Platform images

[PremiumT]

This is an interesting question. I'm not sure it has been answered definitively whether the S550 would be on a global or regional platform?

Someone put on Wikipedia (the definitive infallible word on everything) that the S550 will be on a regional platform. Of course no sources are cited.

By 2014 Ford Motor Company will have all of its vehicles on its new global platforms. Doing this will cut costs by 20%. Only Ford and Lincoln will use these platforms. No other brands that Ford previously owned such as Mazda or Volvo. There are 5 Global Platforms and 4 Regional platforms. The regional platforms are only sold in some continents and not others.

These platforms are:

B compact- (Global) Fiesta/Ecosport/B-Max/Ka/Transit-Courier
C compact- (Global) Focus/Escape-Kuga/Transit-Connect/C-Max/Grand-C-Max
Mid-full size- (Global) Fusion-Mondeo/Edge/S-Max/Galaxy
Light truck- (Global [Not North America]) Ranger/Everest
Commercial- (Global) Transit-1-ton/Transit-2-ton

Regional
D4-Explorer/Flex/Taurus (North America, Asia, Africa)
Full Truck-F-150/Expedition/Super-Duty/F-650/F-750 (North America)
S550-Mustang/Falcon/Territory (North America, Europe, Asia, Australia)
Sub-B- Ikon/Figo/Rocam (Asia, Europe, South America)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ford_platforms


Of course this doesnt mean that the S550's platform isn't going to be sharing some CD4 parts but for all intents and purposes for Ford internal and the way it markets the S550, it would remain a separate regional platform.

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[thePill]

This is an interesting question. I'm not sure it has been answered definitively whether the S550 would be on a global or regional platform?

Someone put on Wikipedia (the definitive infallible word on everything) that the S550 will be on a regional platform. Of course no sources are cited.

By 2014 Ford Motor Company will have all of its vehicles on its new global platforms. Doing this will cut costs by 20%. Only Ford and Lincoln will use these platforms. No other brands that Ford previously owned such as Mazda or Volvo. There are 5 Global Platforms and 4 Regional platforms. The regional platforms are only sold in some continents and not others.

These platforms are:

B compact- (Global) Fiesta/Ecosport/B-Max/Ka/Transit-Courier
C compact- (Global) Focus/Escape-Kuga/Transit-Connect/C-Max/Grand-C-Max
Mid-full size- (Global) Fusion-Mondeo/Edge/S-Max/Galaxy
Light truck- (Global [Not North America]) Ranger/Everest
Commercial- (Global) Transit-1-ton/Transit-2-ton

Regional
D4-Explorer/Flex/Taurus (North America, Asia, Africa)
Full Truck-F-150/Expedition/Super-Duty/F-650/F-750 (North America)
S550-Mustang/Falcon/Territory (North America, Europe, Asia, Australia)
Sub-B- Ikon/Figo/Rocam (Asia, Europe, South America)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ford_platforms


Of course this doesnt mean that the S550's platform isn't going to be sharing some CD4 parts but for all intents and purposes for Ford internal and the way it markets the S550, it would remain a separate regional platform.

I was just on Wiki Ford Platforms the other day and the Regional S550 wasn't listed...

 

[Prodigy]

I wonder where this info is coming from...

You gotta think if the Mustang stays on a regional platform it's more arguable that it will be some kind of revised S197. Unless there are plans in the future to use it as a global platform (Lincoln?) it just doesn't seem to make a lot of sense to do a clean sheet redesign at this point.

 

[JohnZiraldo]

You know, we keep talking about a 'clean sheet' platform like it is some kind of utopian dream. I'll bet it's more along the line of a new battle plan, where as they say in the military, a battle plan never survives initial contact with the enemy. Every plan gets updated.

I wonder how many clean sheet platforms made it to a championship without revisions, or how many clean sheet platforms didn't get revised before being used on a second product.

 

[Red]

Not much to say lately, but I'd like to thank Pill for his efforsts here and in the "CD4 Chassis School" thread. I find them both very interesting.

 

[shelby1k]

Second that. You guys put a lot of work into this and its very informative stuff.

As for the regional/global platform, isn't that a mostly economic distinction based on how many continents it sells in and how much % of parts the cars sold in each region use in common?

Then again, it could just be that enough changes were made to CD4 that they are calling it a separate platform that, as we know, will only be offered in a few regions. Hopefully this means there won't be any major differences in the global versions vs the domestic one.

 

[WestRace]

The lower strut mount seems to suggest more of a upper-lower control arm type? I think one advantage is lower center of gravity, although Mc Strut gives you more feel?

