JETSOLVER

I don't see why not. SVT did Mystic, Mystichrome, and almost the gold Mystic/chrome and if ever there was complicated paint, that stuff was it. Ten years from now a stripe delete GT350R in Liquid Blue will command the same repect as it did Monday.

Separately, can someone tell me how diesel engines fit in with CAFE, and is the EPA the problem, or does Barry just not have gasoline in him?

This is the reason I came to the website, as this is the second time this very afternoon I read this. http://www.themustangnews.com/content/2015/01/ecoboosted-future-ford-performance/ My heart is getting a workout this early week, between yesterdays display of my kind of Ford Blue, and the knowledge that the idea of no more 8 cyl engines has been put back a few times now. As a kid, I recall looking at our 64 Galaxie 500XL Fastback with its crate 427 and Father's Day dual Holley 4's during our 1977 Family vacation down the Pacific Coast highway pulling a travel trailer from Alaska to Mexico and wondering if I would even get to buy a new V8. The Mustang almost died its first death, and the second was even worse...I wrote one of those letters re the Probe, and even as I recommended (and sort of co drove there for a while) a Probe GT, I knew that wasn't long for the world either. The idea that people are seriously put out in 2015 that our sacred internal combustion monster is a dinosaur is a bit much, but then, recently as a species we haven't been too forward looking. Performance is open to EVERYTHING that makes the experience better. For some, it is apparently really ugly office chairs in a hardwood floor Benz, for others it will be super hybrid pocket rockets. I wouldn't have believed in 77 that I would have already had a 650HP daily driver 97 SVT Cobra (traded from a 94GT), nor looking real hard at the GT350R now. That said, a spokesperson for us along the lines of Heston's "cold dead throttle foot" might stave this off another few years. Figure Leno will take the gig? One last clutch drop run throught the gears everyone?

Interesting as we just drove our new to us 2010 SEL for the first time yest. Living in the pretty far north has taught me a few things about snow and all season tyres, and driving my then 500+ HP Cobra in the winter taught me a few things about decent skins for each season. I fell in lust with the Dunlop Wintersport M2's on the snake, and things have moved on since then. Pretty sure this is this falls major purchase... UK winter tyre guide I had the last generation M3 winter sports on my Cayman, and I am pretty sure the next generation will be worth the price. They are almost a full up all season, and if you can live with the wear making these only a two or three year (season) proposition, worth a long look. I am used to changing rims for summer and winter, and even everyday driving vs. track days, but the very idea of a usable all season has me wondering if that road out to the farm could be tamed in March in northern Alberta...

I don't follow as closely as I used to, but how does "It is widely believed that the next generation Mustang will be based on an new smaller, global platform using an independent rear suspension and will be sold in more parts of the world including the UK, Japan and Australia." Co-exist with this? Autoweek/AutoAlliance Either way, I have to admit the Boss has grown on me (minus the dopey exhaust bling), and one never knows...

Remembering the first time I cracked the owners supplement in my 97 Cobra, and looking back on that original bulletproof Teksid dancing machine; the one that never had to be overt; Yes. Performance, Substance, Value and Exclusivity. I don't see this car as the moral or physical embodiment of that. It seems overwrought, and the mere fact that it comes in two flavours is mighty cynical after what SVT originally tried to do.

Wish it were so. Read yesterday in the Ford material that there was insignificant improvement. The reason they left it on was to milk something for the aftermarket (is the Stang a $Bil a year yet?). To me, SVT fan as I am, this is damn cynical to take a name that was literally built by taking a seriously deep breathing small block race engine and trying to build enough to go racing with. My take, Ford achieved more before they gave SVT to $helby. To me, this car is a step back from the effort SVT could have, and should have. I fear that this is closer to a sticker job than it ought. I also mea culpa that SVT being killed P.O.d many of the people who might consider shelling out for a Boss. But they won't cover the streets the way the SVT Cobra's did, and they sure won't rule them like the Termi's did. Sorry Ford, I have blue blood in my veins, but this, ^ , is not my idea of a Boss, let alone THE BOSS. (And I really, really, really wish that taking weight out would be partially returned in that missing control blade rear as the Aussies have...THAT in this I would pay for, with cash!)

My link The tide has turned, wonder if it's red, or out...? and that Infiniti Essence sure reminds me of a Cobra Coupe...all shiny and full of good GT bits... pics to follow, the newest forum is, er, difficult...

Bit late, but yea, mine was done by WMS, before we tried to figure the Aston Stang... hmm, "for reference..." hat intake before

Thanks! I had one as a boy, grew to admire as a lad, and bought a copy as a foolish young man. Still working on it... (edit) any and all pics of Gurney-Weslake headers will be taken at face value... priceless...

seeing as we still get a tonne of fliers, this looks an adequate solution...and they laid off 300 questioners to pay for them. (which I very much agree with...)

A sample of the problem; Globe and Mail, opinion Somehow, this has been framed wrong. Electric isn't a panacea, it is a challenge. First to the top is the first to be challenged. Anyone? I wouldn't be caught dead in a Prius, but most folks think that is the "smart choice". compete or die Surely there is an option other than if or not? and don't call me Shirly...

