Mustang Hybrid (S650) Announced, Debuts in 2020

[PatrickGT]

When Mustang began 53 years ago it could any car that anyone wanted. A six cylinder econo car to full blow race car. Now Mustang will never be that car again but the hybrid will broaden Mustangs appeal not everyone buys a Mustang to go racing in.

You do realize the Mustang is available as a 4 cylinder econo car to a GT350 R?

Or, apparently not..

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[machsmith]

I don't think the v8 will go away for another decade. We'll see! I just made a sizeable purchase of ford stock because it's relatively low right now compaired to the others. More so because of the direction ford is taking . NO, I don't like the self driving hybrids but that's the way of the dummy future and well... it's an investment decision....tech is the way forward.

 

[Chameleon]

I don't think the v8 will go away for another decade. We'll see! I just made a sizeable purchase of ford stock because it's relatively low right now compaired to the others. More so because of the direction ford is taking . NO, I don't like the self driving hybrids but that's the way of the dummy future and well... it's an investment decision....tech is the way forward.

Agreed. Good to have options (V8 for me please)

Can't wait to see the design.

 

[OX1]

It's a muscle car not a sports car! If you want a light car there are plenty of examples out there.

Making a car light will generally be more expensive. Muscle cars are about spending the money on the engine rather than on light exotic materials. Also, in a crash a heavier car will mostly come out better.

Making a car heavy makes it more expensive. Need more HP, bigger drivetrain, larger brakes, bigger tires. All that means beefier chassis (and much harder to get decent mileage).

Point is this car has been porking up to the tune of 600 lbs since the 80's (my loaded with every option avail 86 Capri 5.0 is 3225 lbs) and you can feel it. New one's are more refined, but they drive PORKY................

Ford is now making alum bodies, no reason they could not swing a couple more alum parts @ the mustang without it being too prohibitive in cost. Would love to see a bunch of weight savings in front end (or front half), like alum fenders and doors (maybe even roof or K member).

 

[Norm Peterson]

tech is the way forward.

Financially anyway. The cost is going to come out of the fun of driving.

After you've had your couple seconds of acceleration fun coming off a traffic light you might as well be driving a 2.0L Fusion or perhaps a C-max.


Norm

 

[5pointOh]

Making a car heavy makes it more expensive. Need more HP, bigger drivetrain, larger brakes, bigger tires. All that means beefier chassis (and much harder to get decent mileage).

Point is this car has been porking up to the tune of 600 lbs since the 80's (my loaded with every option avail 86 Capri 5.0 is 3225 lbs) and you can feel it. New one's are more refined, but they drive PORKY................

Ford is now making alum bodies, no reason they could not swing a couple more alum parts @ the mustang without it being too prohibitive in cost. Would love to see a bunch of weight savings in front end (or front half), like alum fenders and doors (maybe even roof or K member).

modern cars are heavier due to federal safety regulations(every car is affected not just the Mustang).... which overall is a good thing because todays cars are less likely to kill you in a crash compared to 10 and even 20 years ago. Aluminum brings its own set of problems especially in the repair side, it takes lots of skill to repair aluminum and not every bodyshop has people that are qualified.

 

[Darkane]

Making a car heavy makes it more expensive. Need more HP, bigger drivetrain, larger brakes, bigger tires. All that means beefier chassis (and much harder to get decent mileage).

Point is this car has been porking up to the tune of 600 lbs since the 80's (my loaded with every option avail 86 Capri 5.0 is 3225 lbs) and you can feel it. New one's are more refined, but they drive PORKY................

Ford is now making alum bodies, no reason they could not swing a couple more alum parts @ the mustang without it being too prohibitive in cost. Would love to see a bunch of weight savings in front end (or front half), like alum fenders and doors (maybe even roof or K member).

The hood and fender are aluminum (at least on the gt350, I believe GT as well).

Since the unibody is steel the roof as an aluminum cover basically will save 15lbs. The K-member will be carbon composite on the next model saving roughly 22lbs. Not much to be had there eh?

 

[dron_jones]

Financially anyway. The cost is going to come out of the fun of driving.

After you've had your couple seconds of acceleration fun coming off a traffic light you might as well be driving a 2.0L Fusion or perhaps a C-max.


Norm

[ame]

Ya, that was Pobst summary of how the cars felt as well

If only they could figure out a way to make these cars as fun to drive as a 08 Mustang GT or a 2010 Subaru legacy.

 

[Tony Alonso]

The hood and fender are aluminum (at least on the gt350, I believe GT as well).

All models of the current generation have aluminum hoods and front fenders.

 

[Five Oh Brian]

Ford is moving away from retro at flank speed, thankfully.

