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VictorH

VictorH

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Maybe not the most elegant solution, for the chaffed wires, but I think this is going to work. Just needs a little paint now.
Sorry, not sure why the picture loaded sideways, it's normal in the photo gallery.

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Kermut

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Is this "notchy under 1k miles" a Mustang thing? Or Tremec thing? I have driven quite a few cars (not sport ones though) which were new (few I owned, many rented) and never had a problem with a manual right from the start, in any climate or condition. Only European brands though (VW, Skoda, Mercedes, Seat, Peugeot, Renault, Citroen, Fiat).
I wouldn't call it a 'problem'. I've owned 4 MT cars now, 3 new (Honda/Mazda/Ford), and all 3 have required some mileage for the transmission and clutch to be 'worn in'. Really it's NBD and I wouldn't worry about it.
 
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VictorH

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Can confirm the rear notches for active exhaust work and provide plenty of room for the wiring harness with no chance of rubbing.
Haven't driven my car much due to numerous issues, not car related, but drove my car a couple hundred miles this past weekend.
Though I have stripe and badge delete, so the car looks more like a sleeper, it still seems to attract attention of folks who maybe just hear the exhaust and want to show you have fast their car is. I have no interest in any street racing so always let them go. However, having come from a BMW M3, I have to say the Mach 1 is so much more fun to drive. Just more engaging, motor sounds great and having a manual trans again is really fun. Still wish the gas tank were bigger but that's life. The overall ride quality is excellent and handling on the street is really nice. Can't complain at all. Hoping to see some track use in April at the latest but might see if I can find a March event.
Overall, a great choice of car for the enthusiast.
 

aham23

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Just back from a 2,200 mile round trip to Granger Ford to pick up 2021 Mach 1 (700A+ Handling Package as only options). A few comments about both.



Granger Ford- Discovered them on this forum. As has been outlined by many, their customer service is excellent. Best price on the car I could find, excellent communication, complete follow-through and super easy transaction. I have purchased cars from Toyota, Honda, VW and BMW and this was by far the best dealer Iā€™ve had the experience to deal with. Really, you canā€™t go wrong, only issue I had, not dealer related, was the production delay. Ordered March 8th, picked up November 12, 2021. The whole crew is outstanding from sales, to finance to delivery. Canā€™t recommend them highly enough. If I buy another Ford product, it will be through Granger (the new Ford Bronco looks pretty cool BTW).



Mach 1 ā€“ Just some observations and comparisons. I have a few hundred miles on both 50th anniversary Mustang GT with PP and Roush supercharger and 2017 GT350.