 

[CoyoteMan]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but this whole global/regional platform distinction comes down to whether the S550 is being developed under the One Ford strategy which includes One Ford compliance to meet European pedestrian safety standards, LHD/RHD production, etc. The decision to officially offer it in those parts of the world should indicate Ford's intent to make this a global platform since compliance with overseas regulations will increase costs -- they need to leverage as many markets as possible to justify its development. This means expanding the production of the platform to other opportunities and vehicles.... which we all know could mean Lincoln... and other parts of Asia.

This doesn't mean it will be built off CD4 necessarily but I would expect it has to be more than just a simple evolution of the current platform.

 

[Tempus]

Sounds about right to me. If Ford had no plans for it to be built on a global platform it may not have gone through the trouble of RHD/LHD application and getting it certified/compliant with European, Aussie and Asian regulations. They could continue to be offered through the import channels it is now.

One thing is it only makes sense if they plan to build other global vehicles on it. If the Mustang was built on a variant of CD4, you would have to assume a Lincoln sports coupe would have to be built on it too ..... is CD4 really capable of supporting that many different vehicles?

To me, it will speak to how serious Ford is about not only Mustang, but Lincoln to see if the S550 is a separate platform developed purely for the sports car class.

 

[S550Boss]

This is an S550:

This is a CD4:

Relationship? ZERO.

 

[S550Boss]

This is an S550:

This is an S197:

Relationship: simple evolution.

Folks: it's time to stop getting over pride and to stop confusing the issue.

 

[Prodigy]

You can tell the whole platform is a simple evolution just by looking at the engine bay??

Also, there's more to a platform than the way the engines are mounted. If the car were to share a floorpan would you still say it has ZERO relationship?

 

[S550Boss]

It shares a floorpan with a Lincoln LS, as well as hard points, so yes they have a relationship.

The engine compartment is the most complicated part of the design. And it is not a coincidence that the inner fender aprons of the S550 line up exactly with the S197 fenders. Building these mules was very easy to do.

 

[let me ride]

It sounds like you're saying the S550 will be more like the DEW98 since the D2C basically carried over most of its components except the double wishbone independent suspension, firewall, roof structure and rear frame rail.

Despite being built for RWD, isn't it true however that the DEW98 shared some components with Ford's FWD/AWD C1 platform so it's not all that hard to believe that some sharing could be done with the S550 and CD4.

 

[S550Boss]

This is the left front side of the engine compartment of the S550, showing the new inner fender liners (swept back to accommodate the Evos-language headlamps), and the resulting change to the fuse box (still in the same location).

Much has been made about the "lower" strut tower height. As you can see in the next pic, it isn't by much. The hood height is all but the same. Also note the engine location - it's identical. Not lower, not moved, and the distance between the strut towers is identical. "Rumors" that this means the Shelby engine can't fit are wrong, since that engine requires no more than a slightly higher hood bulge for clearance.

Here's the S197 from roughly the same view (sorry for the poor color, all I have to photograph was a white Boss and white doesn't show up well).

With more room up front due to the different headlamps, there is more room for the fuse box. But otherwise it's a simple evolution of the same engine compartment. The S550 engine compartment has some trim over the battery, and I made the point in my previous article that I felt this was trim work (and will help cover up the differences that will come a year later once both right- and left-hand drive models are being built). Everything else under the hood is in the same place.

Now here is a CD4, a Fusion.

Every single thing under this hood is different - the engine obviously transverse, the engine compartment much short, the strut tower entirely different (height, location, etc), the room between the strut towers. This is a CD4, not an S550, and there is zero relationship here between the two.

And, another major different: the Fusion steering rack is on the firewall, and it's a "rear-steer" suspension geometry. The Mustangs is ahead of the engine. It couldn't be more different architecturally.

Furthermore, if you were to measure the distance between the front wheel center and the firewall, you'd see (like any FWD compared to RWD), it is entirely different, zero relationship. So, the S550 isn't a "CD4 with a new clip" as somebody absurdly suggested, it's 100% entirely different and unrelated.

Not to repeat what I said before (http://www.drivingenthusiast.net/sec-blog/?p=15161) but the S197 and S550 engine compartment are very clearly father and son.

And in my other article (http://www.drivingenthusiast.net/sec-blog/?p=16207), where I measured the spy photos and found out that the wheelbases are identical (if there is a tenth or two difference, it's from suspension geometry), just further supports my proposition that the S550 is just an evolved S197. Not a popular point to make with the dreamers, but every single fact adds up to this.

And there is more (next post).

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