DeluxeStang

But contrary to popular belief, not all publicity is good publicity. If a group acts out in a way that makes me think "Wow what a bunch of dipshits" that group was better off not having anyone pay attention to them. Literally no car brand is gonna see people like this and change their product plans to please them directly, like silversvt said, it's a lost cause, they'll always find something else to bitch about. On the topic of environmental studies, it's true the process of mining for rare earth minerals isn't exactly eco friendly, but we'll almost certainly find ways to improve on that with enough time. For now, let's not let perfection stand in the path of good enough. Studies have shown that EVs long term are still considerably more environmentally friendly than ICE vehicles over the life of the vehicle, even with the dirty mining process, and being recharged by fossil fuels. Though it does seem like hybrids are actually the best option for improving the environment, you're producing vehicles with much lower CO2 emissions, while using much smaller battery packs, which obviously require significantly less rare earth materials to manufacturer.

Yes and no, the duratec stuff is pretty good, love our 2017 explorer with the 3.5, but keep in mind the late 2000s to early 2010s was also when Ecoboost reliability was generally at it's worst. At the same time Ford was making the rock solid reliable flex's and explorers, they were also making the fiesta and focus with that dreaded DCT, and the 6.0/6.4 power stroke. Fast forward to today, sure, the CD6 utilities aren't great, nor is the ecosport, but basically everything on c2 is rock solid reliable. The bronco sport, to a lesser extent the escape, and the maverick. The maverick is the first reliable entry level product ford has had since the 90s to early 2000s focus. The bronco seems to be pretty reliable, the edge is good, the expedition isn't half bad. Ecoboost motors tend to be pretty solid now, the ranger is good, and ford trucks are on longest lasting lists. The 6.7 is probably the most reliable engine ever put in a super duty. The 5.0 in the mustang and f-150 is great, the 10 speed seems a bit iffy, but seems to be getting better. Most of the issues with that transmission seem to be getting resolved. Ford's hybrids are very reliable, and their EVs are getting better. It's not all sunshine and roses, Ford does a ton of recalls, and that's not fun. But Ford reliability is generally not too bad, it's a lot better than many of Ford's detractors will make it out to be.

I think you're onto something. The days of performance cars being marketed on their numbers alone are coming to an end. We're seeing sub 2 second 0-60 times and 2,000 hp with 1,500 lb ft of down force in the most exotic of performance vehicles. There simply isn't much further we can climb. So what do you do? You pivot to focus on the experience, on driver engagement, making a car that makes you feel special every time you drive it. This is where Ford has the potential to do something really special. As they're talking about expanding the mustang lineup, I could see a future where an EV, and a V8 mustang co-exist. The EV mustang gets to be the wild, balls to the wall 1,000 hp coupe taking mustang performance to new heights for people who want it, and the V8 gets to be the slower, but more viseral driving experience for traditionalists. It doesn't have to be just one or the other, Ford's finally getting that thankfully.

Why does anyone think this will persuade people to support and join their movement? I don't care what your beliefs are, what you do or don't support, but the second you turn to vandalism and childish outbursts, I lose respect for you and your cause. Put together a compelling argument, and I'll listen even if my beliefs are completely the opposite. I respect people who think differently than me, that's how you get the best conversations, but if you're throwing shit and screaming, you're just a child who isn't worth our time.

Yeah, I believe it was ExplorerDude who mentioned how the mustang "raptor" was at the very least being developed in a design studio, with a shooting brake body style being considered. If they go that route, an AWD performance hatchback, I would love to see some inspiration pulled from the 90s escort RS cosworth, or something like that. There is something planned for flat rock besides the existing mustang, so who knows. Fuzzy sort of teased it by saying if it happened, it would make a few people on this site happy. All he said is it wasn't a mustang sedan. So who knows. Doing a Lincoln mustang would give Lincoln a shot in the arm, and would let them sell something at a premium price, while being fairly straightforward to develop. I'd love to see a Lincoln sports coupe, an Americanized Aston Martin in a sense, but it doesn't seem to align with Lincolns current strategy.

Not mustang related, but this one is also pretty good. https://fordauthority.com/2024/04/2024-ford-f-150-super-max-debuts-as-ultra-functional-pickup/

True, there are a lot of dumb people. Anyways, back to the topic of the mustang, and how they could expand on it, I'd love to see an AWD hybrid. That would be perfect for people who wanted something slightly more fuel efficient, while being fast as hell, with the added benefit of being better suited for slippery conditions. Maybe give it a slight lift kit to make it more practical and call it a raptor or something. What are some additions to the s650 lineup that you guys would want to see?

Perhaps, but people who work with Ford's all day can't tell the difference between a mustang that still looks like an s650 vs a ground up mid-engine exotic when it's right in front of them? Yet my 60 yr. old mother who knows little about cars can spot the difference between a c8 Corvette and a Ferrari from down the street.

https://fordauthority.com/2024/03/ford-has-highest-percentage-of-cars-that-remain-in-operation/ It's funny how Ford's detractors always act like Ford's are the biggest pieces of crap on the road, doomed to be unreliable the second the warranty expires. Yet for a brand that everyone attacks, there sure seems to be a lot of Ford's on longest lasting lists. I see Ford's from the 90s and early 2000s still driving around pretty often for a brand that's apparently so bad at making reliable cars, that's all I'll say.

