Possible. Though I think you'll see an extended wheelbase Genesis at some point -- perhaps only for Korean consumption.

In that case, the V6 is carrying along the V8's hardware. You'll see the same smaller difference between M35 and M45. Look at G35 to M35.

Me too. Now GM just needs to get through this bad economy. Unfortunately, to do that, they have to navigate the political minefield in Washington.

 

That, and if this Camaro doesn't cough up at least a couple of brisk sales years - I can see the brand taking a loooong dirt nap.

 

can't wait for the 5.0 offering to come back

 

Ummm.... It will still be a modular motor. DOHC this time around. And last time they had a 4.9L

 

i wonder if they will make a 5.0 LX

 

So from the rumors Ive heard, this new 2011 or whenever its supposed to be released mustang. This car will basically be a GT500 without the blower and an aluminum block?

 

The GT500 is a 5.4, the new engine is a 5.0. It is very similar to the existing 4.6, except that it has a completely new block, with better cylinder spacing.

Basically, it eliminates all of the shortcomings of the 4.6 (which was originally designed to serve duty in FWD AND RWD).

(sorry for so many errors lately. I have got to stop posting when I first get up, or am just about off to bed. LOL)

 

Nope.

Actually the engine in the GT500 is essentially the engine from the Ford GT.

The 5.0 will be quite similar to the 5.0 "Cammer" crate engine Ford has been selling for the past number of years for racing.

 

Which according to the weights on FRPP is quite a bit heavier than the 4.6

 

But its still a mod motor with 32 valves.

 

More better
(thats right, I said more-better)

It's more new than anything ...
Starting to signal the end of the 4.6/5.4 line.

 

Sorry for delayed response... work and holidays are quite time-consuming, not leaving much time for internet browsing lately.

The record straight on Mustang HP in the 80s...
1985 was the big hitter for the Mustang's 5.0. It saw a 35hp increase over 1984 via the use of rollers in the valvetrain, a new cam, tubular stainless steel headers (first time ever on a Mustang), new heads to accomodate the roller equipment, and as close to true dual exhausts as was allowed with the cat technology of the day - it was split behind the cat and ran duals to the exit of the car. All this free-flowing and friction-reducing tech took the Mustang from 175hp/245tq in 1984 up to 210hp/270tq in 1985. Ironically, the CFI unit that everyone seems to remember for 1985 was a lame-duck that came in at 180hp/260tq in automatic trim for the same year. Obviusly, everyone wanting to run fast was after the original holley 4-v setup that was making the better numbers, and those are the cars everyone is after to collect today.

1986 saw a drop in HP due to a replacement head that was required to accomodate the new EFI system and ALSO emissions regulations. Yes, emissions... recall there were sweeping changes across all carmakers that year with emissions and safety regulations that went into effect Jan 1, 1986. Anyone recall the third brake lights (CHMSL) that were all of a sudden mandatory? So it was a double-whammy for the 5.0 that year - emissions and EFI implementation. The head design was a very restricted design, basically choking the 5.0 from moving mass volumes of air freely. The new intake design with the long runners in the upper intake, and direct runners shooting into the heads at the lower intake created a great condition for packing density though, helping the tq curve considerably. So although the HP went down by 10, the TQ actually went up by 15, giving the 86 model 5.0 200hp and 285tq. By all accounts, the 86 was actually more fun to drive in everyday situations due to the tq jump and better throttle response of the EFI over the carb, and nobody ever cared about the drop in hp except on paper.

The introduction of the 87 model saw a replacement of the heads that instantly solved the flow problem of the 86 head. The head used was actually from the truck line of 302 engines which had already gone to efi a few years earlier. The E7TE truck head was the solution, and actually became a Ford hot-rodder's trick for boosting the output of previous years of 5.0's in Mustangs - still known and practiced to this day. The result was a jump to 225hp and 300tq.

The power did not change again until 1993, when Ford began using a different calibration system for power their own ratings. This was an internal policy - not governmental. Also, in the evaluation of the Mustang prior to the 94 launch, Ford decided to roll-up a series of small hits into one big lump and dump it on the public for 93. Examples of these small hits to hp are the air resonator in front of the air filter box (5-7hp), a camshaft change in 89 to go with Mass-air change (3hp), the mass air meter itself in the air stream cut about 2-3hp, revisions to catalytic converters, mufflers, and resonators in 1990 also added about 2-3 hp loss. Add all these up, and you see the net loss of 20hp and 25tq in the ratings, but the changes all came over time, and there was nothing significant done in 1993 alone that caused the big drop. So the 93 model was advertised at 205hp, 275tq. It really was a bit of marketing and cleaning house at the same time for Ford.

When the 94 Mustang came out, the numbers went back up to 215hp for ponies, and the tq was 285. Essentially, it was the same engine as the 93 but with a revised throttle body and upper/lower intake to clear the new hood (per previous discussion in this thread, the design was a modified version of the induction used on the MN12 platform. Bottom line - I think it looked good on paper to say the "new 94 Mustang has more power than the old one", when in reality nothing substantial had changed.

