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Forbes interviews chief engineer Dave Pericak

Devon

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There's a very interesting interview here with Dave Pericak. Great comments on the handling I haven't seen elsewhere:
When you set the car up to go into a turn, it’s almost like anticipating what you’re going to do, that’s how it feels. The car almost goes, “Oh yeah, I know exactly what you want.” And if you ask for more, she gives you more. When you’re rolling out through a hairpin turn or whatever, it’s amazing. You come through the hairpin and you can just stomp on it and she rockets out of the turn, whereas with the Boss or any of those other Mustangs, you go through that and you stomp on it and the back end’s going to move a little bit. Not on this one, you can just lay it down and go.
V6 vs. EB:
From an overall performance standpoint, the EcoBoost is going to build torque a lot faster and it’s got a stronger torque curve overall. So you’re going to notice that you have a lot of good power and you have it quick. The V6 is a fantastic engine, but the EcoBoost allows us to really take that and amp it up. And so you will notice that it is more powerful and more responsive than a V6. And then your fuel economy is going to be a lot better. The V6 still being 300-plus horsepower, it’s still a great offering.
Ride comfort:
That’s where the biggest difference is going to be. The independent rear suspension allows us to improve primary and secondary ride significantly while still making the car perform a lot better. When you get in a current Boss 302 Mustang, you know that you’re sort of tied down and that this car means business. You’ll feel that in the new V8 with the Performance Pack, but you’ll have a very nice ride too. But when you want to go out on a track and push it, you’ll be able to do that. So it really allows the best of both worlds.
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That quote about the handling is very refreshing. Even with the new IRS, it's still my biggest concern... If I get a Mustang, I really don't want to say "damn, I miss the ST's handling" every time I drive it.
 

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Im glad to see he is passionate about the car..I feel you can tell the difference in true engineering happiness vs paid enthusiasm....I have my fingers crossed that this car is going to be every bit the hype its led up to be...
 

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Nice read. This just reinforces my concern about moving from a FR-S to a Mustang. I was never concerned about HP like most of the people on this forum seem to be, but I was concerned about handling ability. I know it wont handle as well as my FR-S, but it should be a good mix of HP, handling and comfort whereas my FR-S has superb handling but lacks HP and comfort.
 
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Nice read. This just reinforces my concern about moving from a FR-S to a Mustang. I was never concerned about HP like most of the people on this forum seem to be, but I was concerned about handling ability. I know it wont handle was well as my FR-S, but it should be a good mix of HP, handling and comfort whereas my FR-S has superb handling but lacks HP and comfort.
The Toyobaru twins - love 'em but their power is too low for them to be worth it for me at the moment based on a few test drives. I'll be comparing the new GT with the (hopefully more powerful) 016 mid-cycle refreshed twins. If the GT is up at 85%+ of the twins' handling and does not feel too big or have really poor sightlines I will be going that way. (I am also no fan of the internal or external engine sounds of the twins - no comparison to the GT!)
 

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Wasn't even an option for me... My legs couldn't fit under the steering wheel! (of the FR-S)
 

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Awesome article with some new tidbits I hadn't seen. I found this part interesting in how they decided to redesign from ground up.

Can you talk about the chassis? It’s all-new, right?
Yes it’s all new. So when we started out, because we’ve been consolidating our platforms across the globe, we looked at whether it was time now to take the Mustang and put it on another platform. We did a lot of study on that, and the answer was “No, we would have to compromise too much.” So all of our senior executives aligned around the fact that we will have this as a unique platform, which was a big deal as we’re trying to get our platform strategy down. And when we started out, we were not going to do an all-new platform. The design guys were coming up with great designs, but it was not a far enough departure from today’s car. So we had to free the constraints for the design. When we freed the constraints, half the car got torn up.

What does that mean, “free the constraints?”
So for instance, that whole dash and cowl area was going to be locked down, we weren’t moving that. The problem is, without changing that, we kept getting the look of today’s kind of car. So when we allowed them to move that A-pillar back, it tore up a lot in the underbody, but it really enabled them to get a beautiful design. And then when we decided we needed to tear up the front suspension to enhance and match the new independent rear suspension, that really tore up the whole front end, because we used to have rails with cross members in it, and now we have a full subframe up front. The whole front end is completely different. So there is not a piece of sheet metal on this car that is carryover from the previous. It’s an all-new platform.
 

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That quote about the handling is very refreshing. Even with the new IRS, it's still my biggest concern... If I get a Mustang, I really don't want to say "damn, I miss the ST's handling" every time I drive it.
It should be an improvement as far as stability and cornering behavior's concerned. Weight goes up 300 pounds, distribution shifts rearward 8% (FoST 60/40 to EB S550 52/48), and RWD opens up throttle adjustment.

It'll be a different experience, and the Focus ST is fun as hell. I almost wanted to buy one and ditch the wait for the Mustang. My buddy just bought an ST3 in Performance Blue, did some quick mods like a stage I COBB, catback, etc. So fun.
 

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Now I'm really even more excited for Motor Trend and all the other car mags to get in this thing and take it for a driving and performance review !! I'm waiting Randy Pobst and Carlos Lago for the hot laps !!!!
 

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It should be an improvement as far as stability and cornering behavior's concerned. Weight goes up 300 pounds, distribution shifts rearward 8% (FoST 60/40 to EB S550 52/48), and RWD opens up throttle adjustment.

It'll be a different experience, and the Focus ST is fun as hell. I almost wanted to buy one and ditch the wait for the Mustang. My buddy just bought an ST3 in Performance Blue, did some quick mods like a stage I COBB, catback, etc. So fun.
My wife has an ST2, and while it's a ton of fun to drive, I think he's going to dig the Mustang a whole lot more.
 

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Nice read. This just reinforces my concern about moving from a FR-S to a Mustang. I was never concerned about HP like most of the people on this forum seem to be, but I was concerned about handling ability. I know it wont handle as well as my FR-S, but it should be a good mix of HP, handling and comfort whereas my FR-S has superb handling but lacks HP and comfort.
I think you are confusing handling ability with handling feel or the nimble feeling. The current Mustang pulled the same skidpad numbers per Car and Driver (Just did a quick cursory check on multiple models and options on their website, Mustang was quite comparable, and several times better depending on options). So I would not say flat out that it wont handle as well, but it will likely not feel the same.
 

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Tires are more of a reason the FRS did not do better. Just remember that :) they gave it slippery tires so it was more fun to drive. It is definitely way more capable skidpad wise with better summer tires. Mustang is a full 1000 lbs heavier, there will be a big difference in how they feel.
 

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I think you are confusing handling ability with handling feel or the nimble feeling. The current Mustang pulled the same skidpad numbers per Car and Driver (Just did a quick cursory check on multiple models and options on their website, Mustang was quite comparable, and several times better depending on options). So I would not say flat out that it wont handle as well, but it will likely not feel the same.
Well, numbers are kind of a headline for the main article when it comes to handling.
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