Giving it an LS2 has already been mentioned. Seriously, it could use a pushrod style V8 for more power and better mpg.

 

I agree with Threxx, get rid of that styling. The thing screams "fat and ugly" to me.

I rode in a 98' Cobra Rousch Convertible a couple weekends ago and I would take that thing hands down to even any modified new mustang. I can't get over the wanna be retro mixed with todays curves. Side is ok. Front/Rear BLAH.

Also needs more power on the GT although I don't know how they mod - but out of the box it's only LT1 territory.

And the thing from what I'm told is only selling at what the previous models did WITH competition... Although, I do wish the best for Ford...

 

Call me a fool, but I strongly believe Chevrolet has a great opportunity to give us a new Camaro that will make this Mustang instantly look extremely dated.

I expect the new Camaro to look tighter, slicker, meaner.

 

Why does FORD have such a hard on for the 4.6??? Give it some cubes and then it might go as good as my 7 year old LS-1

 

I thought this would poll would go in a different (less exhausted) direction...

 

I agree push rods are our friends. Well maybe its that I just don't like overhead cam engines, well ZR1 maybe. Seriously ohc is what kept me from picking up a colorado.

 

I'd just make the interior more space efficient:
1.)Door armrest extend too far forward, making my knees sore from resting on their corner, and are too low to be useable.
2.)Door skins are too tall, placing your arm on it means your arm will be ABOVE your shoulder line.(uncomfortable)
3.)Roof above side windows comes down too far, makes me feel closterphobic(sp?)like i'm in a "chop-top".
4.)BOTTOMS OUT TOO EASILY!...for an upright car, it bottoms out on modest speed bumps...NOT on the exhaust either...THE FRAME!!!(/body)(Front end facia hits every "parking chauk" at parking lots.
5.)The Roof is too sloped, or swooped, whatever...backseat headroom worse than previous.A slight re-arc, if done right, would be near un-noticeable.(IMO)
6.)V6 felt lazy @ cruise speeds, it had to down shift to accelerate any at all.
7.)Center console too fat, not phat...

Only drove one for 3-days, that's my major complaints.

Styling says "American" to me, not very Euro-Japanese admittedly.

 

I agree completely, and as far as I'm concerned the "new" 'Stang looked dated when they first came out...The old ones are so much better lookin'. Whether or not Chevy capitalizes on this oppurtunity, (they sure are taking long enough), is what I'm worried about. I feel they have a chance with the new Camaro to really hurt Mustang sales by giving people somethin' that doesn't look like a bastardized 40 year old design

 

Well I don't care if it's retro; retro is fine as long as it looks good. I can't say the "new mustang" looks better then the previous gen or the "original" version. But this is all opinion of course.

 

I would put it on hiatus so the ford guys can know how it feels.

 

I was just about to say put it on hiatus for 7 years

Seriously though, I'd change the front end. It looks too much like a whale shark for my liking.

 

viva la mustang

 

I'd either make the rear overhang slightly shorter, or move the rear axle toward the back a little. The Mustang has grown on me a lot, but I still think the rear end looks too long.

 

I ask myself this constantly, there obsesion with small diamater V-8's is a little redundent at this point.

They do get some decent numbers from it, but that cant happen forever. The CID just isnt there for dependable numbers past 400 N/A from the factory.

Not saying it cant happen, but being almost 10 years behind the competition in the way of HP, is a little staggering.

Yes Yes i know the Z28 is gone, but the Vette is still here as is the GTO. Both putthing down significantly more HP, as will be the camaro at the time of its launch.

 

The 4.6 was designed to fit FWD/RWD apps so they squeezed the fore/aft dimensions of the block and spread out the sides so it would have a shorter deck allowing the V8 to fit under a variety of hoodlines. With the big fore/aft squeeze came siamesed cylinders of a small diameter (which is also handy for eliminating crevice volume around the rings - a dead spot for combustion - ) so the only way to get displacement is with stroke, then there is the whole modular engine program with common machining equipment, etc. On the subject of power, the later mod motors make decent power

56/liter for the PI GT motor (low octane)
69/liter for the N/A cobra
71/liter for the R model 5.4
65/liter for the 3v GT motor (low octane)
84/liter for the blown 4.6
83/liter for the blown 5.4 in the Shelby
101/liter for the blown 5.4 in the Ford GT


None of which isn't to bad considering the LS2 is 67/liter, 62/liter for the LS1 and 78/liter for the LS7.

The LS engines big advantage is displacement and a meaty torque curve, compared the smaller mod motors which IMO have a much narrower power band (seems to me on the 2v PI motors there is marked improvement in acceleration at around 3,000 rpm enough so that you can feel a surge in the seat of your pants by around then, and redline on a stock 2v GT is 6,250 rpm). The VVT 3v cylinder heads are a big improvement for the mod motors, eliminating a big and typical weakspot in Ford engine design, namely the cylinder heads.

Also unfortunatley for Ford, they are on the skids like GM (worse shape I believe)so thier isnt a whole bunch of money to develop a brand new engine series (last I heard they were working on a new engine called the Hurricane, but the project has since been shelved/scrapped), then again why should they? The mod motors are a pretty good basic design, and they have proven themselves (maybe not to you guys), and Ford can add cylinders if they need displacement that bad. There are a few older fox4 cars running around with 6.8 V10 transplants(which is almost a bolt in) and then there was Ford's own 5.7 V10 they shoehorned into a Fox4 themselves. The 05 has tons of space under the hood (you could put a Boss 429 in the engine bay of an 05, no sweat and might not need a cowl hood to get the rest of the motor in there either).