What's your take of the recent drive reviews?

[JohnP]

Great to finally have video/commentary of live drive reviews. I always appreciate that most of the people conducting the YouTube reviews are not professional drivers but several do have solid experience testing vehicles of all shapes and sizes. Nice to hear objective real-time impressions from someone other than a Ford employee. That said, here are my initial impressions after watching about 10-12 different videos this week. What are your thoughts?

1) LOVE that Ford stuck with the V8 and manual transmission. In a world that seems hell bent on EV, this version Mustang could have fallen into that abyss and they held back. They understand their current consumer and gave them what they wanted.

2) I'm a convertible guy, it's the main reason why I'm buying a Mustang. I love that they are providing various options to keep it affordable for so many. Yes, the maxed out GT Premium is 'pricey' but it's still a great value compared to other convertible sports cars on the market today. Add the V8 option, and it seems like a no brainer to me. I only wish the Dark Horse would come in a Convertible option....a guy can dream, can't he?

3) EcoBoost is great for those who want an affordable sporty car. Maybe it's also good for those who are wanting to invest in various future mods. But the GT Coyote's roar is really exciting to me. It's one of the main attractions to the Mustang. If $$ Budget is a concern, I'd go with a base GT over a well trimmed EcoBoost, any day, all day.

4) I understand that hard core Mustang enthusiasts may not love the new interior design. But I was honestly thinking the last generation's interior was looking tired. The computer screens are the future...like it or not. The more I see the new interior, the more I like it. It's really growing on me.

5) I had to reorder my spec, killed me to do it. My initial car is in production now. My new one won't go into production until Mid-September. That extra two months is driving me crazy. So, I'm really hoping we will start to see active dealer deliveries and sales starting next week (First week of August). Their DH launch is set for Tuesday, so I see no reason for the marketing plan to delay the release of vehicles to the dealerships after that. If we see further delays, then I'm going to be concerned about "quality issues' or 'pandemic shortages.' That would be be some real B.S. So, I'm trying to stay positive.....Let's see some flow of cars into the real world!

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[Ace]

My thoughts so far:

• Seems like they really improved chassis, ride, engine, etc. So it actually delivers a bit more to everything the previous model already had. Good to know it's really a step up, even if it's a small one. Now it will be interesting which of the improvements will carry over to european moels.
• The negative impressions about the steering are worrysome. It makes the improvements useless if you now lost the feeling of the connection between road, tires and input.
• Seeing great 4k shots of the car, I absolutely love what they did design wise. I guess once you park a Gen 6 next to it the later will look really soft and dated
• Still not a fan of the interieur. I actually like the big new screens and the nice unreal engine graphics they build. But the material quality seems bad and outdated for the price they are asking for. The wobbly button bar is the negative highlight of the cheap impression.
• It's the last V8 pony car left on the market in a few months. I think they nailed building a car that could work for previous Challenger, Camaro and Mustang owners.

 

[agreywolfe]

my thoughts:
* definitely an overall improvement over the S550, some areas clearly need work to better performance, but its also a car marketed to the mass audience so i can understand those issues
* Grabber Blue was definitely the right color choice for me
* Recaros still look like way too much of a tradeoff for anything other than a weekend track car
* its got a very decent baseline setup and im curious to see how the shift to dual throttle bodies will affect the aftermarket performance over the gen 3
* the car is very competitively priced considering the average inflation new car prices have seen over the past few years. i get the complaints about the sub par interior but id rather have a rumbling 5.0 V8 with a semi-decent interior than a 3.0 turbo 6 with a good interior from the Supra in the same price bracket.

 

[IceGamer]

I have some mixed feelings:

Pros:

• It seems like the RWD V8 can put its power down slightly better
• Almost everything seems to be slightly better/improved compared to the S550 - regarding the exterior and the drive train
• Sync 4 seems to work somewhat fast and responsive most of the time
• US prices seem to be high but not unimaginably high

Con:

• Interior is worse than I thought –
  • the materials look very cheap,
  • the animations apparently try to hide the time the system takes to switch to a new driving mode and I’m worried that one gets annoyed by the graphics quite fast…
  • who in the world thought that this pathetic plastic bar in the center console is a good idea?
• Steering is called less responsive by some reviews – that’s a big concern
• No HUD, AWD or Dark Horse convertible OPTION
• Recarros still without heated and cooled seats

Since I live in Germany I do care about the EU specs and pricing and so far it can go in both directions:
Either we get the better torsen differential and decent pricing or we again get some watered down version with the slow torsen differential, maybe less technical features and very high prices… Due to EU regulations I fear we might again get the slower differential and prices above and around 70K€. I just don’t see the car justifying that in any case.