Probably shouldn't, but... I have now run into a significant number of second gen Hyundai owners. They are repeat customers for various reasons, but the price to value equation is second on the list of priorities at worst, and the PERCEPTION is the market. How does Ford re-ramp the Fiesta marketing by the time the first good flush are on the lots? I thought the target market here was first time buyers, with all the tools at their fingers, and a waaay secondary market of moms and dads who are looking for a decent second or third car (and ALL that that implies) for the late bloomers going to school (perhaps for the second time...)? Honestly, as a fan of the marque, they need to ship the early first run at list, no dicker, no bumps, and PRAY the launch goes clean, and the kids decide that real fitted floor mats are a better choice than the overseas copy Wal-Mart stuff that moms give daughters as a point of procedure. It strikes me that this is the critical play for a profitable small car in the new marketing age for the big 2.3, and profits come from the small details, not the 1k audio system... Ford might want to consider holding a few at the distributor level, to make sure that these web crazy kids have an instant solution to any issue, as those first time kids are the primary marketing level this time, there will be no second chances like with the Focus, no redo's, no pretending this time that we had it in hand all along. I really believe that not only the business press, not only the shareholders, not only the motoring press, but the customers are ready to take or toss this car. This really is the first mass market car straddling demographics that is launched on the back of the social web...at least for the domestics. ??? Dean, are you comfortable with the training you got from Ford, and are you ready to take care of ANY oops? 'Cause this one is all on you, this time they shoot the messenger... Right Wrong or worst of all, Indifferent

Pleased to see that this topic produced some good thinkin'. Lets define "dealer", "franchise", and how we value the "experience". RJ has nailed the legal issue, so lets think of ways around that. Dealer swaps (fourth layer?), lot shifts (the up sell), add-ons, and the need to make it personal for the kids in question. Dean? Is the traffic a means to an end? Service is everything these days right? I don't see the shark model these days, as in, the outlier being the target; I saw my sales person do the lure method. "Rather not do this for real, huh? If I can make this easy for YOU, let me. ..." For the target demo, this might just be the biggest personal purchase they ever make. Mom and Dad, or some other entity will take all this sweat equity and make it go all away...? (note, to this demo, sweat equity is reading all those web pages, and clicking away all those over bold pop up flash ads...) I can't help but think that the new path is young to old instead of the old way round, from top down...from what I have seen, the kids have a better credit rating than their parents, let alone the state... Can you imagine buying a car alone these days? Without all your support in place? You picked it based on social standing, three or more helpful online credit people, un-admitted lifestyle coaches, and occasionally even your parents. No one, not even the sales people, want to see you ripped off, right? And these kids are being (from their perspective) FORCED into personal transport, cause the options are just not there. They want to take the bus, they want someone to pick them up, and on and on... Ford is first up to try and really turn a profit on a crap box, the Honda default is not an option, that of, "not being them". I just went back and read the first couple of posts, and thought about process and product. The target Fiesta customer is who? And they have a need for? And they have done? critical question... And they, for the first time in their coddled lives, WANT SOMETHING THEY MIGHT NOT GET? A first time new car buyer doesn't want the overhead, they want a yes that opens a new door to a world they haven't been allowed to look at (as opposed to peek again and again) at yet. Not only is this a new car, this is a new way of thinking about how they see their place in the world, and how they can get from there to over there. There being subject to whim of course. Not their fault, not their choice, not not not...even when they have been enabled at every possible turn to not make a bad choice. I honestly believe this market has never seen the consequence of a really bad choice in the first person, and yet they take it on faith that they will. How does a simple car change that? Good stuff team blue oval. More required. Please! :beerchug:

Since we are for the foreseeable future wedded to the the "salesperson" model of doing business, this is makes me wonder... How do we change the game? If a young person with acceptable credit who pretty much could research, directly compare numbers, run the numbers, build, price and order online could just drop into a bright and clean dealer to meet their, er, "friend" to pick up their first new car, would that change the game? Interesting in all the discussion of the N.A. industry, there has been no traction to breaking the model, and going to something more akin to the DELL sort of warehouse "just for you" thinking. With some level of customer after sale service included of course...unlike those so and so's. :P I realize the dealer one step removed legal issues, but the first manu that puts its thinking toque on is going to find an entirely new way to do business, a unique revenue model that will forever change the way we do this. Or is buying a car still so different than the online sales model that it requires an entire footprint? Honestly, the approach of a sales person is a toss up between who would rather least do it...

Saw one waaaay up here in Edmonton today. Interesting contrast with the Chevy Astrovan next to it at the light. Will be very curious to see the take up with that light service market that really doesn't have a comparable option anymore. I don't think the Traverse is the same niche, and the Dodge offering is a full size beyond either... Dog caps on white, dealer invoice in the passenger window (interestingly, not a Ford Dealer plate, but a lease agency plate in a bag), couldn't read the number, but looking for them on a lot in town.