  • Oh my gosh, super darty! I think itā€™s a combination of perhaps the factory alignment and the super-wide Cup2 tires. The straight-line stability is very poor and the tramlining is really impressive. Firstly alignment, I do my own alignments and know how a given set up feels, in general, if I had to guess, Iā€™d say the front end is either completely neutral (i.e. no toe at all) or maybe just a bit toe-out. Car requires a lot of mending and tending on the freeway, thereā€™s really not much straight-line stability at all. Also, the tramlining is something else. If a groove or channel comes across your lane and youā€™re not paying attention, the car can move over Ā½ a lane in an instant. Similarly, a series of bumps are like running through a puddle in any other car, the car will pull over toward the series of bumps. I think this is completely tunable and can be largely or completely removed with alignment, though the tires might need to go too.
  • CONFIRMED, FRONT ALIGNMENT WAAY OUT. FRONT TOE IS 1/8" OUT, SHOULD BE JUST SLIGHTLY TOE IN. THAT WOULD BE 90% OF THE FREEWAY INSTABILITY.
  • Michelin Cup2 tires- I have run these tires on the GT350 and a BMW. These tires do not like concrete freeways at all. Super noisy, and for some reason the tramlining is worse on concrete than asphalt. Needless to say, the grip on the street is much more than youā€™ll ever use. Thereā€™s a section of I-40 between Knoxville and Asheville that has a 20-mile section of flowing corners and they are absolutely effortless at much more than the posted limit. Again, I think that maybe some of the dartryness might be the size of tire but the GT350 had the same sizes (aftermarket wheels) front and 325ā€™s on back and it wasnā€™t like this at all. They are a track tire and I like them on track so hard to fault them for street when thatā€™s not really their best environment.
  • Standard heated and cooled seats ā€“ Excellent! I drove 1,100 miles yesterday, stopping only for gas and rest areas, no driver changes because my wife doesnā€™t drive manual trans. The seats for long trips are really good! They donā€™t have a huge amount of adjustment, but for my body they are super comfortable, supportive and just all-around really nice. Used the heating function which is super effective too. Didnā€™t op for Recaros for this reason, itā€™s mostly my daily driver and some track use, not the other way around so standard seats made more sense.
  • Motor- What can I say, the Coyote is an excellent platform. Super tractable, pulls from 1,000 rpm at low throttle (got stuck in some traffic due to an accident), nice bottom end torque and really sounds excellent at low speeds. I know everyone loves the sound of a flat plane crank of the GT350, I think itā€™s nice, but I donā€™t think itā€™s ā€œbetterā€ itā€™s just different. You ever hear a Can-AM car from the 1960s run? They are cross plane and sound amazing. To each his own, but the motor and exhaust are a really nice combination. Thereā€™s absolutely no drone at freeway speeds whatsoever. Also, I donā€™t need to hear 90 db of engine and exhaust sounds at freeways speeds so its easy to talk on the freeway and nice and quiet. 6th gear in the Tremec is a really good freeway gear. Checked my mileage once and on that tank averaged 20.5 mpg at average of 75 mph (by odometer and pump reading, trip computer said 21.5 mpg).
  • The gas tank must be TINY! I have in-laws in Des Moines so Iā€™ve made the trip, by car, many times. Iā€™ve never had to stop so many times for gas. I would run the car down to below 1/4, sometimes to reserve, ā€œyou have 50 miles of rangeā€ or a bit less and never once did I tank up more than 14.0 gallons. Whatā€™s up with that? Range is not really much at all. 300 miles and youā€™re really pushing it, unless you really run it down to fumes. At one station in Asheville, was hoping to be my last stop, the gas pump is level but the station is on a hill. So parked the car, nose pointing up and car leaning toward the driverā€™s side. Couldnā€™t get it to take more than 5 gallons (Iā€™m at the less than 50 miles warning) and didnā€™t want to move the car so, that meant another gas stop later down the road. Probably should have figured that would be a problem but was hoping maybe 8-10 gallons would go in, no luck.
  • Suspension MagnaRide- Iā€™m a track guy so suspensions are more important to me than motors but obviously both are important. The ride is firm as I like it, but itā€™s also super compliant. No complaints whatsoever. Cornering is super flat and itā€™s really set up for handling. Car will need more camber front and back for track use, and probably a bit of Toe-In as mentioned above. I would be inclined to lower the car just a bit, but I worry Iā€™ll drag on driveways, entrances and of course smash the front splitter on curbs much sooner than I otherwise would. A bit undecided about that, I went up some steep transitions at gas stations and didnā€™t rub once so happy about that.
  • Tremec 6-speed- Super nice! When new, especially when cold itā€™s a bit clunky, however if you let the trans ā€œbreatheā€ between shifts (just take a little pause) it will engage the gears completely smoothly. Same is true when warm, but you can shift a bit more quickly. I think it will wear in and smooth out, as when you shift real quickly, it doesnā€™t like that, right now, but I think with more miles it will get better. Shifter is really nice, direct, solid engagement, really if youā€™re paying attention you shouldnā€™t ever miss a gear. The only issue I had is sometimes, hot or cold, engaging reverse can be a bit difficult. At those times would move shifter into first, then second, then try reverse, not sure that really helped but it would eventually go in. I donā€™t like having to use a lot of force to get anything into gear, but again might just be a ā€œitā€™s newā€ factor. Also, the clutch is really good too. Engagement is really easy, consistent and smooth. Wouldnā€™t change a thing with that either.
  • Steering feel- Well, like lots of new cars the steering is a bit ā€œnumb.ā€ Donā€™t really feel the road surface through the steering wheel at all. It will probably be better at the track, but for around town itā€™s fine. I can feel the motor idling through the shifter which I like. I like to feel that same vibration through the steering wheel too, which tells me, Iā€™m connected to the rest of the drive train. Not a huge shortcoming, it is what it is, but the overall precision and lineararity of the steering input is fine.
Those are my initial impressions over the first 1,200 miles on the car. Looking forward to a bunch more. As above, the car purchasing experience was excellent and the first big trip was a great experience. Canā€™t wait to get the car on-track to try the environment it was really designed for. Hope this is useful for some of you who might be sitting on the fence.

image_6487327-2.JPG
so what are your thoughts comparing the M1 to your 17 GT350? would love to hear them from a perspective of what you would do if shopping now and these were the two choices. say the M1 and a lightly used 19 GT350. much thanks.
 

