2015 Ford Mustang EcoBoost 2.3L First Ride (MotorTrend)

[Grimace427]

ah, then they shouldn't have invited the hotrod guys to test the ecoboost.

Test? Looked like they were just showing off the car to media folks.

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[Grimace427]

Since Ford is still avoiding discussion of weight, I think it's reasonable to assume that the '15 isn't going to shed many pounds. Too bad, although it will still be lighter than the current generation Camaro. But Chevy may have the last laugh. The alpha-platformed, next gen Camaro will almost certainly shed several hundred pounds.

I think you are jumping to your own conclusion. They aren't talking about HP/TQ or price either. Just because they don't have numbers to share doesn't mean they are bad.

 

[Shark77]

I think you are jumping to your own conclusion. They aren't talking about HP/TQ or price either. Just because they don't have numbers to share doesn't mean they are bad.

Exactly, it looks like the marketing plan is to (as the article eluded to) drip pieces of info over along period of time, gradually dripping more anticipated info so they can build momentum in peoples' interest. Anecdotally, it seems to have worked. Just look at this board, when the order screen shots were posted. If I remember correctly, there were more than 10,000 views of that thread in less than 24hrs of it being posted.

The biggest drips are its actual performance and the major inputs that will define it, which will probably be the last things to come.

Once a thread gets started on "official hp, tq, and weight," it will be interesting to see how many views that thread gets in its first day.

Everyone is on pins and needles and in the meantime, Ford has prolonged a lot of peoples' initial interest in the car, which leads them to learning more about it and potentially more attached to it. This strategy wouldn't work for a lot of cars, but it's probably perfect for the Mustang.

 

[5.0GT]

If chevy can manage to drop the next camaro 300# with that 6.2 it's going to be a real challenge for Ford to respond no doubt.

 

[Rex Grant]

This is, of course, only my opinion, but I think that if there were to be a significant weight reduction, then Ford would have trumpeted it early in the same way that they informed us about the 2.3L ecoboost and the irs. They might have held back specific numbers -- just like with the other specific numbers -- but I think that we would have heard about any major weight reduction by now, at least in general terms. The new F150 weight reduction was about the first thing that we heard about. But Ford seems to be dampening expectations where the new Mustang's weight is concerned. I hope that I'm wrong. Does anyone know if irs is inherently heavier than a live axle?

 

[Fox9350]

Test? Looked like they were just showing off the car to media folks.

you know what I mean!!!!

 

[c3po]

This is, of course, only my opinion, but I think that if there were to be a significant weight reduction, then Ford would have trumpeted it early in the same way that they informed us about the 2.3L ecoboost and the irs. They might have held back specific numbers -- just like with the other specific numbers -- but I think that we would have heard about any major weight reduction by now, at least in general terms. The new F150 weight reduction was about the first thing that we heard about. But Ford seems to be dampening expectations where the new Mustang's weight is concerned. I hope that I'm wrong. Does anyone know if irs is inherently heavier than a live axle?

Just from reading other posts, it sounds like the IRS is about 50+ pounds heavier. Even so, it would be a benefit in equalizing weight distribution.

 

[navair133]

Guard looks really good. It might be my first choice again. DIB is right there.

I am getting the EcoBoost PP and I am thinking that the black gloss wheels probably go better with DIB than Guard. I like the wheel style but I wish we had a choice of color/finish.

 

[5.0GT]

This is, of course, only my opinion, but I think that if there were to be a significant weight reduction, then Ford would have trumpeted it early in the same way that they informed us about the 2.3L ecoboost and the irs. They might have held back specific numbers -- just like with the other specific numbers -- but I think that we would have heard about any major weight reduction by now, at least in general terms. The new F150 weight reduction was about the first thing that we heard about. But Ford seems to be dampening expectations where the new Mustang's weight is concerned. I hope that I'm wrong. Does anyone know if irs is inherently heavier than a live axle?

Not sure about weight, BUT irs typically puts less power to the ground than sla, so it will get a bump in hp to compensate.

 

[Whiskey11]

Just from reading other posts, it sounds like the IRS is about 50+ pounds heavier. Even so, it would be a benefit in equalizing weight distribution.

The Cobra IRS is less than 50lbs heavier than the Live Axle in the SN95 cars when fully dressed. A good portion of that weight is from the subframe they had to add to the SN95 to hold all the components in the location for a live axle. I don't think we are going to see a huge difference in weight, maybe 25-30lbs if there is a gain in weight at all.

Not sure about weight, BUT irs typically puts less power to the ground than sla, so it will get a bump in hp to compensate.

That is a horribly huge assumption about this IRS or any IRS. Really they are tuned for separate things so the likelihood of one being that comparable to the other is hard to say. Ford claims that this IRS has twice the %Anti-Squat of the S197 live axle (which is around 35%) so if it has 70% anti-squat and the tires can take it, then the car will in theory, put power down better than the out going live axle. The only disadvantage the IRS will have is going to depend on the alignment and the alignment change when the car does finally squat.

Also, adding power to compensate for "putting less power to the ground" sounds like it would exacerbate the issue, not fix it.

 

[WestRace]

Not sure about weight, BUT irs typically puts less power to the ground than sla, so it will get a bump in hp to compensate.

That is just one variable. While it's true that sla could effectively put a little bit more power to the ground on the corners (although that's debatable since it also depends on how you tune the suspension), that is only one of many variables. The sla could may do this one thing better, but the IRS can do may be 3 or 4 other things better.

 

[Keyser_Soze]

Hmmmm... metal on metal ball joints in the PP suspension gives me a bit of pause. I'd be buying this car as a DD with occasional canyon carving in mind, and maybe a fun run or two at AutoX twice a year. Anyone have experience with this type of setup? Sounds like it'll rattle your teeth out and cause creeks sooner in its life cycle than the typical rubber bushing setup. I'd maintain the car and need it to reach about 160k miles.

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