don't have massive leaps and jumps in performance going from one model year straight to another.

And the performance in the 1/4 is so minuscule that you can perfectly and sensibly argue that the car is just as fast as the 2014 car.


.
What you are missing:
707 hp Mopars
650 hp GM offerings.................435 hp is like a knife @ a gun fight !!

Perhaps you're in a wrong discussion entirely. Or maybe I'm just unaware. Please direct me to the GM and Dodge options of such cars for 33k MSRP.
 
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Very simple. I was expecting the new Mustang to out perform the outgoing model in every performance category and if Motortrends numbers stand up it doesn't. In my opinion "just as fast' is not fast enough. I was also expecting it to be lighter, one of the stated reasons for the redesign and its not. I was also expecting 450 to 475hp. Didn't get that either. If I did we wouldn't be having this conversation. Because it would "run rings around the outgoing model."

But like said, I'm basing this on Motortrends numbers.Its possible that once the car is more thoroughly tested , and they start to hit local drag strips we find M/Ts numbers were off. Then I will very gladly say that I am wrong.
 
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Very simple. I was expecting the new Mustang to out perform the outgoing model in every performance category and if Motortrends numbers stand up it doesn't. I was also expecting it to be lighter, one of the stated reasons for the redesign and its not.

I'd still like you to throw some numbers over here so I can get an idea of what you're expecting. Would you be happy if the car was just a tenth of a second faster in the 1/4 or you'd need more. And according to MotorTrend's tests the new car outshines the old one on more than 1 performance front. Handling, Stopping, and when you add them both together you get a faster car on a road track. So that's 3 things that it's better at, and I will go and say in acceleration it's just as fast as the 2014, but if you want to split hairs over that completely useless tenth of a second than fine. Still better in 3 performance categories than the old model regardless the extra weight. Hey quite the improvement in my book.
 
Lol....the new Mustang is a better car in every respect than the outgoing model (which was already an outstanding car)....but because it it's running GT500 like numbers in straight line acceleration, a lot of the clowns that will respond to this thread are having a fits.

What's even better, is that most of the Negative Nancy respondents here probably won't be in a position to buy one of these bad boys for nearly a decade, if ever, or haven't any interest in buying a new Mustang in the first place. It's as though they've somehow been insulted by Ford and now refuse to put their order in on one because it doesn't meet up to their magazine bench racing expectations.

Love it :rlaugh:
 
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I don't know. I have had 8 Mustangs so far, haven't had much trouble buying them before . I bought all except my 66 hardtop and 67 Fastback new. So I don't see why I should have any trouble buying number #9, The question is what do I want to spend my 35-40k on. A 2015 GT , a 2010- 12 GT500, or a Boss 302.
And sorry its not running GT500 numbers in the straight line . Its running 2011-2014 GT numbers.
All I have been hearing since 2005 is that the s197 Mustangs are too heavy. Why is it ok for this car to be 200lbs heavier?
 
So ford racing had their GT at Milan dragway and claims a 11.77 with their GT and a few select ford racing bolt ons? Not to shabby

Their TVs style supercharged had their gt solidly in the 10's as well...

Just saying ;)
 
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So you're saying we should drop 35k on the car then drop more money on mods to then be faster than the outgoing car?

Honestly, I don't give two :poo:s about the interior but want a faster mustang. I've been shopping for one for awhile and couldn't find any that I liked, but guess I 'can't afford one' :rlaugh:

You don't know my life