Why did Ford rush the 2018 facelift?

[MisterZ]

Anyone else think the facelift was rushed way too much? After 3 years, the styling of the Mustang was fine, and the facelift did absolutely nothing for sales other than hold them steady for a couple of years. Personally, I'm not a fan of the facelift at all, but regardless of whether or not you like it, it can't be argued against that it creates an unfair balance in favour of the facelift model, which will now be on the market for 5 years, vs. 3 years for the pre-facelift. In the past, Ford always let their models run for much longer before making sheetmetal changes, such as the 94-98 Mustang, where only the tail lights were changed, and the 99-04 saw no body changes for 6 years. As an owner of a 2017 model, I feel it's a bit unfair that Ford changed the styling so soon, as we are now seen as having outdated cars (even though they look better!).

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[RasJeremy]

That is a matter of taste.
I do like the 15-17, but IMO the facelift both front and rear did so much good for the S550.

The headlights, the hood, bumper, taillights, exhaust.... I just think the 18+ looks so much more badass and I am sobhappy that I got a facelift instead of rushing an order on a 15-17 model

But looked all over from mid 60s untill now I think the 6th generation in the S550 is the best looking Mustang ever

 

[Dominant1]

I have a 16 gt/cs and I like the 18-20 facelift, it grows on you. I don't think they rushed it. I think they rushed the revised version of the mt-82 which had bad shift forks, and they rushed the 10 speed autos because it had software issues out the gate that they are now addressing. The quality of my 2016 is excellent, no issues, even after all the mods I've done.

 

[MisterZ]

Well after 2+ years of being on sale in Aus, the facelift still hasn't grown on me. Yes, it's more aggressive, but the bonnet has lost the bulge, the grille is too wide, and the shape of the headlights is just weird and makes no sense to me. At the rear, I don't like how the bottom part of the bumper is now completely black. Previously, there was a painted section at the bottom. I suppose it's hard to argue against the quad exhausts, but that never bothered me.

 

[XS]

It's funny, I thought when I got mine that Ford should have sloped the hood and nose down more and even after I bought the car I didn't know if I was happy with it's appearance. But after they did exactly what I thought they should have done from the start, I'm much happier because I don't like the changes so much. Just my preferences, but I think 18+ look too busy. I like cleaner, simpler designs.

 

[Twin Turbo]

Oh goody, another pre-post facelift thread. This won't end well, but I'd just remind everyone to respect each other's opinions on what they prefer and why.

I will admit, it's unusual to see a facelift version have a longer shelf life than the original. The S197 was more traditional in its approach

'05-'09 (5 model years)
'10-'12 (3 model years for this significant refresh)
'13-'14 (2 model years for this much milder refresh)

versus

'15-'17 (3 model years)
'18-'22 (5 model years)

Seems S650 will follow S550's lead though:
'23-'25 (3 model years)
'25-'29 (5 model years)

https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/th...tang-will-have-full-8-year-life-cycle.146471/

 

[LSchicago]

3 years is common. it was the 18 update that made me buy.

 

[cmxPPL219]

It's definitely a matter of taste, so the debate can always be had about which looks better, and there's no wrong answer.

However, regarding the idea of Ford "rushing" the facelift, they actually didn't. Looking at previous generations and when the MMC or mid-cycle facelift was performed, shouldn't be a factor to judge Ford on whether they acted early or too late for the S550 Mustangs - things change over the years.

The thing is, all OEMs, for the most part, have product roadmaps into the future years, and a lot of planning for the facelift is actually done years prior. (Setting up the design, tooling required, coordinating with suppliers etc.)

Broadly-speaking, there's usually 2 categories of facelifts or mid-cycle refreshes: On time, Done to plan and Expedited, Not done to plan; For the second category, this is when the initial design has received a lot of criticism/significant quality concerns, and the OEM decides to address the "issues" with the car, and either bring these changes to the planned mid-cycle, or even in some cases expedite it and bring the changes, in addition to what they were already planning in the pipeline.

In Ford's case, the MY18 refresh was more in the first category.

The other factor is that the next gen mustangs were delayed about a full model year, so this makes it seem like the MY18 refresh was done too quick, when it actually is not quite the case. The 3rd MY of most any car model is the typical timeframe to release the mid-cycle update, for most OEMs.

 

[MisterZ]

Seems S650 will follow S550's lead though:
'23-'25 (3 model years)
'25-'29 (5 model years)

https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/th...tang-will-have-full-8-year-life-cycle.146471/

Isn't the S650 just going to be a re-skin of the current model, like the '99 model was? Same platform and all? If this is the case, then the roofline and glasshouse won't change at all, and the overall dimensions will stay much the same. Only the exterior panels will change. Sadly, most vehicles that are re-skinned never look as good as true redesigns, because they're limited in so many ways by the existing platform.

 

[Twin Turbo]

S550 to S650 will be more like Fox to SN95 (Fox-4)..............it'll use the same starting point, but will be heavily modified. Which also means roof/glass can and most likely will, change

 

[LSchicago]

05-09 the mustang had no competition. After that the Mustang had competition, and received updates more often.

 

[I Bleed Ford Blue]

I think the refresh was planned to be released on the 18 to coincide with the new powertrain. When you see a 15-17 GT you know its a gen 2 435 hp engine, when you see a 18+ you know its a gen 3 460 engine. I think ford planned it that way.

 

[Roger Blose]

The refresh was terrific. Lower leading hood line, front air curtains, LED head and fog lights, new hood design with clean vents, rear bent tail lights, and quad exhaust tips. It is the poor man's Aston Martin. Looks good in all colors. Mines Ruby Red.

 

[MidwayJ]

Yeah, I came here to post the usual conclusion of these threads:

People have a preference for the MY/Style they personally own. End of discussion. I've never seen an 18+ owner say they prefer the 15-17's and vice-versa.

I own a '19 GT and I prefer the front end of the 15-17. I like the rear of the 18+ better, though.

The performance and feature enhancements of the 18+ (460hp, A10, magneride, digital dash, etc.) are the crucial differences. Those upgrades make the 15-17 obsolete more than anything else. Since Ford was ready to go with those things for MY 2018, a facelift to go with it made perfect sense. I'm willing to put up with the worse looking front end to have more horsepower and the A10.

I think Ford dropped the ball in 2011 when the Coyote and Cyclone engines were introduced. Those engines were such a giant performance improvement over the ones in the previous models (in a platform that had already been in place for 6 years). A much more significant styling change to differentiate the 2011 model was warranted.

 

[I Bleed Ford Blue]

I own a '19 GT and I prefer the front end of the 15-17. I like the rear of the 18+ better, though.

The performance and feature enhancements of the 18+ (460hp, A10, magneride, digital dash, etc.) are the crucial differences. Those upgrades make the 15-17 obsolete more than anything else. Since Ford was ready to go with those things for MY 2018, a facelift to go with it made perfect sense. I'm willing to put up with the worse looking front end to have more horsepower and the A10.

I think Ford dropped the ball in 2011 when the Coyote and Cyclone engines were introduced. Those engines were such a giant performance improvement over the ones in the previous models (in a platform that had already been in place for 6 years). A much more significant styling change to differentiate the 2011 model was warranted.

Get the best of both, swap a 15-17 front clip on your 19. It won't be cheap and I don't how easy it would be and what kind of modifications will be needed to make it work, but it's a possibility.

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