You wouldn't be USAF flight maint AMSE would you? Last early summer I had a chat with an old friend, and the gist was that the USAF thought that its early lead in green energy procurement was a subtle recruiting agent, and the spin was fantastic. He also thought that the low profile of the current AF was a reason to plan for BY 11, and he wanted line vans that didn't burn petro or hard start was a potential, not a liability. He suggested that the old 'Maro's that lead the U2 mod birds down to touch was a talking point for the newbies, and the idea of playing with new things was a sales tool. We joked about the old dually shortened pickups that we spun for fun, and the leftover crew cab long boxes with dead cheeseburgers that no one requested anymore. He has also outlasted me by 7 years, and that was the reason I made a point of talking to him at the symposium. There is a leading niche there, and it would do well for the military to take the reigns, if for no other reasons. There are plenty of other reasons...wonder if?

Wow, 30 minutes (on and off, fuss and angst aside) and can't help but dip a toe in the blustery waters (frigid, but not unanticipated...) Out of the box thinking Suppose, just suppose Hyundai makes a commitment to the niche. They attempt to flood the market (one they don't currently play in, one they want, note past record please, yup, that's how they grew) and manage to lease a few tens of hundreds left to dismal residuals. Next, they do the automaker version of "open source" and let some of the aftermarket hungry's into the shop to make solid gains with engineering data. Suppose, just suppose, someone finds a handheld 40 horses, and someone else discovers on a perfect day that an entirely new airbox might give 10 more with the handheld and premium fuel and xsed fingers... Now suppose that someone puts a set of near new hard drag radials on said lease return loss leader with 50 more horses and the kid with the traction compound actually thought about his job. Next thing you know, a Camaro with all the bells, whistles and best intentions( include as written an idiot lookie loo driver) takes the slink road back to the parking lot. Sold, one internet sensation, a bunch of kids who don't really want (or let alone afFORD a REAL STI) a latest GTI, selling an accommodating Dad or Uncle, or indulgent Mother on a cheapened lease return Genesis coupe... And for the sake of discussion, pre suppose that the cheap ass more or less five link can be fixed for something less than a grand, not unreasonable...(Termi half shaft market...?) If you haven't seen this movie before, refer to the birth of the modern 55-57 Chevy, AKA the Fox, that of subsidized passion, marketing and dangerous word of mouth. Honestly, if Hyundai wants it, they can take it. Current Stang buyers are a declining breed, and the legend is dying on the vine, if for no other reason than the mid sorta range it now plays in does more than it ought to, and lacks that "front yard without a garage" passion. Would Ford let that market go? Can they? The Stang is the only car on earth that for the price point, aged chassis thinking and all, that can scale from rental to super (ish) with attendant profit. We have doubts as to the future, and the aftermarket that once fueled 300 page competing magazines is in decline, when editors struggle with a new definition of performance that does not include actual numbers (or a set of tools...). Hardly a panic, but if the previews from SEMA pan out, the Mustang is looking for a new franchise, and for the first time in 20 years, has a real competitor. And one that plays to win. Can I show something in a bolt on blower and some chassis dyno talkie time...?

Yeesh, should appeal to those who colour match their kitchens based on the unpainted grease next to the stove, but as a conquest sale? Thing looks like a winter roads (pre)grime job on a faded white Tempo... Really, colour is the last refuge for the jellymobile crowd, and when the cars are demonstrably equal in most every measure...I would have thought pure deep natural colours would be the leading edge...however, I usually look at my cars as more than the latest mental health day...gonna be hard to bring pop (and profits) back to the sub market without colour as an aspirational tool...?

the day I meandered into WMS and saw the proto A-M V-12 body in white, I made a commitment. SEMA 2010 is going to the dogs, and I am too old for the bright lights and perfect. Focus on the next left over after Hau Thai-Tang. SVT has a place, and it isn't SEMA. Nor is it in the rags. It is on the road, in the showroom, and far, far away from the chicken farmer and his ilk. Mr. Mulally? Still waiting on the beating heart inside, the one that the real Boss, the SVO, and the first SHO made personal. Seeing a pattern here? SVT foci, the one we can't have. RS and us. TYVM. Sir. Shall I meet you at 33K?

Globe and Mail/Not Celebrating Yet

Quick question. Is the timing for the Volt hard up against the Fiesta launch? Rightly or wrongly, these two vehicles will be percieved by the great unwashed as the "new" face of Detroit, and the Fiesta would probably get blinded by the glare of the Volt and its claimed miracle solution for all that ails.

"Yeah, but the thing has to get here first, and it's $40,000+ price tag isn't gonna help... " Without taking a stand; a progress report... Volt fansite report

In what surely must be irony, as the relationship between Ford and myself was estranged over $helby, there is no way that chicken farmer is going anywhere soon, as all he has to do is lever himself upright and deposit the cheques. Fortune on $helby

First open wheel car I ever drove was a 77 FF. Still remember being more worried about the curbing looking higher than me instead of hitting a (way to early) braking point.