grendal said:
Road & Track sucks. They cover cars that less than 1% of the buying public actually buys..... but seriously... how many of either of these cars are sold??... Porsche Supercar? Blah blah. Another car nobody can afford. Who cares. Jaguars, Aston Martins, etc, etc. Other expensive pieces of ***** that most people can't afford and have absolutely no interest in.
-Michael
I understand that this is an opinion, and I don't tend to read R&T Either. (actually most generalized US auto journalism is kind of tepid to me anyway, who wants to keep reading "I guess you'll have to make up your own mind." at the end of every comparo? Be Decisive, people!
)
But I have this counter-point. I know that Aston Martin, Ferrari, Porsche, and the like are a very small portion of the market, but they are the best. That is why ford is going after them with the Ford GT. That is why people who buy Mustangs and the like should be interested. When Aston Martin and Ford (Same parent company, and the people who will also be, and are designing your future mustang) try to compete with Ferrari and Porsche, they have to learn and work to do so. Those techniques influence the lower cars they will design after that. How much have Ford powertrain engineers learned about supercharging the 5.4 in the Ford GT, that will likely have direct results on the new Mustang GT, and very likely, the '06 SVT offering.
That, and also, the Variable Valve/Cam Timing and the 3 valve design of the new 05 GT's V8 are indirect results of past years of F1 racing, by the likes of Ferrari and BMW, and the 3-Valve design was recently improved and brought to fore by Mercedes, for more power and efficiency than 2 valves, with fewer moving parts and costs than a 4 valve, twin cam arrangement. the new 05 GT has quite nearly the same amount of horsepower that only Cobra owners could claim from a hand-built engine. That is progress.
The interior of the 05 GT, and the F150 is a direct result of having to improve on the interior of the Aston Martin DB7 to the Vanquish and DB9, and Jag XKR.
Aluminum Construction (hood, panels, and crush zones in the 05 mustang) came from the technology that has gone so far as to allow the new Jag XJ series sedans being made completely out of that material.
That is part of the complaint that some people have leveled in other threads about six speed manuals, and IRS, which have "Trickled down" to a lot of other cars in or near the price range of the 05 Mustang, yet the Mustang may not incorporate those, even as options. I hope the new Mustang does have those options. I would hate to think that a brand new car would be behind the technology curve in those areas, right out of the box.
Hot Rod technology today is not that far removed from the upper eschelon of sports car development from years ago, just a matter of time and lowered expense. That is only going to continue, which is a great thing.