2015 Mustang S550 design thread

[KZStang]

It was based off the Ford Falcon. Yea design wise it is unique... to Ford and in general as a class of sports car.

Personally I think this whole OneFord thing should be more than just about sharing across platforms and unity among Ford vehicles but be about having a more cohesive design language within each brand. The mustang brand would benefit from a clearly defined design stamp. Each generations styling is all over the place and we have whole decades that are complete outliers (Fox being most obvious).

The mustang brand could benefit from a unified look going forward. I dont think it has to be boring or look the same each generation. They should take a page from Aston Martin which I think has done a great job at evolving its design while staying relevant.

I agree the Mustang needs a more central design language overall, but relying on too many unique design motifs in a car can really hold back both the designers and engineers. There's only so much iterating that they can do before it gets played out, boring, or downright weird. Take a look at the rear tribar lights of the giugiaro for example. It bastardizes the whole point of having a design element that everyone instantly recognizes. They would've been better off starting from scratch and coming up with something totally new and different.

My point is, if you start saying that the Mustang must have triple rear lights, side scallops, a wide mouthy grille/shark nose, a dorito floating window, etc etc, its designers will be handcuffed to think outside the box.

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[NRMStand]

The tail lights will not be flushed against the body like that, but protruding and louvered according to the guys who reported about the focus group study. You missed a few points from the original post on AFM:

We did not have to sign any confidentially waivers so I can tell you my impressions of the body. I think the front end is actually longer then the current body but I could be wrong. That was my impression. The body is very similar to the current body but the sides are formed/indented and the trunk length is smaller. The front was very very cool with a beehive grill. The Mustang logo was centered and about 3 inches from the grill and it had a chrome line/piece going from side to side on either side of the logo. He headlights sucked. They were little slants, not the traditional round Mustang lights or even close to the current HID style. Made the car look Chinese. LOL

The tail lights are the coolest. They are actually louvered and projecting out. Kinda like the quarter window louvers. They are solid red. The traditional third break light on the trunk lid was gone. The third break light is now actually quite large and under the license plate.

If this turns out to be the production Mustang, I think what we're hearing is:

1. Evos style grille (beehived)
2. Thin/slanted head lights (also like Evos/Fusion)
3. Side scallops intact
4. Louvered tail lights

The tail lights has me excited. I'm picturing protruding Mach 1 style rear lights fashioned like the rear quarter window louvers. That would look awesome.

 

[crazyfastfreddy]

What is he discribing with the louvered lights? The description he gave confuses the hell outta me.

 

[stangray11]

I take it from his "3D" description to mean the lights are protruding like in the 69/70 mustang but instead of wide spacing and straight vertical, to actually overlap one another, be curved and sized sequentially -- kind of like the rear of the silver Sean Smith render every one likes, except with more bulging lights.

 

[BlueVenom]

I can live with that. I can even take a fusion grill, but they best not f*** with those lights like they did with the Fox.

The lights of that render do look louvered actually. Gives it a nice depth.

 

[Calypso]

Man I love the rear of that render.

The honeycomb grille actually looks nice to me. Gives it a more upscale look. Just need to change the shape up a little.

 

[KZStang]

Definitely one of the nicest rendered rears I've seen.

To add to the rear quarter window blurb -- I do not expect to see the floating window carry over to the next generation. Instead, I think they will merge the front and rear windows (which the focus group folks have corroborated) effectively hiding the B pillar, make the quarter window appear smaller overall, and instead of the blunted end we have in current Mustangs, think it will come together to a sharp point and curve. This is the exact change that Ford made to the '10 Fusion and which has given it a more expensive look, and I think few would disagree that it is not a nicer looking car.

All of this is part of the design DNA of the Evos concept, which has carried over to the '13 Fusion and the Ford Escort concept revealed in Shanghai. I personally welcome this change and think it will look very nice. There are examples, both new and old of quarter windows done like this and they look very nice IMO. Just take a look at the Shelby GR-1 concept and the Torino Cobra Jet 482.

 

[Maestro5.0]

IMO that look works much better with a full fastback or a car w/ a bulging hip from the rear fender like camaro.... but u might need an oversized rear window like the Evos unless u want a big blind spot like the camaroo.

 

[shelby1k]

I can be totally making this up but I think I remember seeing the Evos in its early designs having a more muscular look... a little closer to the Mustang looks?

Also, as for the rear lights, maybe for 2015, Ford decided to take a page from the ones it gave to the S197 concept. It definitely seems to match the 3D quality described by those guys. I could picture a louvered version of this looking nice.

 

[KZStang]

I can be totally making this up but I think I remember seeing the Evos in its early designs having a more muscular look... a little closer to the Mustang looks?

Also, as for the rear lights, maybe for 2015, Ford decided to take a page from the ones it gave to the S197 concept. It definitely seems to match the 3D quality described by those guys. I could picture a louvered version of this looking nice.

Yes believe you're right. There were sketches and clay models that showed an Evos with more Mustang-like styling. Don't have it handy but will try to find it.

 

[j.bauer.75]

How far before the production car do they usually lock down the final design?

Any chance Ford is still making last minute design changes of any kind?

 

[MustangDizzle]

How far before the production car do they usually lock down the final design?

Any chance Ford is still making last minute design changes of any kind?

I bet the design has been locked down for quite a few months now.

Why bother worrying about that? Nobody has seen the car or knows what it looks like anyways.

 

[KZStang]

Found it. Although I was wrong on it having more Mustang styling. The only thing that looks different is that rear window appears smaller and sleeker. Also lacks the chrome trim which looks much nicer IMO -- I would be happy with this design making its way into the next Mustang. The rest of the car looks the same as the final Evos design.

 

[KZStang]

How far before the production car do they usually lock down the final design?

Any chance Ford is still making last minute design changes of any kind?

Final design is locked down years before production. That doesn't mean they won't or can't still make some changes, but 90% or more of the sheet metal is decided well in advance. Take a look at the SN95 design. Even with the aggressive 36-month design-to-production schedule they were faced with, Ford managed to decide on a close-to-final design direction (out of 3 different directions, below) by late 1990 for a 1993 production, with only minor changes made before production:

It's also interesting when you look at the parallels of '94 and today. Many are too young to remember, but at the time the design team repeated over and over that it would be very American and that Mustang enthusiasts were the main priority for the design. And what did we get? A car that, to me and many, lacked some distinct Mustang design cues. I'm not saying we're going to get a purely European car and unrecognizable Mustang for the S550, but rhetoric is rhetoric. The Evos concept should be a big clue that there are big changes coming, for all of Ford's lineup.

 

[BoostedSVT]

The honeycomb grille actually looks nice to me. Gives it a more upscale look. Just need to change the shape up a little.

Form over function on that one. That's why engineers left out the honeycomb insert of the GT500 specifically because it allows more increased cooling airflow.. Hope Ford doesn't too much of this letting designers negatively influence performance.

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