I have driven a new Mustang...the V6 same as you. Here are my thoughts...

The interior was EXTREMEMLY cheap. The chrome accents on the vents were not well thought out. Got a real nice glare in sunny california while driving. The plastic seemed very cheap and fragile.

The gauges were hard to read because of the deep "tunnel" they are in depending on where you need the seat/wheel.

The engine ran VERY nice for a V6. I was impressed by the power and suspect the gearing had much to do with this.

The handling as OK. I could tell it was a live-axle. Nowhere hear the handling of a CTS-V and also nowhere near the price I am sure.

Would I purchase one? No way. The interior was pure crap IMHO.

I guess the foreign auto makers are looking better and better with a few exceptions (CTS-V, new Z-06, etc). We were looking at buying a couple Escelades but the price/quality/value of the Sequoia puts the Excelade and the Taho to shame. I am starting to get very concerned with the big two (GM and Ford)

 

They are going to have to increase the rebates by more than $300 to move a car with a solid rear axle. The press will slam them. And, most importantly:

NO IMPORT BUYER IS GOING TO BE WON BACK TO GM WITH "YESTERTECH" TECHNOLOGY, NO MATTER HOW GOOD IT IS.

These are the types of decisions that leads one to doubt GM's future.

 

That's right. No car is going to sell with a live rear axle. That must be why Mustangs are collecting dust on the showroom floor, and why they all have huge rebates on them.

Oh wait! They're building 4k a week and selling ABOVE sticker price! I wonder, how people could have possibly been fooled into not realizing that the live rear axle makes the car junk? Oh that's right, nost people don't know what a live rear axle is, and the magazines have all said that the car handles very well.

 

This has got to be the stupidest move GM has ever made. unbelievable!!!

 

I betcha they'd know if they drove a modern chassis car, back to back with a Mustang.

 

Makes me sad to hear of such things.

Advantage still Ford.

 

So a trucks rear suspension will make a good pony car suspension?

 

I haven't read through this entire post, but wanted to add my .02.

If ANY GM engineers or bean counters (highly doubtful...my dad is one, and he doesn't go to enthusiast sites much despite owning an orange Formula ) are reading this, for the love of god...

HAS GM NOT LEARNED THAT WHEN YOU CHEAP OUT YOU ONLY HURT YOURSELF?????????????????????????????????????????? ??

If LXs can start at $23k in Charger form with IRS, why the HELL can GM not do this? Maybe if the car was more advanced, it wouldn't need a $9,500 rebate to move it!!!

Looking at it that way, MAYBE the beancounters will see the value in making a QUALITY car, not a CHEAP car. Sorry for abusing the caps lock here...but this really fries my ***. We can spend money on little chrome badges, but not on engineering? Isn't that the mentality that put us behind the Japanese in the first place?

 

Some interesting points in this thread. Especially with regards to "Camaro not being the right car for me anymore." If not...that's cool...at some point I think we're supposed to move on to a performance/luxury type car. The Camaro won't perform like a Vette and ride like a Cadillac for 25,000 dollars folks.

If you look at it from a young enthusiast's standpoint...IRS won't win the battle vs a Mustang...whoever has the better performing drivetrain will (brand loyalists excluded).

If you look at it from the high school cheerleader perspective...it's whichever one looks cooler with the top down.

The guys that like to hug the corners? A good live axle setup can be made to handle remarkably well.

Joe Car Buyer? Value, MPG, Reliability, Looks...GM can win all these battles with a live axle.

So the car media will rip it apart. Who cares, they're biased against domestics for the most part anyway. The way I look at it is, if we get a live axle just to keep the Corvette guys from getting butthurt about sharing their driveline...I hear Colorado is lovely this time of year.

 

I think Im just gonna wait and see how it all pans out. Seems like we have a new story/rumor in here every other week which is awesome but some of them dont amount to anything but being just a rumor.

Bottom line is I have practically fallen in love with the new Mustang. Flame it if you want but to me it is a nice car. Looks good, performs good (even the v6 ones), and it comes with a full range of model choices. Im not blindly loyal to GM and if the next Camaro isnt very good, then I'll be purchasing a Mustang. Its that simple.

***** in your court GM. Build a good quality Camaro (whether that means IRS or a good live axle setup) and I'll be waiting in line to buy one. Build a "just good enough" Camaro and I'll be shopping the Ford dealerships for a new Mach 1 or other special edition Mustang...........

 

I hear good things about the Mustang, but haven't had a chance to drive one yet. IRS or not will not be the killer for me with the 5th gen, it will all come down to styling and price for me. I'll buy the RWD GM that I think is the coolest come 2008. Hopfully I can keep my Colorado Crew as a 2nd car and the back seat won't matter as much (advantage Camaro). For $150 not putting in IRS is lame and will give GM some bad reviews and might cost them a few sales over all (or maybe not). I'd feel the same way if the base V6 got steel rims and hub caps to save $100. Or if they use the cheapo leather/vinyl combo, over quality GTO style leather.

How does Ford have the advantage? Ford cheaped out and did exactly what everyone here is bitching about.

 

So, going back to the sportbike analogy..... is this sportbike option 1, 2 or is it now 1.5? I don't know about anyone else but my head is spinning.

You know what, just put that little GM badge on it... it'll be fine.

 

Ok, but I was comparing the EXACT SAME CAR under the exact same conditions with everything else but the two different rear suspension setups being exactly the same. Was the Corvette in question compared back-to-back with an IRS then a live axle? Of course it was not, and given that fact, how can a direct comparison be made with so many other variables obviously present?

 

In fact, most car magazines have driven a modern chassis car back to back with the Mustang, namely the Pontiac GTO. Most reviews say that the Mustang handles BETTER.

Also, do you really think most Mustang owners haven't driven a modern chassis car??? What do you think these people are driving to the car dealers in? Just about every sedan and coupe on the market has IRS, so if there was a big difference between the two, people would notice on the test drive.

The Corvette is a ~$40,000 car. The Camaro is a ~$25,000 car. An IRS costs about $200 more than a live rear axle. Thus, there clearly is a lot more differentiating the Camaro from the Corvette than their rear suspensions.

I'm not saying that live rear axles make a car handle better, I'm just saying that cars can be made to handle very well with them in place.

 

Yeah, that'll do it! While we're at it, lets ressurect the Berlinetta name too!