Disguised S550 Mustang Spied Testing - New Variant or Refresh?

[markham51]

Still looks better than the Camaro:lol:

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[Falcon01]

Why is that early? 3rd year is usually refresh. Happens on tons of cars. My fathers KIA optima was refreshed in year 3 of it being out. And they did cosmetic things like new front and rear lights to it with a few new packages.

Remember Ford knew the Camaro was coming and will not let them have 2 years of sales of not doing anything with the Mustang. The '16 was just a filler year for the Mustang like year 2s usually are.

If this is the refresh (which we think it is), then Camaro will only have from this November or so till next September to say they have the newer car.

Fort drops the '17 Mustang refresh in Sept of 2016 with new fascia, new lights, and 10 speed and they 1 up them.

I agree about the camaro part, but in the past, Mustang took many years to refresh. For the 2005-2014 Gen, there was a refresh for 2010 MY and again for 2013 MY. 5 and 3 MY gaps in between refreshes. It's definitely possible though with the new Camaro which didn't exist when the S197 came out.

 

[Rich]

My guess is the 2017 Mach1, definitely looks like a spoiler in the back. Like others have mentioned, maybe they are mainly testing the drive train. I thing Ford is going to pull more HP out of the Coyote soon to compete with the performance of the Camaro.

 

[Spartan]

I agree about the camaro part, but in the past, Mustang took many years to refresh. For the 2005-2014 Gen, there was a refresh for 2010 MY and again for 2013 MY. 5 and 3 MY gaps in between refreshes. It's definitely possible though with the new Camaro which didn't exist when the S197 came out.

That was a long time ago and also there was no competition like you mentioned.

In todays market, car companies need to keep their cars fresh and the usual cycle is Year 1 is the new generation car, year 3 is the mid-cycle refresh, year is the final 5 final year, and repeat...5 years out of the current gen and then onto the next gen.

No matter what people think on this forum, Chevy came out with a ton of features in their new '16 Camaro and Ford will be looking to counter those.

 

[Spartan]

The grille seems the same as the current GT.

I don't think it's a refresh as the mustang needed 5+ years for a refesh in the past (except for gen 1). I'm hoping for a Mach1.

New headlights? Maybe... But what's the purpose of testing them when you cover them up?

Covering the design while doing other tests (maybe the transmission).

Also, remember the GT350 has a similar upper grill its the lower grill, fog area that is different looking.

Still looks better than the Camaro:lol:

I think the Camaro has the better front on their LT version...just looks meaner and probably Ford already heard the responses over the last year that the Mustang has a Fusion 'Catface' front which is probably why they are refreshing it.

I'm more curious about the rear lights.

 

[krazieboy]

I'd like to see something more aggressive. My biggest issue with the current Mustang has always been the soft nose design. The rest of it I love, including that wide back end.

I've done countless photoshops on that front end to make it a bit more 'American Muscle' rather than what imo is inspired by Euro-Asian design.

Here's some I've done...

this i like. I too feel the stock front isn't aggressive enough.

 

[Spartan]

this i like. I too feel the stock front isn't aggressive enough.

Yep like that also..has the more aggressive 'beak'.

Hopefully the new headlight design is better...don't like the current lights other then the tri bar.

I wish the photographer got an inside shot to see if the instrument cluster changed at all.

 

[Tony Alonso]

Interesting...

 

[Rickycardo]

Mach 1

 

[Birddogjr350]

I WOULD LIKE TO SEE REDESIGNED HEADLIGHTS (MORE AGGRESSIVE) AND THE FOG LIGHTS REMOVED TO MAKE ROOM FOR A MORE AGGRESSIVE FRONT END. (ie SHELBY GT350 LOOK)

 

[Spartan]

I WOULD LIKE TO SEE REDESIGNED HEADLIGHTS (MORE AGGRESSIVE) AND THE FOG LIGHTS REMOVED TO MAKE ROOM FOR A MORE AGGRESSIVE FRONT END. (ie SHELBY GT350 LOOK)

That's what we're all hoping for (minus the ALL CAPS!!!)

 

[50hhh]

If you look at the front lights you can see the orange corner and they look the same. Im guessing its not too much of a change

 

[S922]

Sorry to burst the bubble, but this Mustang is nothing special. The only thing being tested here are the goofy aftermarket lights attached to it, since traditional camo puts mesh over the stock lights which greatly reduces their visibility and effectiveness. In the future you may end up seeing prototype vehicles have this kind of light arrangement with complete pleather camo covering every other body panel.

 

[Spartan]

If you look at the front lights you can see the orange corner and they look the same. Im guessing its not too much of a change

Probably the change is in the lamp up front (LED maybe) and possible 4 bars vs 3 like the one person spied. Yah the side is the same, but that's just the design/housing. Usually the changes are in the actual headlights themselves.

 

[350Mike]

They could be entering a new market where they were required to make changes to the lighting do to transportation requirements.

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