Finally was able to see the new GT in person but So Disappointed. READ BELOW

[Chlocli]

Checking fitment tolerances shouldn't be an eyeball test. Don't they have instruments and gauges for body panel gaps?

Maybe Ford needs to hire this guy:

http://www.autonews.com/article/20080623/ANE03/46594339/meet-the-meticulous-mr.-schmitt

I thought Ford/GM/Chrysler have always been known for having less strict QC. Before driving off from the dealer lot every buyer needs to closely examine the car in broad daylight. Of course you cannot be too nit-picky, otherwise you will never buy anything.

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[OppoLock]

Perhaps those sizes are entirely adequate for most drivers. But that doesn't make the car competitive with the 1LE, and it shows. In addition, the 1LE enjoys a 1" wheel width advantage over the GT/PP up front and 1.5" out back.

How do you suppose a GT with 245-wide tires on 8" wide rims would fare against the GT/PP out on a road course?


Anybody who has done much autocrossing or any track driving will tell you that heavy cars need as much rubber under them as you can fit. But don't just take my word for it, Check out Terry Fair's S197 build-up on the forum on Vorshlag's own site or the thread over on S197Forum.com.

The logic for a "square" tire size setup should be as plain as the nose on your own face - the heavy end of the car needs at least as much tire as the light end, particularly given that the heavy end is the end that starts making the cornering happen. Square wheel widths are the next step - none of the Camaros are there yet, but you might be interested to note that the most heavily road course focussed one in the bunch (Z/28) has the smallest difference between front and rear wheel width.

Staggered tire sizes for a normally aspirated road course track car are really a backward step for the sake of what somebody who doesn't understand cornering thinks makes a good appearance. This doesn't work when the front tires have to do at least as much cornering work as the rear tires. A small front tire car inherently wants to run with more front slip angle, which is just another way of saying heavier understeer. Small here being relative to rear tire size, not to some fixed-width external reference or opinion based on how wide a tire size sounds when you say it out loud.

Yes, you can play games with front vs rear roll stiffness in an attempt to drag a staggered tire setup closer to neutral. But stop and think - you're trying to balance an understeer tire condition with "looser" suspension tuning, which is a lot of extra (and to my mind unnecessary and possibly counterprodutive) work. Size the tires to the work they need to do first. Then do your fine tuning. It's inherently a cleaner approach.


Truth be told, even the 1LE left some front wheel width on the table. Like about an inch. Low hanging fruit, and for that my money already is where my keypunching tonight is.


Norm

Of course a square setup is popular with cone dodgers and HPDE die hards; that doesn't normalize the availability of boxed setups on performance oriented production cars. When you're auto-X'ing and relying on the front nose the entire time, of course the additional rubber helps. That doesn't mean it's an optimal or even ideal solution for a road going, street-focused car.

There's a huge number of OEM cars running staggered setups (with much larger discrepancies than the GTPP's) that have high overall grip levels and neutral cornering behaviors. Square setups are not ideal for daily drivers, the negatives don't make sense for someone that doesn't live next to a track b

 

[OppoLock]

It's clear as day in the MT head to head video that the GT PP needs increased rates in all aspects to keep the body in check. With the nose and ass inline, it would do worlds better.

 

[POOPonYOU]

I saw an EB today and noticed a gap between the bumper and passenger side rear panel.

 

[Obie]

I test drove one today, around 30+ miles...the hood was at least 1/4" lower than the front grill shroud above the pony..

This is the ONLY reason I went with a black one. I hate black cars, but, I'm also a bit OCD, so if I had to look at a misaligned hood like this one, I'd go a little nuts.

 

[STAMPEDE]

This is the ONLY reason I went with a black one. I hate black cars, but, I'm also a bit OCD, so if I had to look at a misaligned hood like this one, I'd go a little nuts.

This kind of poor fitment is unacceptable and if Ford thinks the Europeans they are desperately trying to attract will tolerate this kind of stuff, they are in for a rude awakening.

Come on assembly guys and girls, put some pride in your work and make us proud! :ford:

 

[FelixGER]

Yep, I´m more than a little shocked about those pictures, especially this hood/grill issue.
I preordered a Mustang GT (just means I´m first in line when we are finally able to order) but if they don´t improve this, plus all those other downsides with the European version...I must take a closer look at the M235i with a tune (380 hp).

 

[Mustang Convert]

Thanks for the nightmare material. Just woke up from a bad dream about taking delivery of my car and there were massive panel gaps, huge paint runs down the sides, and big chips of paint peeling off. I was so embarrassed to drive it around. And to top it off, it had My Little Pony projection lights instead of the galloping Mustang.

 

[OHV_44]

I must take a closer look at the M235i with a tune (380 hp).

but this look will cost you easily 46k€ and more. :shocked:

 

[volsfan0911]

.... And to top it off, it had My Little Pony projection lights instead of the galloping Mustang.

:lol:

 

[jeebuspwnz]

The one I drove last week had very even panel gaps. I was pretty anal when walking around it to see because that's something I can't stand.

 

[MixTape]

I test drove one today, around 30+ miles...the hood was at least 1/4" lower than the front grill shroud above the pony..

I think now more than ever is when we need to take into account that these are build 1 cars more likely than not. As they build more cars they will likely have less issues, and I'm sure if there are some grave issues with gaps the dealer can call that a quality issue and fix some of it. If my Mustang comes in with a hood maligned I'm going to ask them to get it fixed because it's clearly a mfg issue.
Granted most of the gap issues won't be as noticeable on a Guard Mustang

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