 

[rchandler9]

I really enjoyed the video reviews of both the GT and the Ecoboost. It is great to finally get some non-Ford opinions.
Overall it seems everyone is VERY happy with what Ford has done. These reviews have made me even more excited for my mustang.

I am sad to see that most of the reviewers main concern was the disconnect from the wheels with the steering. Ford has done all these amazing things with the s650, improving on a very good s550 platform. But, then they miss a HUGE part of making it a sports car. And what is even crazier to me is that Ford has been pushing that the mustang is not just a muscle car now, it is a sports car. And Ford missed the connection to the road (the main part of a sports car). I am hoping this can be fixed with some over the air update or they will change it for the mustangs that have not been built yet.

I have a DH ordered so hopefully it will be more connected to the road. I will not know until next weeks reviews. Time will tell.

I love the interior updates. And it seems that all of the reviewers did too. Almost all pointed out the good quality of the interior parts and fitment. Even the ones that were skeptical of the screens said that they were growing on them the more they drove the car.

Overall, I am very happy with the changes/updates. I think the reviewers were too. I heard all of them say this is still a very good bargain for what you get.

 

[Q6543]

This new gen was love at 1st sight for me, the intake design, the screens, the look of the body making it more modern and sleek.

I’ll wait to scale mine, but I’d love to see these cars back UNDER 3600 lbs… preferably even lighter.

 

[marcekb]

Can't add much to the comments already shared, but I found it interesting how many reviewers pointed at and touched the bottom left front grill vent on the Ecoboost/GT and said it worked while you could clearly see that it doesn't. So many of the comments about the car used similar wording that it felt like they had all been given a script. Sure, they all put their own spin on things. No doubt there's truth to much of what they shared. Some of the articles felt more genuine than some of the videos.

 

[RJV15]

My main takeaway was that while Ford is trying to make this a sports car, its still a muscle car.

Ford made its choices. The curb weight, long gears and lack of Tremec on the GT, along with the touring like steering were always going to make this feel more muscle then sports car.

That's not a knock on the car, it has an identity, but I think reviewers were hoping this generation finally made the transition to full sports car, which it did not.

I think the foundation is extremely solid, and aftermarket should be able to get the S650 where it needs to be. These are afterall STOCK examples. Reviewers never mention anything about aftermarket options and make thier judgement on what the car IS and not what it COULD be.

 

[IceGamer]

Can't add much to the comments already shared, but I found it interesting how many reviewers pointed at and touched the bottom left front grill vent on the Ecoboost/GT and said it worked while you could clearly see that it doesn't. So many of the comments about the car used similar wording that it felt like they had all been given a script. Sure, they all put their own spin on things. No doubt there's truth to much of what they shared. Some of the articles felt more genuine than some of the videos.

I totally agree. Haven’t watched all the reviews but some certainly tried to paint the best picture possible. Besides, it is difficult to remain absolutely independent when:

A: future invitations may depend on your (positive) conclusion and

B: you get invited and get a special treatment by a company. I would like a free trip to try out new stuff and I would most likely be way more positive than if I would test that stuff at home. That’s no critique it’s just how thinks are. A beer at home is delicious but the same beer after seeing your team win a very important game in the stadium tastes way better…

Anyhow, I’m looking forward to in depended testing, real 0-100 numbers and some confirmation on the EU specs.

 

[Nexus]

1) More incremental performance updates, not leaps and bounds. Not enough for S550ers to upgrade unless you want latest and greatest.
2)Exterior really need to see it in person. Its different enough to distinguish itself and yet still familiar. Not liking the black plastic (front and diaper) and some mismatching piano gloss/matte. Not enough of a change to have a 6Gen upgrade, same as above.
3)Interior I'm not sold on, but I'll reserve judgement till I play with it in person. I think the idea is good, but not executed well. They were probably limited in how much they could design based on space and location of electronics/screens/vents etc, but its not good.
4)Screens. Love the concept, fail on the execution and finish.
5)Sync4 great in general, lots of options. Wish there was as separate gauge screen to 'fix' gauges too and leave the main screen for Nav/phone/stereo. Lots of 'custom/myMode' saves are great, but still no ability to chop up the modes = more of the same.
6)Should have kept Darkhorse as Mach1/Boss. It looks more like an RTR body kit. I don't hate it, I just don't love it.

I will reserve final judgement until I get to play with one.
As of right now, I'm more looking forward to the next MCA. If the '24 is to '15, maybe the 27+ will be to 18-23 and be more sculpted than hard edged. And hopefully make the interior more cohesive with some flow.

