2015 Mustang GT350 Spied With Less Camo

on d bit said:

1/5 of an inch shorter or .2 inch shorter and 1.5 inches wider. I would definitely not call it a smaller car.:shrug:

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I'll say the same thing I did on SVTP…
Don't forget 1.5 inches lower.
.2 shorter, 1.5 lower, 1.5 wider. 2 of 3 dimensions are "smaller"… plus a slightly wider track that has been "shrink-wrapped" with the flared fenders and coke bottle.

Have you seen the car in person yet?

jjw said:

I'll say the same thing I did on SVTP…
Don't forget 1.5 inches lower.
.2 shorter, 1.5 lower, 1.5 wider. 2 of 3 dimensions are "smaller"… plus a slightly wider track that has been "shrink-wrapped" with the flared fenders and coke bottle.

Have you seen the car in person yet?

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When they say lower does that mean distance from floorboard to top or top to ground? If it's the latter its possible to be the same height, with the mustangs floorboards over an inch closer to the ground.

Hood 1.3 inches lower, roofline 1.5 inches lower… relative to floor. A-pillar also moved back 1.18 inches (30 mm). When you see one next to an s197, it becomes very apparent.

jjw said:

Hood 1.3 inches lower, roofline 1.5 inches lower… relative to floor. A-pillar also moved back 1.18 inches (30 mm). When you see one next to an s197, it becomes very apparent.

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Here it just looks as thought the entire car was lowered by an inch.

Topnotch said:

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I think it stands to reason that since the amount the hood (1.25"), roof (1.5") and decklid (2.75") were lowered by are all different, they didn't just lower the entire car. Dimensions were decreased and it's quite obvious from any comparison photos that the roof and decklid look sleeker and slimmed down versus the S197, not just closer to the ground.

Obviously they changed the shape and the look. They made it sleeker not smaller. Lower your ground, lower c/g, wider, etc. Job well done!

Am I the only one around here who sees a really nasty problem with the new profile - so well revealed in the above photo which contrasts it to the old one? Basically the greenhouse has been squashed, as Ford has gone for a Camaro-esque bunker-slit look. While some might find this more "sleek" (personally IRL I found the greenhouse looked disproportionately small and awkward, like the greenhouse of a Cayman had been glued on top of the new Mustang's body), it is guaranteed to wreak havoc with the Stang's visibility.

IMO this was a stupid design decision on Ford's part. A lot of potential Camaro sales were and are lost because of its horrid outward visibility issues, and the same thing is likely here. I find the visibility in the current generation Mustang barely sufficient, and I suspect many like myself are going to find the new one unacceptable.

Devon said:

Am I the only one around here who sees a really nasty problem with the new profile - so well revealed in the above photo which contrasts it to the old one? Basically the greenhouse has been squashed, as Ford has gone for a Camaro-esque bunker-slit look. While some might find this more "sleek".

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I agree that it looks like it might be worse. However, I'm hoping its not and I am going to reserve final judgement till I get inside one. But if it's worse than last generation, and you can't get a glass roof, its going to have a very confining feel inside let alone the visibility issues.

lil=john said:

Yea x2. ..Any info on the powertrain?

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Voodoo discussion has some accurate (and some inaccurate) info. Expectations for power should be tempered more. World class upgrades in suspension and driver control are real star of the show. That's all I will say about it.

xlover said:

Just curious, wont summer 2015 be right about when they are going to change over to 2016s? or is the '15 going to be an especially long model year? sounds like it will be a pretty short run of shelby '15s. any reason for that?

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on d bit said:

There is absolutely no way that Ford or any manufacturer would run a 3 month model year vehicle! You are stating that Ford will bring out the new Mustang SVT summer of 2015 run it for 3 months(July, Aug, Sep) then turn around and sell a 2016 MY Mustang SVT starting in Oct when most if not all the new MY vehicles are out.

Ford certainly has precedence on doing exactly as you state, but calling it the next MY instead.
May/June 2002 The new 2003 Mustang SVT was being sold by dealers nationwide.
July 2006 The new 2007 Mustang SVT was being sold by dealers nationwide.

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None of the vehicles you named had the chance to be 50th cars.

Engineering and marketing are separate.

It won't be 3 months.

GTMamba said:

Agreed, too many assumptions being made. We have no idea if 2015 will be a standard length model year, shorter, or longer and if SVT will follow suit.

As for the forum wars I am also a member of both and can say emphatically this is by far the better site for the new Mustang.

I guess am partially responsible for the back and forth. I will say that after I linked to DMV's post on this forum about it being a 2015MY, the thread there has gone noticeably quiet and no one seems to want to touch it with a 10 ft. pole. The guy wanting to make bets on it being a 2016 doesn't seem so vocal anymore.

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They made assumptions about marketing based on development timing but this is not typical year for Mustang.

I wont get into future MY change over, just to say should be obvious by now SVT and S550 coupe and convertible program timelines are different. It changed several times already. They were all together once, planned for this summer as 15MY. Everything got delayed. SVT was pushed to early 16MY and last year brought up to be late 15MY. It is all late 15MY really. S550 convertible will not even be available at launch.

Remember development is in progress. Much can happen and things do change. That’s all I will say about this.

on d bit said:

When they say lower does that mean distance from floorboard to top or top to ground? If it's the latter its possible to be the same height, with the mustangs floorboards over an inch closer to the ground.

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The over-all height, seating position and ride height are all lower for the S550. (Not by much on some dim's, but I can't seem to locate the exact quote/specs)

So is the center of gravity.

That's what I thought. Lowering the ride height, seating position, etc will lower the roof/hood/trunk lines without changing the basic volume of the car.

DMV said:

It won't be 3 months.

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Summer of 15 to start production. June, July, Aug, Sept...this when next year years production starts in Oct. With time frame its a 3 to 4 month run. If they go through Oct its a 4 to 5 month run. I have never seen MY production run into Nov of that year.

on d bit said:

Summer of 15 to start production. June, July, Aug, Sept...this when next year years production starts in Oct. With time frame its a 3 to 4 month run. If they go through Oct its a 4 to 5 month run. I have never seen MY production run into Nov of that year.

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Who said the following year's production of SVT vehicles starts in October?

They didn't just lower the ride height and/or the roof. I'm pretty sure the clearance of the floorpan to ground plane hasn't changed much. Instead they lowered everything around the floor to make the car look like the stance is lower while making it 1.6" wider. On top of that they lowered the roof 1.5", hood 1.3" and deck 2.8". I think they also said they lowered the cowl/dash by over 1.5" (I think I heard 2.5" for dash?). This is all relative to the floor, not the ground plane.
My point is, if they lowered the hood, deck and cowl different heights relative to the roof (or floor for that matter), they didn't just pillbox the greenhouse in the name of styling.
I've seen the cars next to each other in person. That picture is a poor demonstration of proportions.


It would be great if someone like DMV could clarify this for us

For what it's worth, I heard Ford is still making 2014 Mustangs as we speak. I know they usually stop production in November. So far, 4 months passed that mark.