DeluxeStang

These are super appealing to younger car enthusiasts like me. But again, coming back to compromise, it feels like all of these super affordable sports coupes on the market have major compromises. In the case of this, and the Miata, they're super small, they go too far there. The gr86 also has quite a few significant reliability issues, so that's kinda a turn off. I just feel like an EV coupe that is in between the gr86 and s650 in terms of size, and that's actually super reliable and economical to run long term because EVs just don't break that much relative to ICE, well that's a more compelling package imo.

Also why they're pushing more Ecoboost variants like this upcoming RTR. Not just providing customers with excellent value, but also pushing them towards lower emissions variants of the mustang.

Heck, I can see a future where flat rock becomes the hub for all the low slung passion products, not just 2, but maybe 3-4 different products, all selling in lower volumes, but with decent profit margins. That plant during its peak had a production capacity of like 300k units right? Or something close to that. Leaving it producing 15% of it's max capacity is terrible for business.

To be fair, it's been this way with mustang for decades. A big design change, followed by another generation with similar styling, so two similar back to back generations, then another big leap in terms of design. It was that way with the mid 90s and the new edge mustangs, the '05-'09, and 2010-14 cars, and now s550 and s650. My guess is whatever follows s650 will take another huge leap in design.

The side surfacing of the s650 is actually more striking and exotic looking than the side of the s550. But you only see that in person. It doesn't really translate as well to a 2D format.

It kinda seems like the same thing that happened with the 6th Gen Camaro. The styling simply hasn't changed enough to draw more people in. The designers said they wanted to lower the roof and the beltline a lot, but it would have been too expensive. My guess is that's something we'll see with the next generation.

The way I see it, the s650 is just a more striking, exotic looking, and muscular s550. Really one of the only parts of the s650 that could have been better executed was the rear diffuser, it could have been integrated a bit sleeker. But I find it highly likely that Ford will tweak that with the refresh. The lower bumper cutout on the GTD looks better, I can see them applying that to the rest of the lineup. Tweak the rear bumper, and maybe the rear decklid/taillights, and it'll look better than a s550 from every angle.

I see where you're coming from. I will say this, I hope s650 as much as I like certain things about it, is gonna be a relatively short generation 5-7 years, not close to 10 like the s550 was. Purely due to the fact that the changes made to the design were relatively mild.

This, as a young person, I want a mustang gt, I'm even willing to pay in the 50s for it because it's one of my all time dream cars. But I can't afford a 50k car that's also seeing 3-5 grand in price increases every single model year. Let's hope the price jump for '25 models was a fluke and not a sign of things to come.

Not only has it been frustrating, it makes you concerned about what's coming. Other brands have already revealed products for '26 and even '27, but Ford isn't.

I don't really see something coming in 2026 as being super far off.

Very weird theory, but when would Ford reveal their F1 prototypes for the 2026 season? Would it be early 2026 or later this year? I only ask, because Ford's been pushing motorsports and it's connection to their street cars super hard these last few years. It's no secret they got F1 aerodynamicists doing the areo for these affordable EVs, and they know F1 is hot right now, any announcement, especially with a team like Red Bull, is gonna get a lot of attention. So here me out, what if whenever Ford reveals their F1 car for the first time at some sort of event, they also go "Oh and this is how F1 will influence our street cars" and reveal some teasers of their upcoming EVs. If it wasn't gonna be Detroit or CES, this seems like the next best thing. Were less than 2 years from these things hitting the market, it's logical to expect to see prototypes and concepts this year imo.

I'm considering buying in right now.

When they say they want to compete with Porsche, I believe they mean in terms of how Porsche has structured their lineup, Ford wants to mirror that. You got the s650, that's the 911, things like the GTD are Ford's GT3 RS, if they do a mustang raptor, it'll be like the off-road safari 911. The mach-e is the cayenne, you got the sedan, maybe they do something under the s650 and that's like Fords cayman. I personally believe the Corvette is more of a mustang rival than the 911, but I get why Ford makes the Porsche comparison.

I mostly want to see proportional changes, longer wheelbase, shorter overhangs, it just looks better and more upmarket. I don't know if Ford can do that without changing the platform.