300A GT 6MT test drive

[horned-toad]

Every single thing you've listed as a problem has a remedy available as an option.
...
We are no longer living in a time when prices are going to be sub-40k for something nice.

I don't want nice, I want competent. Unfortuantely the steering can't be fixed by 3rd party.

I also do not reward failure to do the job RIGHT by giving the manufacturer another $8000+ to only sorta kinda make it less embarrassing (magride). I can fix the problem for half that (Ohlins) and have a vastly better product to boot. What is incredibly irksome is that Ford only had to grab the suspension off the FP shelf, no changes needed. The extra 20 cents is more than covered by the $4000 hike.

As to the diff, you don't even need the Torsen ($1000 retail, 500'ish in quantity?) the sucky multi-plate clutch solution can be passed off as sufficient.

I didn't get to do a full-power pull, the rear started crabbing as I rolled into the throttle, and I didn't feel like trying to explain a close encounter with the PoPo or any guardrail imprints in the bodywork.

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[Baldilocks]

 

[Q6543]

OP sounds like you’re just saber rattling.

 

[horned-toad]

OP sounds like you’re just saber rattling.

don't own a sword. Now a Klingon Bat'leth on the other hand...

 

[horned-toad]

because I’m an insider at the blue oval, and this is when we said goodbye to 35-40K dollar mustangs and hello to 50K plus

so I saw a post on YT (yeah yeah) that claims the cost to Stellantis of building a RAM 1500 was $35,000 as of last week. And they charge a clean double to the dealer (MSRP). Hellcats were $37.500.

I wonder what Ford's figures are for Mustang. $20-25K for a base GT?

 

[Q6543]

No that’s grossly wrong, you can see profit margins on quarterlies…

they make 7-9K profit on a 80K hellcat.

ie 7-11% profit margins…. The most profitable cars are Teslas…. They make over 20%

technically maybe a base BASE model ram may only cost 35k, but msrp would only be around 40k, I could see that

 

[horned-toad]

the Stellantis numbers were pure manufacutring cost: parts, raw materials, labor. NOT including marketing, paying the white-collar engineers, the accountants, corporate legal team, janitors, building upkeep+rent, taxes or any of the other costs of "running the business".

price of part(s) paid to vendor + paint shop materials + labor rate x hours to assemble.

 

[Dave2013M3]

Manual seats? No shit? That's wild.

My 2020 300a has power seats.

 

[highvoltage]

I stopped reading after you said the suspension was terrible. Cause it’s definitely better and more planted and many agree. Plus how are you comparing MSRP and then drop the price of the S550 and not the S650. You do realize many have gotten 3-4K off MSRP me included.

 

[Crew4991]

@horned-toad man you are getting beat up on this forum LOL.
FYI, I completely agree with you on the S650 being pricier and getting less for the same things you pointed out in different messages. Others think the car is worth it - lets let them spend their money, hopefully they still enjoy the car in a few years.
I'm here on 7G holding out for the Shelby models to come out. Will see what happens with those models but I personally have been disappointed by the current 7G lineup.

 

[horned-toad]

I stopped reading after you said the suspension was terrible. Cause it’s definitely better and more planted and many agree.

than what? The base S550? I drove the 650 GT and my 550 EB back to back. Slight difference in spring rate. They drive the same. If Ford "improved" the 650 dampers they failed to make any useful change. If all you do is piddle around town and Cheech+Chong your way down the highway, it's not all that objectionable, true. And compared to my dad's 18yr old Caravan, yes the Mustang is better.

I've driven at least 8 different suspension configurations of the S550, Camaro with and without MR, recent Civic SI, GTI, Audi with old Bilstein, Challenger with 3-way Bilsteins over the exact same roads so have a wealth of experience with what works and what doesn't and where they stack up. There is no excuse, not even "cost cutting" to saddle the Mustang, any trim with the garbage they've been using since 2015. It just shows how low the bar is in Detroit that the buyers don't rise up and hurl their dampers thru the plate glass windows of Ford et. al. HQ.

Plus how are you comparing MSRP and then drop the price of the S550 and not the S650. You do realize many have gotten 3-4K off MSRP me included.

My GT price reference included the PP1 package. So I removed that from the MSRP so the prices stated would be zero-option vs zero-option. I thought I made that clear.

That you can buy an S650 for Invoice or lower is not the point. I bought my GT for WAY under invoice back in 2019 as did a whole bunch of people. The only way to compare prices is using MSRP unless you're sitting on nationwide sales data for every trim out there and can do a direct comparo. I' don't have access to such data.

 

[samson]

Have to disagree with you on the two screens vs one deal. I've been in both and definitely prefer the connected screens. If the main complaint is the screens just look tacked onto the dash, having two of them with a big gap in between REALLY makes them look tacked on. As far as using them I really enjoyed them, and found them easy to use. The speedomether is low on the left screen because it has to be. If they made that screen smaller it would have looked really weird next to the larger center screen. I'm not thrilled with the overall dash design, but in use I found them to be a big improvement over the S550.

 

[cstraley]

because I’m an insider at the blue oval, and this is when we said goodbye to 35-40K dollar mustangs and hello to 50K plus.

We need this repealed, but the damage is already done.

You do realize it's elementary to check your accusation. You are full of bs btw. If you have trouble reading the charts let me know mr insider..

 

[Q6543]

The tariffs are ON TOP of spot prices.

secondly these are multi year laddered contracts that would need structural price deflation for a period of years to begin affecting msrp and vehicle prices.

rocket on the way up, feather on the way down.
The damage has been done. End the “trade war”

 

[cstraley]

The tariffs are ON TOP of spot prices.

secondly these are multi year laddered contracts that would need structural price deflation for a period of years to begin affecting msrp and vehicle prices.

rocket on the way up, feather on the way down.
The damage has been done. End the “trade war”

The Tariff's are on top of spot prices??? Ford is going to buy at spot or some agreed upon markup from spot which has NOTHING to do with a Tariff. The Tarif just makes the metal from China less appealing..

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