Why did Ford rush the 2018 facelift?

[MidwayJ]

Are you...are you a unicorn?

LOL. No but full disclosure, I did own a '15 before the '19.

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[MidwayJ]

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.

Nah, even though I prefer the 15-17 I don't consider the '19 to be too bad looking. I might look into Mach 1 bumpers at some point, assuming they will eventually be prevalent like GT500 bumpers.

 

[Dave2013M3]

I like the front fascia better on the 2015-17 cars, but I like the lower hoodline of the 2018 cars more than I like the front fascia of the 2017-17 cars.

 

[Ace]

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an owner of a 2017 model, I feel it's a bit unfair that Ford changed the styling so soon, as we are now seen as having outdated cars (even though they look better!).

You are forgetting that the Gen 7 was most likely schedueled for 2020 (see announcement of the Hybrid Mustang) and pushed back to 2022 while 2018 model was already on the way. There were even a few signs that the delay would result in a 2nd minor refresh in 2020 which also was cancelled (or Ford played that well and there never was a 2nd refresh). So delays and maybe Corona resulted in the 5 years of refresh, it was never really intended that way when Gen 6 launched

 

[Adamone92]

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 agree. im personally not really a fan of the 18+ hood. Ill probably be changing mine soon.

I hated the matching color on the rear diffuser on the 15-17. I think the 18+ black diffuser looks much better.

the s197 is still some peoples favorite looking design of all of them; so maybe they didn't drop the ball too much by not changing it more significantly.

 

[Fly2High]

I too love the refresh. Love the taillights and prefer that the fog is integrated into the turn. Not a fan of the round old school fog/driving light. It looks like it was an after thought in the original S550. Well, there is a piece of plastic, we'll just cut a hole and stick it there.

Since everyone was complaining about HP in the Mach 1 or the PP 1/2, it would have been interesting if they chose to keep the gen 2 in the regular GT and use the Gen 3 in the Perf Pack and Mach 1 cars. Would have cost too much for Ford to keep two versions of the Coyote going I am sure but it would have made those looking for some engine improvements happy.

Maybe, the base GT guys should be happy that they got a performance improvement for nearly free. It could have been tied to another package or they could have held it for the Mach 1.

 

[Jimmy Dean]

Back in the day there were minor and major changes every single year. Hence why you can tell every model year apart from 64.5-73. (71/72 can be damn difficult to spot though)

 

[Fly2High]

16's are the only year to get hood blinkers

I guess I might be glad. I think seeing my own blinker shining in my face would get annoying. .

Then again, it does make that year unique and it does harken back to the old school days.

 

[lacanteen]

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.

^^^^This.
In addition to digital dash, 10R80, & LED lighting enhancements.

 

[geep81]

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

Same here. The 15-17 looks good, but the 18+ was the real hook that got me to pony up. And when my '19 came with bad paint and was bought back and I got to choose all over again, I still went with the Mustang. The update just looks that good to me.

 

[FrankM5]

You know at first seeing the 2018 mustang facelift it really did look odd and weird until i saw it in person. And now its so attractive, and the 15-17 's look so outdated. Although i had my head set to buy a 2017 the facelift and the 10 speed really changed my mind

 

[coz0502]

I own a 16 and like some have already said think the 15-17 model is the best looking S550. When I first saw articles with the 18+ I thought they ruined the mustang. The front end looks so blah to me. However when I was looking for a mustang. It came down to a new leftover 18 base or a 16 base with PP. Once I saw the 18 in person it looks much better than the pics. In my humble opinion, I think the biggest problem with the 18 is the front end. Specifically the lack of fog lights. Yes, I know the fog lights are integrated into the turn signal. Ultimately, it came down to price, the dealer wanted the 16 off the lot and made a deal I couldn't turn down. Although I'm pretty confident I would have been happy with the 18 also.

 

[Idaho2018GTPremium]

There were multiple reasons for the facelift in 2018, in addition to cosmetic updates that makes it easy to separate the Gen 3 Coyote GTs from a Gen 2 Coyote GT as previously mentioned, the updated front end also increased downforce (or possibly just reduced lift) compared to the 15-17 front end without increasing drag (which is key). The ~1" lower hood front line is partially responsible for that by being inherently more aerodynamic. I can't find the source, but about 2 years ago I recall reading that the lower hood line also helps with pedestrian safety standards, potentially as Ford wanted to increase the Mustang's presence in Europe, which has more stringent pedestrian safety requirements.

The lower front hood line also looks more aggressive to me. I love how much it slopes (see pic below), similar to (but not as drastic) as a C7 Corvette.

Obviously, the LED headlights are an improvement as well.

Overall, IMO the '18+ looks better than the 15-17: The front end I like better, the hood I like quite a bit better, the lower hood line I like a lot more, and the rear end I like a LOT better than the 15-17 GT. Aside from the looks, the numerous drivetrain, styling, and tech. upgrades the 18+ Mustang GT received over the 15-17 changed me from a Camaro guy to a Mustang guy and I haven't looked back since!

 

[Dominant1]

Just to add to the conversation, i did get a set of 19 taillights for my 2016 Gt/Cs, i like them much better.

https://ibb.co/G7Hsg2Q

 

[Elvis67]

When I had my 2015 ..I definitely thought it was the better looking front end ,even though it was a horrible design flaw how the bumper cover taps would break easily. Everything else on the 18+ is much better ,the thicker steering wheel was more comfortable..but Ford switching the music controller on the streeing wheel, that took to me awhile to get use to.

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