There's the .02 on power games with the Mustang through the 5.0 years.

And to directly answer the question of why we won't see a big hp gain in the '10 model... again - marketing. Don't ever play your hole card until you have to. The new sheet metal, interior, wheels, and trim packages will keep the Mustang competitive to shoppers while the new Camaro comes out, and the Challenger becomes popular. Once those models are 1 year old and some of the new wears off, you can expect to see a more powerful Mustang available with some unique trim features and badging to keep the interest alive and sales invigorated. (winky club rights reserved for the text in italics.)

Ford may have made some mistakes in their past, but screwing up the Mustang and it's marketing strategy is not one of them. The biggest mistake they ever made was contemplating the sale of the Mustang model to Mazda and/or converting it to FWD and killing the V8 options in the mid 1980's. I think there are mail carriers at Dearborn's HQ that are still out on disability because of the volumes of mail received over that one! It's nice to know that the Mustang owners and followers almost refuse to let Ford screw the car up.

Which begs my last point... The folks that love the car are driving it's changes - in design, content, and power. Those who are voting with their wallets (instead of internet blogs or forum posts) are overwhelmingly happy.
So a few are disgruntled about the low hp of the Mustang GT. Understandable. No problem. They just need to look to another model to satisfy their need for speed. If you can't get your rock off in a factory-built 725hp Mustang from Shelby, you need rock-surgery because your gun don't shoot anymore. The name of the game is not who is the fastest off the showroom floor, but who sells the most, makes the money, and keeps making the cars. I'd gladly lose the battle to win the war.

I actually have a guy that I work with who is already trying to order his '10 GT. He knows I am into the cars and has bugged me relentlessly about it for details. He IS buying one. And his wife is driving a 2008 GT/CS convertible that he just bought last summer to boot. So things like this is why I think the car and their marketing approach is doing OK.

FACTOID... In 1985, the Mustang single-handedly constituted 2% of all cars made/sold in the US market. That means 1 car in 50 sold in the US was a Mustang.

 

The urban legend is, that when Don Petersen opened the first letter sent to him regarding Ford's plan to make Mustang a Mazda FWD, the greeting on it was "Dear A$$hole".

I guess he was smart enough to get the point.....

 

HA! Have not heard that one, but it would not surprise me!

Something we discussed on this board back in 2002/2003 just before the 4th gen went away, is just how easy it has become to voice your opinion to the carmakers. Back when that episode with the Maz-tang was buzzing, we did not hear about it unless it was in a newspaper or a magazine. there WAS no internet, chatrooms, forums, or boards onto which an insider could let the world know a secret within hours of finding it out. So the ideas were typically well-along their way to fruition by the time the public at-large knew about them.

THEN - to voice your concern to powers that be meant you had to sit and write (by hand or on a typewriter - BTW, anyone old remember the last hand-written letter you did?!?!) a letter to someone. You had to call and get mail-to addresses or contact customer service to get a response line. Again, there WAS no internet with "contact us" buttons and direct email access to customer affairs reps.
Mailing the letters took a few days, and then someone had to make the effort to open each one and read it (chicken scratch and all). Not like clicking on an email that has been spell-checked and saving it to a folder.

So having said all this for the benefit of the young ones here that can not remember life without a PC on a desk, just think about the emotion that was felt and the actual sincerity and conviction with which we "old people" fought to keep the Mustang a traditional V8 RWD ponycar. We even paid cash money for stamps to get our opinions to Dearborn!!!

Imagine if the people today acted with as much conviction and effort. With the ease of information broadcast, today we could move mountains by yesterday's standards.

So to all, take this as a challenge to spend some effort getting your point to those who can do something about it. Griping to deaf ears or a crowd that already endorses your position is not going to be very fruitful. It's like preaching to the choir. Take advantage of the means in front of us to be heard and make rational suggestions to carmakers about what we want. I know Ford is listening, and I hope GM is as well with the new Camaro coming forth. Both will have their challenges making it through the next 2-3 years I'm afraid.

 

Excellent points.

Not to change the subject too much but just as an aside; I do wonder sometimes if, say a couple hundred years from now, what people will be able to learn from us.

I have letters/papers penned in his own hand that belonged to my great-grandfather that, while unimportant to anyone outside of my family; are absolutely irreplaceable to me...I can hold them in my hand and know I'm connecting with a bit of my own history. In a broader sense, think of the personal letters and such of some of our country's statesmen/heroes of decades/centuries past.

Somehow, an email just doesn't measure up.

The internet is great...I've been using it since back in the days before anyone even knew what to do with it (other than electronic messages; even before CompuServe or the upstart, AOL)...but while we've gained some things I also think that we've given up a lot