051A Guard V6 Review

[Bullitt]

Take notice. The "Base Radio" in fact has (no) Sirius Satellite Button but the "Mute" Button instead. That, once and for all ends the speculation whether or not the Base V6 will have the Sirius feature. Thanks Ford. A 13K Hyundai Accent or Kia Rio comes "Standard" with Sirius Satellite Radio but a 30K plus Mustang, (not). What a hoot!

I also noticed the Sirius button is gone now. In the promotional pics of the base Mustangs it was there. So does the base EB have Sirius still or did it lose the feature too? The informational booklet I got from the dealership says Sirius only comes on Premium models. I was hoping it was wrong :(

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[Spartan]

I'm sure there will be after market stuff shortly for the 2015 mustang. Hopefully an iPad Mini rig.

 

[zackmd1]

I'm sure there will be after market stuff shortly for the 2015 mustang. Hopefully an iPad Mini rig.

I'm sure someone will come out with something along those lines. From what I can tell it might be easy to swap in a 2din aftermarket radio. Everything for the radio is more condensed in the upper part of the center stack unlike the 10-14's. Down the road I'm sure we will have aftermarket 2din radio kits just like the s197.

 

[leftywayn]

"Radio: For a base radio this thing is fantastic! Nice and crisp and great mid range. Bass is there! Though for some it might not be enough. On higher power sound systems I usually have the base turned to low but on with this one I have it almost maxed out. There are settings to change treble, Bass, and mid as well as you usual speed compensated volume, balance, and fade. Playing music over bluetooth finally displays the full song and information. Something that was lacking in the previous sync system. The system can blow your ear drums out if you max out the volume! In my 2010 I had a 500 watt amp with upgraded speakers all around. This shaker system in the 2015 blows that setup out of the water in terms of sound and volume."

Thanks Zack... Good information there. I am no longer concerned about the quality of the base system.

 

[phil1336]

Not sure if mentioned before, but would like to know how the power and handling both feel compared to the previous V6. If there is no actual loss and the cloth interior is actually pretty good, then the v6 looks tempting over the 4.

Seriously, if you don`t need or want Leather Interior, the price difference between a 2015 Mustang Base V6 Convertible versus a 2015 Mustang "Premium" EB 2.3 I4 Convertible is an extra 5K-6K increase depending on if you go Manual or Automatic Transmission. Getting the Base V6 Convertible with the upgraded 051A Package and adding the optional Spare Tire for a MSRP of $32,300 is a (Steal) by comparison! Other then GT 5.0 V8 Buyers, the V6 is the sensible way to go and Ford knows it. Why else didn`t they provide any V6`s for Car Magazine reviews? Perhaps fearing any negativity with Eco-Boost comparisons and price advantage of the V6?

 

[Spartan]

Zack you planning on adding a CAI to yours?

 

[zackmd1]

Zack you planning on adding a CAI to yours?

I do plan to add a CAI and axle backs by years end. I'm gonna hold off on a tune tell they have more time to mature.

 

[zackmd1]

15 VS 14 Comparison

Ok so many of you have been asking how the 15 V6 compares to the 14 V6. I am going to do my best to give you my impressions comparing my 15 V6 to a 14 V6 performance pack I was able to test drive a few weeks ago. I am mostly going to focus on power and drivability.

14 V6 performance pack: Every option possible minus Nav, MSRP $35800

Took it out on two test drives with final time in the car totaling about an hour. From my test drives I could definitely notice the lack in low end torque. The car would have nothing (relatively speaking) in terms of power tell about 3k RPM. From here I found the power that everyone was raving about with the 3.7. Powered continued on tell about 6k where you could feel the drop in power before the auto shifted at 6500. Overall I felt the power delivery to be very choppy because of this behavior. Drivability (low rpm power) felt worse then my 4.0L which honesty got me worried about the 15 V6. I walked away rather unimpressed with the 3.7 and knew that if I ever got a 14 I would be buying a tune on day one to help the low end power.

15 V6

Low end torque is no longer an issue for me. That behavior of the 14 to finally start building power at 3K is not really present on the 15. With the 15 you can feel a much smoother increase in torque starting at 2k and continuing on to 4.5k. This helps drivability immensely in my opinion. Unfortunately the 15 still has that top end drop before the auto shifts. A non issue for you manual drivers and a simple fix with a tune for us autos. Overall the 15 I feel has MUCH improved power delivery over the 14 V6. Keep in mind to that I am also comparing a 14 3.31 V6 to a 3.15 V6! The 15 with the 3.55 gear ratio must feel great! (1stWorldMustang, can you comment on this?)



This is the 14 performance pack I test drove.

 

[IndustryLeech]

Thank you for doing this. It's of real service for people that might consider a V6. I'd love to see these selling well as the Cyclone engine is a great motor.

 

[zackmd1]

Thank you for doing this. It's of real service for people that might consider a V6. I'd love to see these selling well as the Cyclone engine is a great motor.

No problem! I agree the Cyclone engine is a great engine.

 

[DeColores]

Zack,

Thank for being a great source about the v6 Mustang. Could you clarify what brand, model, and size are the tires are with your foundry wheels. I think they are Goodyears but like to be sure.

Thanks again,

DeColores

 

[zackmd1]

Zack,

Thank for being a great source about the v6 Mustang. Could you clarify what brand, model, and size are the tires are with your foundry wheels. I think they are Goodyears but like to be sure.

Thanks again,

DeColores

You are correct! They are Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 235/50R18's.

 

[DeColores]

You are correct! They are Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 235/50R18's.

Thank you that's perfect for me!

 

[Spartan]

Zack, you won't believe this but a 2015 V6 showed up at the event today in Annapolis. Some guy just bought it 2 nights ago from Annapolis. Was very impressed with it.

Just FYI, some things I noticed. Upper door panels definitely are different on premium vs base (soft touch). Also the V6 dash upper was a different material then the GT upper dash. Felt like a different plastic material (probably soft touch again).

I got to sit in the V6 and it was very nice. Cloth was nice (leather is so hard to pass up, the GTs and EB had nice leather premium 68B in them...very very nice). He also popped the hood for us and rev'd the engine.

The Ford people all ran over to look at it. I guess they've been denied testing it also. They were also impressed.

Also, I thought you had 3.55 gears. You have 3.15s?

 

[zackmd1]

Zack, you won't believe this but a 2015 V6 showed up at the event today in Annapolis. Some guy just bought it 2 nights ago from Annapolis. Was very impressed with it.

Just FYI, some things I noticed. Upper door panels definitely are different on premium vs base (soft touch). Also the V6 dash upper was a different material then the GT upper dash. Felt like a different plastic material (probably soft touch again).

I got to sit in the V6 and it was very nice. Cloth was nice (leather is so hard to pass up, the GTs and EB had nice leather premium 68B in them...very very nice). He also popped the hood for us and rev'd the engine.

The Ford people all ran over to look at it. I guess they've been denied testing it also. They were also impressed.

Also, I thought you had 3.55 gears. You have 3.15s?

I saw your response in another thread! So wish I could have gone...! Annapolis mall right? Instead I'm stuck here in thermodynamics... Enough of me ranting...! lol I'm shocked that even the Ford Reps rushed over! Very interesting... And yes I have 3.15's. I had planned to get that DIB V6 with 3.55's at Koon's in sterling but ended up getting my Guard out of concern for MPG's and of course because it was both closer and showed up a week before the other.

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