Its an old wives tale that an IROC is a better handler than a 4th gen. The cars have the exact same rear suspension, but the 4th gen suspenion is a superior design (if the strut worked so well, why'd they go away from it?) AND more meat in the form of 275/40-17 tires in later years.

A 1LE IROC was a pretty tough machine on the SCCA showroom stock circuit...dominated its class in its day, but an SS or Firehawk with the Bilstein suspension is a superior handling car hands down.

I love third gens, owned two of them, but I get tired of the way 3rd gen owners deify the cars like that is the best generation made. Looks and styling are subjective...I know some folks like 1st gens better, others 2nds, some 3rd and some 4ths, but lets not dillute objective measurements and deny the notion of progress through updates and advancements.

 

This is my arguement against blind brand loyallty!

I present to you all, exhibit 'A'.

 

I understand that Ford will blatantly call it "Mustang".

 

They do handle better. Why do you think one got consistently higher .g's? Drive both cars in good condition back to back. I've done this with even my friends 35th SS and his G92 92 Z28 L98 and there's no contest. Admitted by him also. Many a 4th Gen owner in person has said this to me. 3rds are effortless handlers, they go where you want without even thinking about it, and they do not have a hard to turn steering wheel like 4ths do. When I got back into my RS after being in the 4th I couldn't believe the difference, and that's an RS. I'll take the sharper handling with the rougher ride anyday, but it's just not for some people. BTW, in Auto-X 3rds still dominate 4ths in the same class. Ask a racer which has the better setup for all-out handling. Why'd they go away from the front suspension design? To try and add in some compliance since people complained. What stinks about that is, when you add in compliance, you lose handling and .g's by default.

 

until now, I bought 2 cars now from the dealer, and ALWAYS went to chevy's first.. but first time ended with a Jetta 94 over the z24 and second a ford Ka instead the corsa.. why??? very bad salesman and high prices...

but hey, I still have 1 of the 3 thirdgen camaros I owned

ok.. totally out of subject

 

Lets all hope a 2005 GT Mustang handles better than a 2002 Z28. For crying out loud the 02' Z28 chassis is basically the same design from 1993 If Ford cant best a 12 year old suspension design with the release of their COMPLETELY NEW Mustang, then they should be ashamed. And from the info I have read, they might inch the OLD Z28 out, but the will in no way BEST it! What a dissapointment, seriously. If I was a Mustang guy I would be pissed. I mean you are FINALLY getting decent power in the GT and good power in the Cobra, now wheres the handling? I think Ford could persuade a lot of other drivers to come over to the dark side if they could improve the handling. However this was my sentiment with the 98-04 style body and a hope for some nice sleek changes in 05'. Kind of like the C5 makeover to the C6. That with some handling and I might have considered one in a year or two when I am ready to buy. Unfortunatley it will have to be atleast another generation of Mustangs before I even think of considering one, because the new car doesnt have impressive handling, only has decent power, and looks GOD AWEFUL

Man, with the cars available in todays market, an IRS, A-arm Mustang GT with 350hp and just a slight tweek on the current bodys styling would have looked awesome to me. Im sure it would to the Mustang crowd too! Unfortunately you have to deal with that ugly retro contraption, live axle, mcpherson struts, blah blah blah. It's kind of painful, I almost feel ashamed for almost considering a Mustang (diehard Chevy family), but theres nothing else out there! Oh well, dont have to anymore, Ford took care of that for me, THANK YOU FORD, wheeew (close one). I guess its GTO or Camaro if it ever comes back, maybe a used Vette, hmmmm....

 

What exactly is so "new" about the new Mustang? The 100 different colors you can make the gauges light up?

 

The body and the engine

 

I know it isn't all about skidpad tests when it comes to handling but, using an IROC's .92 to a 1LE 4th Gen's .91, what human on earth can tell the difference between .01 of a G?

I have owned both a 3rd Gen IROC and 2 4th Gens. That IROC sure did handle well on a glass-smooth surface, but the car shimmied and creaked and tossed you all around over the slightest of bumps. I'd gladly sacrifice .01 G for the added ride comfort. The 5th Gen cars would be wise to continue the balance between track grip and "butt" grip.

 

[QUOTE=Chris 96 WS6]Its an old wives tale that an IROC is a better handler than a 4th gen. The cars have the exact same rear suspension, but the 4th gen suspenion is a superior design (if the strut worked so well, why'd they go away from it?) AND more meat in the form of 275/40-17 tires in later years.
[QUOTE]

Yup.

What he said.

 

...and the platform.

So the Mustang fans are only getting three new parts, right Big Als?

 

Just interviewed Hau Thai-Tang the mustang's chief engineer. It looks like it will outhandle the F-bodies and the SN-95 stangs. They recently raced it against an M3 at (forgot the road course....long beach??) and the lap times differed by 0.5 seconds. And I think that was with 17" 235 tires.

Mr. Tang kept emphasizing how great the new setup really was. He almost went so far as to say that IRS wasn't needed on the Cobra.

 

Skid pad testing from mags such as CAR and Drivel dont tell all that much. Different size skid pad testing tell different things. What car will go around the majority of tracks faster? Its not the third gen....

 

Amen brother.

There was NO tire available in the 3rd's that would stick like the 275's on an SS.

None. Zip. Zero.

Tire technology has come a LOOOONG way in 10 years.

And I'll tell ya another thing...

Having driven both in the 4th gen, and all of the above over time, an SS rides much harder than a Z28, and either one will hand an IROC it's rear end.

 

PacerX = Hulk Hogan?