Go to www.themustangsource.com and check out the wheel hop thread. They have it pretty bad even with the live axle!

 

Unless you are hitting a road course VERY hard, it does not matter. A good live axle setup has no problems on the street.

 

A live axle won't have "trouble" at all, I agree, but the comfort of the ride it terrible compared to IRS... and that is the difference.

And a lot of people turned away from F-Bodies (and Mustang's too, I'd assume) because they rode terrible over a less than perfect road...

There's a lot of the infamous "percieved quality" in how harsh the ride is.

 

To tell the truth, I have no problems with the ride of my z28 so I might be biased but I test drove the new Mustang GT and it had fantastic ride quality.

 

I know how you feel.

To be honest, I felt the same way when I had my Z28... then I drove my Monte SS, and the GTO, and now I really notice a real difference. Not so much on nice roads, but definately on the all too numerous less-than-perfect roads.

 

I have owned many cars, some with full independent suspension. At his point in life, I dont really notice a real big diffrence in ride quality. Its not like going from a covered wagon to a hovercraft! Maybe as I age it will matter more......dont want to think about that though, it can be depressing.

 

Well, the only way I would even briefly consider a solid rear axle, is if they majorly beefed it up, and the drivetrain didn't have to rely on tq management to survive.... like a 8.8" 12 bolt..


or unless the IRS was a total hack job..

 

I think my Z28 rides pretty good for a sports car. Yes its firm, but it doesn't beat you up like a Z06 Vette or Evo that I've rode in.

 

those cars are also alot sharper than the Z28 too.

 

yea, if they do do a solid axle, it'd have to be able to stand up to some abuse instead of the weak 10 bolts we have
and myself personally, i think my z28 rides too soft
i can't even imagine what it'd be like with an irs

 

I don't think I'd describe IRS's effect as making it "Soft", so much as more adaptive to a given environment, resulting in a better ride.

Since both sides move independent of each other, the opposite side isn't doing something it doesn't have to or shouldn't be doing at all...

You'd think it'd be better handling in most if not all circumstances as well... the only real complaint people seem to have with IRS is that at a drag strip, a solid axle seems to launch a bit better... but I see a lot of fast Corvette's out there, so I wonder how overblown it is.

 

Yeah. I've driven some "stiffly" sprung cars with IRS. IRS doesn't neccessarily = soft. It's all in the suspension tuning/setup really as far as ride quality. But IRS would smoothen the bumbs and other road imperfections better than a live-axle.

True....live axles tend to be cheaper as well as stronger if built right. The weight savings are probably another plus. Not to mention the simplicity the live-axle and its ability to put more power down. But for the most part, IRS is better. Both have their pluses and minuses.

 

This was a 05 darth, it still has a bad hop, love the car but without aftermarket help its a problem.

 

Hmmmm...That is interesting.

I wonder if the implemented fix was applied at the beginning of the MY2005 run, or during the course of it (somewhere mid-run)? And then possibly the car you had was a pre-fix car?

Just taking stabs at this, since other things I have read have pretty much said the issue was corrected.

 

To answer the GTO questions:

The GTO tach does not lag like the f-bodies, it appears to be dead on.
The GTO does suffer from SOME wheel hop, but not if you launch it right. When I took it to the strip, I started out by doing some 2500rpm clutch dumps and I wheel hopped REALLY BAD. I changed my launch technique to be 4000rpm clutch slips (albeit a quick slip) and the car would peel out lightly and take off. Also shaved quite a bit off the time (-.6 sec +3mph). I also was able to cut a better 60' on the BFG M+S tires then with my WS.6 on the wider summer tires (2.088 vs. 2.14).

After driving both I really prefer IRS for the ride compliance and for the handling. There's a turn near work that's tight and has a bump right in the middle. With the WS.6 I brace beforehand and turn based on the fact I know the rear is going to hop a little over the bump. Meanwhile while I still feel the bump in the GTO it doesn't upset the rear as it does in the WS.6.

Chris