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VictorH

VictorH

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so what are your thoughts comparing the M1 to your 17 GT350? would love to hear them from a perspective of what you would do if shopping now and these were the two choices. say the M1 and a lightly used 19 GT350. much thanks.
The GT350 was my neighbors but I got plenty of miles behind the wheel.. I think the first part is to your question is really, what is the purpose of the car (mostly street or mostly track)? However, having said that, I think the Mach 1 is an overall, superior car. Technology marches on and the Mach 1 is evidence of that.
So, the GT350 has a nice motor but I don't think the flat plane crank is the end-all. That motor doesn't have that much bottom end torque, consequently, it's not that great on the street. Also, it vibrates much more than cross-plane crank V-8 engines. It is very fun on track but if you're going to run it to 8 grand every shift you will see some really impressive fuel consumption. Sure, no one cares about mpg at the track but there's a nuisance factor as you will be getting gas every 2 sessions (particularly if running 30 min per) if you want to avoid running out of gas.
The Mach 1 has a somewhat (I have HP) more compliant suspension, tires I'm pretty sure are about the same size so same issue with tramlining. It's just a quieter, more refined, nicer car. Road feel through the steering wheel, though not great in either car is slightly better in the GT350. GT350 in theory has better brakes but the one time we had to change front pads at the track that was a bear (caliper has to be removed and it's huge), Mach 1 changes out the top, much simpler. I run track pads and PFC rotors all around which is plenty for what I need.

I had the option to buy the 2017 GT350 with extra track wheels, a complete spare brake caliper and rotor set and other spares for the same cost as what the new Mach 1 cost me with full factory warranty. If I had to do it again, I would buy the Mach 1. I was coming from a E90 M3 (this one had the V-8, also a high-rpm, low torque motor) and I still like the Mach 1 better. My car is 90% street and 10% track. I go to 3-6 track events per year. Now if you are a real track junkie and go 10+ times to the track per year, then by all means get the GT350.
 

willymo72

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I liked the e90 m3 comparison vs the Mach 1, as i've been cross shopping b/w the two a lot, as they both offer what i'm seeking in terms of a NA V8 rwd manual experience. I worry about the mach 1 being a little too heavy, can you comment on the weight difference b/w the two and impact to the driving experience? On the flipside, E9x M3s are now going for redic prices, which makes them less appealing, plus they're simply getting older now, and I'm not interested in saving 5-10k for BMW maintenance items, not to mention the rod bearings..
 

melwff

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I liked the e90 m3 comparison vs the Mach 1, as i've been cross shopping b/w the two a lot, as they both offer what i'm seeking in terms of a NA V8 rwd manual experience. I worry about the mach 1 being a little too heavy, can you comment on the weight difference b/w the two and impact to the driving experience? On the flipside, E9x M3s are now going for redic prices, which makes them less appealing, plus they're simply getting older now, and I'm not interested in saving 5-10k for BMW maintenance items, not to mention the rod bearings..
Looked at your previous post. You have priority 19, customer order should be 10. Tell them to change it.
 
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VictorH

VictorH

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I liked the e90 m3 comparison vs the Mach 1, as i've been cross shopping b/w the two a lot, as they both offer what i'm seeking in terms of a NA V8 rwd manual experience. I worry about the mach 1 being a little too heavy, can you comment on the weight difference b/w the two and impact to the driving experience? On the flipside, E9x M3s are now going for redic prices, which makes them less appealing, plus they're simply getting older now, and I'm not interested in saving 5-10k for BMW maintenance items, not to mention the rod bearings..
The BMW is a really nice car. I suspect you are like me and prefer a really good naturally aspirated engine compared to forced induction. The problem now is the E90 is getting to be a pretty old car. The real problem though, which is why I decided it was time to change is there's still a lot of computer and electronic things to go wrong over time. For some reason my MDM button stopped working. Never used it except in the rain, on track, then my bluetooth would only synch my phone for one drive or so and would then drop it.
From a weight perspective they are not too different. My BMW was 3750 or so, last time I weighed it and though I haven't weighed my Mach 1 yet, I think it's only going to be 100 to 150 pounds more. Not enough to tell a difference. Now if one of the cars was 3200-3300 pounds then you can really feel the difference. I really like the M1 better now, a big part is I really like the manual trans compared to the DCT automatic.
The other reason I like the Ford is it's so much easier to work on. I did my own rod bearings, throttle actuators, idle control valve, had to so the starter once, these are all big multi-hour jobs because you always have to remove a buttload of items that are on top of the thing you want to remove. Plus cost of BMW OEM parts is crazy, and probably worse now then when I had mine.
They are both very nice cars, I wouldn't fault you for choosing a really nice low-mile M3, they are great cars, very neutral, fun engine (with very little bottom-end torque), somewhat nicer interior, but oddly though I thought the BMW seats were really good, the Mustang seats are better (at least for my body). From a track perspective the Mach 1 is running 3-4 seconds per lap at VIR faster than my M3 did with aftermarket suspension and the same tires (Cup2). However, in the rain, on track, the E90 M3 is superior by a pretty wide margin. You really can't go wrong, they are both great cars and I've been fortunate to own both.
 