Fingers crossed they discuss this in greater detail at the April 17th event. There was apparently a vid where a Ford employee was saying Ford had some surprises in store for it. I don't know if that means the 60th anniversary special will be more substantial than just stickers, or if they'll be showing something else entirely alongside it. A mid-engine mustang would be wild, but I don't know how it would slot in now that the GTD is essentially the mustang supercar many of us wanted. There were those rumors of Ford showing a mid-engine mustang to dealers, who claimed it was mid engine, and not s650 based. Some believe they were shown the GTD, and just got the details wrong. While I understand people can get details wrong, I don't really understand how someone can look at a GTD, which while awesome, is very clearly s650 based, and very clearly front engined, and come away thinking it was a mid-engine car on it's own platform.

I wouldn't be too concerned about the batteries going dead in ford/Lincoln hybrids. Generally speaking, Ford hybrids have a very good track record for longevity. The only Ford hybrid that seems problematic is the f-150 powerboost, and even those issues seem to be relatively mild all things considered. As for the cost to replace hybrid batteries, I've seen prices of about 2-5 grand. Will the vehicle run if the battery dies? Probably not, from my limited understanding, e-cvts rely on electric motors to vary gear speeds, and I don't see how those electric motors will function if the battery is completely dead or destroyed. Maybe I'm missing something, anyone who's more knowledgeable about this feel free to chime in.

Yep, they went with a different for the sake of different approach. The front and side is like a flex with a hint of range Rover, not bad at all. But the rear end is God awful.

When we inevitably get a new gt 10-15 years from now, I hope they pull some influence from the gt90.

Sounds adventurous, but I'm gonna have to hold off until you get a third airport named after someone who died in a plane crash. Third time's the charm.

Agreed. The only aspect of the SC design I like is the taillights, and the lines on the tailgate. Well actually, I do like that diagonal line that runs near the top of the belt line as well. But I generally feel as though the maverick is the much better looking truck between the two, even if it looks a little basic at times, it looks almost timeless from some angles because of its simplicity.

I'm just gonna say it, there was a time when Kia/Hyundai design was being criticized for taking too much inspiration from premium European brands, and not being original. But I genuinely think their designs were far more attractive back then. They're trying to hard to be weird and quirky now. I appreciate designs that take chances, I've actually started to like a handful of newer Lexus and Toyota designs for that reason, like the new Prius. But the issue is a lot of these swing for the fences designs don't age well at all. Not to mention it almost seems like modern car designers are allergic to any form of cohesive design. They can't even stick to the same form language. We keep seeing designers who think having something go from being really blockier and squared off, to rounded and fluid. It's one of my biggest turn offs with modern design, you'll have this bulbous, curvy front end, and designers will give it a flat squared off grille or vents, it just looks terrible.

I'm just stating that the extreme weather patterns which have a noticable detrimental effect on the range of EVs tends to reduce the range on ICE and hybrids as well. Does it impact EVs more? Sure, but come on, EVs just got here when it comes to mainstream prime time. It's gonna take a little bit of time before they're more comparable with the performance of ICE in extreme weather conditions. It's the same thing with things like towing, and track driving. People complain that EV range drops off noticably when towing, or on racetracks. But again, that also applies to gas vehicles, every vehicle I've been in gets terrible gas mileage, sub 20s easily, when towing, or when driven aggressively. The issue isn't really the vehicles themselves, it's the hassle of using public charging infrastructures. Once our charging infrastructure is more reliable, wide spread, and fast, people won't be so hot and bothered about having to stop off and charge during a road trip.

Maybe they're just waiting for a better event to show something off. The New York Auto show has always been relatively unremarkable in terms of product reveals, it's the kind of show where at best, most brands reveal a mildly tweaked refresh or something. Perhaps we'll see something this summer. That's when brands tend to reveal the interesting products and concepts.

Dude my maverick hybrid gets 15 mpg during colder weather drives of a few miles if it doesn't have time to properly warm up. All propulsion types are less efficient in the cold.

It could also be them stretching the wheelbase, but shortening the overhangs. That would give you more space, look better, and improve ride and handling dynamics.

Sounds promising on the surface, but a lot of those maximizing interior space products tend to adopt that blob on wheels look. I really hope that's not the direction they're going in. Another interesting point mention was how sources close to this project said they're planning lots of different top hats for this platform, with the goal of making it all things to all people in their own words. They said it would be used for trucks, vans, SUVs, and beyond. That beyond part is really interesting to me. Fingers crossed this means some sort of car form factor is in development as Ford is going back to smaller, more affordable vehicles.

I've seen a few near me, but I'm seeing way more mavericks. We briefly considered a sante cruz, but our main priorities when buying a small truck was buying something with good value,fuel economy, and low maintenance costs. It just seemed like the maverick blew the SC away in those areas. Not to mention I assumed because Ford is essentially the truck king, they were going to make a more robust truck than a brand who had no substantial experience making trucks in the N. American market. The SC just doesn't have anything that makes it stand out in my mind.

The story of the pinto is very similar to the 737 max 8 in my mind. A respected American brand rushing a product to market to complete with foreign rivals. In doing so, they overlook considerable safety issues that leads to many deaths. The company then alters the product to rectify the issue, but the damage is already done and the image of that product is forever tainted.

Am I nuts, or did they find a way to make the SC even less attractive? I think it has something to do with the fact that the grille is a little more squared off, but the rest of the body was those softer, curvier lines compared to the body shape of something like a maverick. So you have this curve side surfacing with blockier front end graphics, it just doesn't flow well. It also looks like the plastic cladding for the arches is chunkier as well, which makes the rims look even more undersized. The mavericks design has aged quite well imo, the SC's design hasn't, and this makes it even worse.

Not to mention it's a direct response to one of the main criticism's EVs have. That they don't hold up well when exposed to a wide array of diverse conditions and terrains. This shows that EVs can handle anything a reasonable person is gonna throw at them. It's not exactly exciting news, but it's crucial to start to more actively push back against the misinformation on EVs if brands want to start selling more of them.