Sizzler

Hey! I still listen to cassettes. And CD's. And I don't own an iPod, Zune/Zone/Xoon or whatever either. Have NO MP3 files, AT ALL. Have a large collection of vinyl records that I actually use *gasp*. Am I Ford's target market for this? If so, listen up Ford: the grill was not a good change. More power: good. Safer: good. ESC standard: just sounds like a warning light on the dash in the offing.

Is this who GM is targeting for its new camaro? Some androgynous being: broad shoulders, no hips, no sense of style and proud of it? "I'm a mess, I don't know who or what I am, and I don't care. I need to pee really really bad and I drive a bright red Camaro".

First thing I noticed. Am I behind on Ford names? Is this a Focus, or Fusion? Links say Fusion, thread says Focus, or is this some middle-of-the-stream name change? Have to agree about hatchbacks being good things in little packages like this. Otherwise, looks like a solid car.

I like it, sorta. Always wondered why it took so long for the automakers to grasp the concept of a diesel-electric locomotive power structure. Electric power is electric power and decades of use have certainly proven the concept. I mean, it's called a "powertrain", isn't it? (all puns intended ) But, no details on the powertrain? How is the Hydrogen stored? Where? What's it take to refuel? What kind of electric motor(s) (I mean, they say what kind of batteries, what kind of motor?), electric motors can be incredibly powerful/torquey monsters, vette-slayers even. Nothing but buff and fluff words, always missing the important details from Ford.

I think you're all idiots. You think I'm an idiot. This is nothing but a repackaging of the timeworn "manual vs automatic" argument. Despite a clear victory for automatics by the 99%'s, buff-books and troglodytes still clamor for a stick. It'll never end satisfactorally for anyone on either side. Personally, I don't see how you can argue with the vast majority who actually pony up real actual money for the (usually) extra-cost automatics. And I don't see how you can be arguing the Mustang's sales success, even hobbled as it is with a solid rear axle. Beat yourselves up all you want. I'll let actual sales numbers prove my point. Just one more point: Dodge can't produce a new Challenger cheap enough to compete with a base Mustang, so they're planning on "all premium" models. Probably with IRS, certainly bloated and overweight. The reason they can't compete with Mustang price-wise is that Ford has made some decisions that aren't well-received by 100% of the market, but have kept the pricing reasonable. And for all the racers out there, if you want IRS, there's nothing stopping you from putting it in yourself.

A lot of verbiage. Let me try to parse it out for my simple mind. "I too have driven both solid and IRS SN95's on race tracks and somewhat illegally on public roads. I have also driven both bread and butter S197 and a Steeda version of same." You drive on closed courses, or publically in an unsafe and illegal manner. So you represent what? 1% of the typical Mustang purchaser? You drive heavily modified Mustangs, including a Steeda version that is designed for handling, not ride comfort. Again, Steeda purchasers are what? less than 1% of the typical Mustang purchaser? You care about ride comfort and rear seat room. Ford should bend over backwards trying to build you a race car so you don't have to pay those nasty 33% premiums? "the solid in the 05 Steeda was good but only up until I used the supercharger, then the power on unsettled feel is pretty scary" You drive a Steeda, designed for handling by Steeda, paid a pretty premium for it, and Steeda (you know, the guys who know what they're doing) left a solid in it instead of transplanting an IRS (which for Steeda, wouldn't be too difficult). And this Steeda, with the supercharger, producing power levels found in 99% of Mustangs purchased by the average consumer I'm sure, breaks lose if you get on it too hard? Yeah, that's a scenario Ford needs to address and design for. You should head for the yellow section of produce, try to learn the difference between a banana and a plantain...

Does no one eat fruit anymore? No one can tell the difference between an apple and a fuzzy peach? 2001 Cobra, MSRP somewhere close to $30,000 at a time when a 2001 GT was listing for, what, $23,000? vs a 2007 GT that is bascially a whole new car on a whole new structure? And the whole difference in handling characteristics can be lain at the foot of IRS? Changing wheelbases, different goals in suspension design, the passage of 5-6 years? It's all because one SVT-prepped top of the line model running on an entirely different chassis had IRS, and the current (for all intents, basic everyday) grocery getter doesn't. All your narrative tells me is just how excellent the rear suspension is in the new Mustang; it is very closely comparable to the IRS in the Cobra you had to pay a 33% premium for 5 years ago. In a secretary car no less. Don't "Peace" me, you haven't proved anything except you need to spend more time in the produce department of your local grocery store.

you should keep track of just what you post: All I see are a lot of apples, oranges, kumquats and grapefruits. Short wheelbase AMX compared to a jurasic Trans Am compared to SUV's and lounge-mobiles...

talk about fallacious and specious. From a man who is not only a suspension designer, but a racer (Bruce Griggs of Griggs Racing): "In many cases people talk of the lower unsprung weight of an IRS system, however, they forget that the overall weight of the system usually negates the unsprung savings." Only another guy might possibly be impressed with IRS under your rearend, what guy(s) are you trying to impress? This is nothing but Definator defecation. There is no proof of your statement. Have you actually done such a comparison drive? Don't be postulating without evidence. There is no way you could have tested such a scenario, it most probably isn't true. If it is, prove it, in our reality, not your wanna-be dream world.

sorta anna nichole smith vs marilyn monroe?

and why do they need to hack off $16K from the price? All because of that lousy IRS IRS is for bragging. Buy a 300C if you want to brag about a "hem" (that isn't), buy a 300C if you want to brag about IRS (which is just an ongoing maintenance bill). My defense of the Mustang's rear setup isn't blind, your (and others') push for it is. Basically, I'm saying you don't know what you're talking about.

