RancorKeeper

There are a plethora of reasons why two identical cars may handle differently on any given day, the presence of Traction Control being the most obvious in this case. At any rate, the Pony Package & the Stampede have identical suspensions, from shocks & spring rating to sway bar sizes. That's all there is to it.

The upgraded suspension pieces are available on the Pony Package, so ordering a Stampede Edition isn't getting you anything in addition to that, suspension-wise.

Most enthusiasts (and automotive journalists) give far greater credence to recent Special Edition Stangs like the Bullitt, Mach 1 & Shelby 'cause they're much more than just "Tape 'n Stripe" releases. They incorporate drivetrain, suspension & braking upgrades, as well as interior & exterior mods.

While this is technically true, in reality, if a dealership refuses to make repairs under warranty, you will be forced to take legal action to resolve the matter if you feel it's a valid claim. My parents went through this with their '85 Country Squire while it was still under the original 3yr/36K. The motor seized and three dealerships, including the one they bought the car from, refused to replace the engine, giving a litany of reasons why it wasn't covered. My parents consulted a lawyer, but the guy said it would probably cost more in fees to go to trial than to just pay for it out of pocket. Meanwhile, the car would just sit there completely useless until the issue was sorted out. Eventually, the dealership they bought the car from offered to do an engine swap for half the labor price if they bought the a new engine from them. This can backfire, too. A good friend who works at a garage that specializes in European cars (mainly Audis, BMWs & Mercedes) installed lowering springs on a friends new GTI a few years ago. When that kid had a warranty issue with suspension (some alignment issue with the front end), his dealership told him they wouldn't do the work because the springs weren't installed properly & contributed to the alignment problems. When he went to another VW dealer, his warranty claim was in the system as being denied, so that dealer told him they wouldn't fix it either. He ended up paying Dave's shop to do all the repairs. From my personal experience, when I took my Bullitt into my dealer for the 1-2 shift fork replacement (which was a TSB) I got a call the next morning asking how long my aluminum driveshaft & aftermarket shifter had been on. I said I installed it them both the first week I had the car & the next thing out of the tech's mouth was one or both could have caused the bent shift fork & they probably wouldn't do the work under warranty. I had to argue with the Dept. head for about ten minutes (and threaten to write a nasty letter to the owner) before he begrudgingly agreed they would do the work, but he made it clear he felt he was doing me a favor. Point of the story is while there are legal reasons why dealers can't refuse certain repairs based on certain mods or upgrades, it might require you to argue with them or even seek legal action. Might not be worth the aggravation - something to think about.

There's volumes of research to show that we drive more aggressively (follow cars too closely & drive too fast for traffic conditions) as braking performance has improved over the years. My 1970 Monte Carlo never needed ABS in Chicago traffic the numerous times I had to make a panic stop in rush hour. Good driving skills were more important than braking technology - I think that's true of most situations. Oh, and one other comment - I'll take a big tough tranny like a C6 or turbo 400 over ABS anyday to help me slow down. I was just in the F250 a couple weeks ago & the truck in front of me came to a complete stop from 60mph to make a left turn. I slammed on the brakes with both feet & downshifted into first. I bet I didn't have a spare inch between our vehicles, but I didn't hit him & I didn't lose control when I pulled toward the shoulder, although the rear tires did lock up.

I agree with silvrsvt - I don't think the 94-98 look anything like the 99-04 on the exterior. And I personally much prefer the 99-04; I think the early SN-95 looks like a weakling compared to the later years.

Why? Anti-lock brakes are useless if the tire isn't breaking contact with the road surface and losing adhesion, causing the car to skid. This almost always occurs when the road surface is covered in snow, slush or enough water to cause hyroplaning. If the tire isn't locking up, the driver hasn't lost steering control & thus doesn't need ABS to help maintain vehicle control or reduce stopping distance during hard braking . In fact, stopping distances increase in ABS vehicles under heavy braking in deep snow & gravel. Since there are many parts of NA where climate conditions are dry enough to make locals consider ABS an unneccesary option, I don't see why they would want to pay extra for a supposed "safety feature" they see no benefit from.

I have about ten. If you find anyone willing to give you more than the price of shipping, let me know.

I gotta say, the only pink sports cars that look good were the Moulin Rouge & Panther Pink Mopars.

The Ford's had a 300 cubic inch 6 though, so they had a fair amount of torque & could tow decent loads.

That's crap. I bought a house, a dog and a brand-new Bullitt making $33K a year back in 2000 & 2001. If you can't live on that you're doing something wrong. $16/hour is an excellent starting salary & it's a lot more than I made when I got my first job as an architect, which was $10/hour in 1998. And that was at a firm in downtown Chicago!

I made over 300hp on my '85 easy with just a cam, headers & exhaust (timing was for 93 octane). I wouldn't touch the bottom end unless you know it to be suspect. Also, your '87 has forged dish-top pistons with the E7TE heads, which had bigger valves & exhaust ports. Great stock motor to start upgrading.

That's correct, but they have the openings for them in the bumper cover, unlike the V6 which has three horizontal slats in the foglight location.

You could call a dealership & have them look up a bumper cover for a GT vs. the V6 and compare the part #s. But as long as your body guy does a competent job of removing the slats in the foglight opening on the bumper cover, I wouldn't be concerned.

I've heard it won't be sold as a convertible. Can anyone confirm this?