Just your opinion. Plenty of us like a more muscular looking car over the "refined" '15-'17 S550. That's why I'm keeping my '14 Mustang GT and why I leased a '16 Challenger Scat Pack over an S550 Mustang.

I have high hopes for the 2018 Mustang as I really think the front end is much better looking than the '15-'17's S550's. DI 5.0L V8 and a special edition geared more toward torque and drag racing, and I might just replace my Challenger at lease-end with an '18 or '19 Mustang. Mach 1, perhaps?

 

[OX1]

modern cars are heavier due to federal safety regulations(every car is affected not just the Mustang).... which overall is a good thing because todays cars are less likely to kill you in a crash compared to 10 and even 20 years ago. Aluminum brings its own set of problems especially in the repair side, it takes lots of skill to repair aluminum and not every bodyshop has people that are qualified.

I'm sure it was federal regs that forced ford to make power seats std (at least in the 17 GT's I was looking at )

28 pages of weighing parts
http://www.mustang6g.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15864
and at least 10 weight reduction threads, I'm sure people spend thousands on lighter wheels for no reason at all.

The fact that the spare is optional, fenders are alum (which I didn't know until now), and the S550 GT still gained 80 lbs (over the 14) is not a good sign for the 18 weight.

Those body shops will adapt or close, with trucks going alum body and most cars alum hood (and many front fenders apparently), I don't see how you expect to be in business not being able to fix aluminum.

 

[Norm Peterson]

Your mistake is thinking that hybrid technology can only be used for one objective: fuel economy.

I'm not thinking that at all, although without the environmental and fuel usage pressures hybrids would be no more than experimental curiosities.

Yeah, owners of the Porsche 918, Ferrari LaFerrari, and McLaren P1 aren't enthusiasts at all.

There are people at all socioeconomic levels who simply must have "the latest thing" or "the very limited production thing" for reasons involving exclusivity (see "Production and sales", https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McLaren_P1).

I'm not going to chase specs on all three down, but the P1 would have been perfectly good with an ICE only (with, of course, somewhat less weight and a good bit less complexity). That the electrics can "fill in" where the ICE has shortcomings is to give up the challenge of getting the most out of the ICE via driving skill. Accepting that challenge is where a lot of the fun lies - finding out just how good you are and how good you can get. Simply stepping on the throttle and letting a bunch of silicon chips sort it all out for you . . . mindless.


Norm

 

[OX1]

I'm not thinking that at all, although without the environmental and fuel usage pressures hybrids would be no more than experimental curiosities.

Ignoring fuel economy and emissions, what is a hybrid
going to do for me over the current V8 auto that I can't
get with a 3/4C converter? (especially when you get
an even deeper first gear with 10 speed, which hopefully
overall improves the 60' problems)

Maybe weight distribution with smaller engine in front
and battery/motors in back? Probably won't be any
weight savings overall to keep approx same price point.

I have 295 NT05's (not DR's) on my 14 which is otherwise
bone stock and they still spin here and there, unless they
have been driven on a bit, on a warm day.

 

[Norm Peterson]

Norm i get it, it becomes difficult when your wants and desires stop fitting into the bulk of the market so decisions made don't reflect your core ideals

Please try to open your mind and take a more wholistic look at the situation and gain a better understanding of the market before you make judgements.

Easy enough to say when you haven't been through the situation where one mfr after another stops building a segment of cars the way you'd always bought them. What sounds like 'having an open mind' to some is more like welcoming the early onset of an invasive and potentially overwhelmingly dominant species to another.

Have you tried shopping for a moderately powerful "family sedan" equipped with a manual transmission lately? Let's put about a $35k base price cap on it to keep it within what I'd call affordable (even though that might be a stretch now that I'm retired). When you can grasp that on a gut-level and not just the memory of having read it once in a forum post, you'll better understand where I'm coming from.

, but your statements of fact which are at most based on strong opinions are inaccurate.

The decision to hybridize the mustang is being driven solely by consumer demand

But isn't consumer demand here being driven by things like CAFE, gas-guzzler taxing, and environmentalism? I really doubt that any desire for the complexity, weight, expense, and packaging sacrifices associated with a hybrid is inherent within what most customers expect from their cars. I'm talking about the pressures behind customer demand pushing them toward an otherwise unnatural choice.

, as well as to begin to shift some of the old fashioned mindset about what performance in a vehicle means. ... . Not instead of a v8, but in addition to.

My hope is that they don't drink the kool-aid too eagerly and without thinking. Having one's choices limited (or eliminated) simply by the preferences of others, well, sucks.


Norm

 

[EcoVert]

You do realize the Mustang is available as a 4 cylinder econo car to a GT350 R?

Or, apparently not..

The Ecoboost is not a econo car The econo Mustang was the v6 Mustang

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