I'll argue it. IRS is pointless except to poseurs. A Watts link is cheaper and better: both because it's cheaper but also because it allows for a stronger, more maintenance-free rear end. An IRS takes away from either interior cabin room or trunk space and makes routing exhausts trickier. For no real benefit at the level of design Ford is likely to provide in a sub-100K sedan. If you want an IRS soooooo bad, you can buy your own from any number of chassis companies and hack it into/onto your ride. Get back to us with an update about how much better it is blah blah blah blah blah...

That does look like a good design, you could place a child-seat in one and the person in the other seat could be facing the infant/child. Do the seats swivel to the 90* position to ease exit/entry too? LOTS of storage is always welcome, be it in a minivan or sportscar (vettes have usually been good at this with their behind-the-seats storage areas). The new Solstice/Sky twins not so great...

All the press lately about Wall Street bonuses misses the fact that a lot of mid-managers get bonuses too. And with the record amounts given out this year, I have to wonder how much bonus money went to Volvo's, Range Rovers and the like for those middle-managers and their families. How'd Aston Martin do? New York Ferrari dealers are crying they can't keep them on the lots this December...

I see a pleasant night out ruined when the women riding in back with their husbands in front open the rear doors, swing their legs out, and get calfves-full of road slush/dirt/dust/crap. BON has that front end posted on the right of this screen, and it is looking worse and worse by the second...now it's looking PT Cruiser-like.

That's the typical two-faced person who is probably the target market for this. The one's who are against sexual harrassment, but wish they didn't have to be in the bar, after work, among 'friends'. The ones who try to sell their product or services to people who actually care about enviromental issues and so get to point out their recycled mohair carpeting and soy plastic as they spew boxcars of carcingeons up their Chinese factory smokestacks and crush 68 Mustangs to offset the runoffs into the Pacific. The ones who are against abortion, no wait, pro-choice, no wait, "what do YOU think about the issue", that's what they think. The ones who are Democrats for the Union, but vote Republican because of their tax bracket. I'm sure you know the type, a LARGE market. Good choice if you want to sell a lot of cars. I see where there has been a definitive study done. America's obesity problem costs us 1 BILLION extra gallons of gas a year to move all the flab we're packing. They're also the ones who need the "bigger" size vehicles for "safety" reasons.

I want to say it was used for boat engines, back when they stuck V8's behind the 'captain', mounted backwards and running through a V-drive arrangement.

The cover of Motor Trend is doing this design no favors. Walking by in my local grocery store last night, this cartoonish, garish design leapt out from the other covers. Maybe in person, maybe in some of these Photoshops, but on Motor Trend's cover, it just looks like a 10 year old's idea of a Samuari racer.

so he was the jackass responsible for those blobs, for all those oval door openings that you hit the side of your head on when you tried to get in the car. For those impossible door openings when you tried getting in the car after your wife had left the seat moved all the way forward and you couldn't bend you head/neck down far enough to get under that front slope of the oval door opening. He's gone? Good riddance to bad design. I hope all the doors in his house are just toooo small to fit his wheelchair through.

During rush hour one night, I was almost sideswiped by some guy who was soooo involved in watching the backseat DVD in the car ahead of him that when that car moved over a lane, this bozo moved over too, nevermind that I was in the lane he was trying to follow his show into. I don't even want to drive my classic car on public roads anymore. Everyone thinks "oh, insurance will fix any little "problems" a little inattention might cause while I'm cocooned in my rolling safe room", but there are parts and cars that you can't fix, and people's parts too. Personally, I think far from a rolling hot spot, vehicles should be rolling dead zones for all electronics save those necessary to operate the vehicle. No phones, no TV's, no PC's, heck, no interaction with fellow passengers. Anyone know someone who can make a new aluminum fender, door and quarter, from scratch?

Looks like a giant case of road rash in the offing. Think they'll throw in a bra as standard equipment? Motor looks good. Car, ehh. Sorta a taller, chunkier, coupe version of the Cadillac vette with Mikado 'eyes'.

How about if Lincoln dusted off the "INTECH" name for the 4.6l modular?

You have to wonder just what the point of the unwrapping was. We have spy shots, alledgedly from some guy's balcony (talk about limited range) that shows multiple angles and heights and backgrounds? Was this guy in a cherrypicker, not a balcony? And what is the point of taking off ALL the wraps of a vehicle and driving it around, with no badges? Advertising? "Hey Maude! Look at that white box! I want one of them. Look close and see what it is so I can run down to the dealer and order me one. Sorry Custus, there doesn't seem to be a name/model/number on it. Dang!@ and here I was all set to pay cash money for one. Oh well, that there one seems to say "Edge" on it. Let's get that." Looks like just another boring 4-door box on wheels to me. Finely crafted by whoever I'm sure, but at the end of the day, just another stuff-hauler.

"Interceptor" is an old Ford name; engines I believe. Late 50's rolling into early 60's.

Never liked the name "Magnum". It has associations with condoms in my mind. Don't want to drive a condom-mobile. Like women didn't want to drive a "Probe" I guess... Just me.