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Really like the de-striped look and those wheels are great
 

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Nice!! Makes me feel better about my plan. Im going to de stripe mine, take the hood graphic off, and debadge the sides as well. May leave the Mach 1 on the back cause i think it looks ok as a theme with the front pony and exhaust tips.
 

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I had the PPF done locally in Iowa before the drive. They did entire front, hood, fenders, bumper, rockers front to back and then had side windows and rear window tinted. Overall, excellent work. I had seen their work on a prior trip and thought I'd just have it done before the trip.

See above, the reason for the unsteady freeway tracking is that the car came with 1/8" TOE OUT. Makes the car really unstable. Factory alignment should be just a bit toe in.
Beautiful car! What (Granger) local shop did you go with for the PPF?
 

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Just back from a 2,200 mile round trip to Granger Ford to pick up 2021 Mach 1 (700A+ Handling Package as only options). A few comments about both.



Granger Ford- Discovered them on this forum. As has been outlined by many, their customer service is excellent. Best price on the car I could find, excellent communication, complete follow-through and super easy transaction. I have purchased cars from Toyota, Honda, VW and BMW and this was by far the best dealer Iā€™ve had the experience to deal with. Really, you canā€™t go wrong, only issue I had, not dealer related, was the production delay. Ordered March 8th, picked up November 12, 2021. The whole crew is outstanding from sales, to finance to delivery. Canā€™t recommend them highly enough. If I buy another Ford product, it will be through Granger (the new Ford Bronco looks pretty cool BTW).



Mach 1 ā€“ Just some observations and comparisons. I have a few hundred miles on both 50th anniversary Mustang GT with PP and Roush supercharger and 2017 GT350.