 

[Interstellar]

Fantastic points here, really not much for me to add but I'll try anyway.

• Digital dash and infotainment look great. Everyone has been concerned about glare and the sun washing out the screen, but in multiple reviews it was mentioned how that's not the case and the sun is never really an issue. Great to hear that.
• I plan on this being my only car, and reviewers had generally great things to say about the ride quality (even if I didn't get the PP/magneride).
• Steering turn in was praised for it's quicker ratio. Seems like there was some "numbing" of the apparently already lackluster S550 steering feel, but I really don't see this as a huge problem. Sure on track there's going to be some things that need to be upgraded to get that feel back, but I already have plans for new wheels and tires and suspension. I'm sure that will help with the 5% of the time I need steering feel while keeping the soft feeling the other 95% of the time.
• Ventilated seats were mentioned multiple times as being truly fantastic. I live in TX, it's hot as balls and anything I can do to cool them off is appreciated.
• Did I mention the dash is badass? Just having the ability to have so much information displayed without having to navigate through small or poorly optimized menus is a huge win for me. I like to know how my car is performing, and being able to have 5 gauges on display in the middle when something just isn't quite feeling right will be a huge stress reliever.
• Circle vents are gone. Amen, they're horrible to use.
• Carmine Red leather looks classy but still bold.
• Probably #1 for me though is the exhaust sound. I personally really dislike how raspy the S550 can get, and from all the vids I've seen, the S650 is very throaty (almost like a Corvette). Super excited to get the variable exhaust with such a good tone, knowing I won't have to spend another $1500 upgrading the exhaust.
• I'll throw in a negative or two as well: first is I think the stang looks so weak without a wing on the back. Sucks that mine won't have one and I'll be counting down the days until I can get one put on (anyone wanna trade for a black blade spoiler? lol)
• I think the V8 should have more torque. While the HP is great, the torque could definitely get a boost since that's what really gets the car moving from low RPM.

 

[BlackFerret69]

• I think the V8 should have more torque. While the HP is great, the torque could definitely get a boost since that's what really gets the car moving from low RPM.

Truthfully, I was a bit surprised how wide the gap between the Torque (415/418) and Horsepower (480/486/500) is on the Coyote. I would have expected the peak torque to peak hp gap to be about 20-30, not 70-80.

 

[OppoLock]

Truthfully, I was a bit surprised how wide the gap between the Torque (415/418) and Horsepower (480/486/500) is on the Coyote. I would have expected the peak torque to peak hp gap to be about 20-30, not 70-80.

Ignoring tons of other factors, torque is largely correlated with overall displacement, power comes from torque x RPM. The Coyote achieves high power numbers relative to its displacement because it’s high revving, hence the disparity

See: most any other high-RPMperformance cars

That’s also why you see high displacement, lower revving engines like the LT and Hemi making similar hp-tq ratings

 

[unfairslide]

Ignoring tons of other factors, torque is largely correlated with overall displacement, power comes from torque x RPM. The Coyote achieves high power numbers relative to its displacement because it’s high revving, hence the disparity

See: most any other high-RPMperformance cars

That’s also why you see high displacement, lower revving engines like the LT and Hemi making similar hp-tq ratings

More specificly:

Hp = Tq x RPM / 5252

 

[BlackFerret69]

More specificly:

Hp = Tq x RPM / 5252

The problem with that formula is it only tells you what the horsepower is for any given torque value at a specific RPM.

Or vice-versa:

Tq = HP x 5252 / RPM

That's why no matter the engine, the torque and horsepower are the same at 5252 RPM.

It doesn't help at all in trying to figure peak torque or peak horsepower as the peak value for each occur at different RPM's.

As OppoLock said, Total Torque is correlated closely to Displacement. More specifically the engines stroke and rod length. Longer stoke makes more torque at the expense of HP and limiting RPM at redline.

And with the Gen 4 being ever so slightly Oversquare:
Bore x Stroke:
93mm (3.66") x 92.7mm (3.649")

It doesn't help it make more torque.

All that said, I am still a bit surprised at the wide gap between Peak Torque and Peak Horsepower.

When comparing to the S550 Mach 1 with 470 horsepower, 410 lb-ft of torque, which also surprised me, the gap widened a bit more.

I don't have any experience with the Coyote 5.0L.

I guess it has more to do with the rating of the 4.6L in my 2006 GT with 300hp and 320lb-ft of torque.

I suspect the reason is that Ford has left a quite bit on the table due to emissions compliance.

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