  • Oh my gosh, super darty! I think itā€™s a combination of perhaps the factory alignment and the super-wide Cup2 tires. The straight-line stability is very poor and the tramlining is really impressive. Firstly alignment, I do my own alignments and know how a given set up feels, in general, if I had to guess, Iā€™d say the front end is either completely neutral (i.e. no toe at all) or maybe just a bit toe-out. Car requires a lot of mending and tending on the freeway, thereā€™s really not much straight-line stability at all. Also, the tramlining is something else. If a groove or channel comes across your lane and youā€™re not paying attention, the car can move over Ā½ a lane in an instant. Similarly, a series of bumps are like running through a puddle in any other car, the car will pull over toward the series of bumps. I think this is completely tunable and can be largely or completely removed with alignment, though the tires might need to go too.
  • CONFIRMED, FRONT ALIGNMENT WAAY OUT. FRONT TOE IS 1/8" OUT, SHOULD BE JUST SLIGHTLY TOE IN. THAT WOULD BE 90% OF THE FREEWAY INSTABILITY.
  • Michelin Cup2 tires- I have run these tires on the GT350 and a BMW. These tires do not like concrete freeways at all. Super noisy, and for some reason the tramlining is worse on concrete than asphalt. Needless to say, the grip on the street is much more than youā€™ll ever use. Thereā€™s a section of I-40 between Knoxville and Asheville that has a 20-mile section of flowing corners and they are absolutely effortless at much more than the posted limit. Again, I think that maybe some of the dartryness might be the size of tire but the GT350 had the same sizes (aftermarket wheels) front and 325ā€™s on back and it wasnā€™t like this at all. They are a track tire and I like them on track so hard to fault them for street when thatā€™s not really their best environment.
  • Standard heated and cooled seats ā€“ Excellent! I drove 1,100 miles yesterday, stopping only for gas and rest areas, no driver changes because my wife doesnā€™t drive manual trans. The seats for long trips are really good! They donā€™t have a huge amount of adjustment, but for my body they are super comfortable, supportive and just all-around really nice. Used the heating function which is super effective too. Didnā€™t op for Recaros for this reason, itā€™s mostly my daily driver and some track use, not the other way around so standard seats made more sense.
  • Motor- What can I say, the Coyote is an excellent platform. Super tractable, pulls from 1,000 rpm at low throttle (got stuck in some traffic due to an accident), nice bottom end torque and really sounds excellent at low speeds. I know everyone loves the sound of a flat plane crank of the GT350, I think itā€™s nice, but I donā€™t think itā€™s ā€œbetterā€ itā€™s just different. You ever hear a Can-AM car from the 1960s run? They are cross plane and sound amazing. To each his own, but the motor and exhaust are a really nice combination. Thereā€™s absolutely no drone at freeway speeds whatsoever. Also, I donā€™t need to hear 90 db of engine and exhaust sounds at freeways speeds so its easy to talk on the freeway and nice and quiet. 6th gear in the Tremec is a really good freeway gear. Checked my mileage once and on that tank averaged 20.5 mpg at average of 75 mph (by odometer and pump reading, trip computer said 21.5 mpg).
  • The gas tank must be TINY! I have in-laws in Des Moines so Iā€™ve made the trip, by car, many times. Iā€™ve never had to stop so many times for gas. I would run the car down to below 1/4, sometimes to reserve, ā€œyou have 50 miles of rangeā€ or a bit less and never once did I tank up more than 14.0 gallons. Whatā€™s up with that? Range is not really much at all. 300 miles and youā€™re really pushing it, unless you really run it down to fumes. At one station in Asheville, was hoping to be my last stop, the gas pump is level but the station is on a hill. So parked the car, nose pointing up and car leaning toward the driverā€™s side. Couldnā€™t get it to take more than 5 gallons (Iā€™m at the less than 50 miles warning) and didnā€™t want to move the car so, that meant another gas stop later down the road. Probably should have figured that would be a problem but was hoping maybe 8-10 gallons would go in, no luck.
  • Suspension MagnaRide- Iā€™m a track guy so suspensions are more important to me than motors but obviously both are important. The ride is firm as I like it, but itā€™s also super compliant. No complaints whatsoever. Cornering is super flat and itā€™s really set up for handling. Car will need more camber front and back for track use, and probably a bit of Toe-In as mentioned above. I would be inclined to lower the car just a bit, but I worry Iā€™ll drag on driveways, entrances and of course smash the front splitter on curbs much sooner than I otherwise would. A bit undecided about that, I went up some steep transitions at gas stations and didnā€™t rub once so happy about that.
  • Tremec 6-speed- Super nice! When new, especially when cold itā€™s a bit clunky, however if you let the trans ā€œbreatheā€ between shifts (just take a little pause) it will engage the gears completely smoothly. Same is true when warm, but you can shift a bit more quickly. I think it will wear in and smooth out, as when you shift real quickly, it doesnā€™t like that, right now, but I think with more miles it will get better. Shifter is really nice, direct, solid engagement, really if youā€™re paying attention you shouldnā€™t ever miss a gear. The only issue I had is sometimes, hot or cold, engaging reverse can be a bit difficult. At those times would move shifter into first, then second, then try reverse, not sure that really helped but it would eventually go in. I donā€™t like having to use a lot of force to get anything into gear, but again might just be a ā€œitā€™s newā€ factor. Also, the clutch is really good too. Engagement is really easy, consistent and smooth. Wouldnā€™t change a thing with that either.
  • Steering feel- Well, like lots of new cars the steering is a bit ā€œnumb.ā€ Donā€™t really feel the road surface through the steering wheel at all. It will probably be better at the track, but for around town itā€™s fine. I can feel the motor idling through the shifter which I like. I like to feel that same vibration through the steering wheel too, which tells me, Iā€™m connected to the rest of the drive train. Not a huge shortcoming, it is what it is, but the overall precision and lineararity of the steering input is fine.
Those are my initial impressions over the first 1,200 miles on the car. Looking forward to a bunch more. As above, the car purchasing experience was excellent and the first big trip was a great experience. Canā€™t wait to get the car on-track to try the environment it was really designed for. Hope this is useful for some of you who might be sitting on the fence.

image_6487327-2.JPG
Looks really nice without the stripes. I have the same issue in mine getting into reverse but it does seem to be getting better.
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