Platform images

[JohnZiraldo]

It is not CD4. Similar IRS, modified D5.

D5?

That's a new one.

I found D4 (Flex) and DN5 (Taurus) but no D5 yet.

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[SStormtrooPer]

It is not CD4. Similar IRS, modified D5.

What is D5? Being that "D" typically indicates "full size" in Ford's dictionary I find it hard to believe that is where they would put Mustang -- especially when their two biggest competitors are moving to smaller platforms due to their inherent advantages in weight and size categories.

That seems pretty sure to me, lol...

Nothing is certain until Ford tells us it is certain. "mister.peabodyjunior" seems to have insider info, but a lot of people have been making that claim with no proof.

Not saying it is incorrect info, just being careful.

 

[S550Boss]

So, are we actually for SURE that S550 isn't some far derivative of CD4 and not S197?

Easily. It's not even close to a CD4. Absolutely ridiculous that anybody could think a FWD car with a transverse engine could be made into a 600+ HP longitudinal engine Mustang.

Proof? It's all over all the images we've seen so far. Review all the previous posts and images and it'll line up exactly. Start with the mule, then go to the measurements discussion where so much is identical, even the wheelbase. The spy photogs and industry analysts have all said the same thing, and they do this for a living.

Pride/tribalism? It's getting in the way of the seeing the very simple evidence here. Sorry to puncture Mustang pride and insult some of the gang, but it's just an evolved S197. Yes, highly evolved. Which as discussed over and over many times in the past months is not necessarily a bad thing. The S197 is not evil, it's just stupid. It's not a perfect world, but it's not a bad thing.

Time to end this silly tangent... before the Camaro fan-boys start repeating that they will be competing against a Fusion. They'll have a field day with that silliness. And the Ford engineers will be wondering why they bother for such ignorant wanna-bes.

 

[likeaboss]

It is not CD4. Similar IRS, modified D5.

You have 2PMs from me.

 

[SStormtrooPer]

Easily. It's not even close to a CD4. Absolutely ridiculous that anybody could think a FWD car with a transverse engine could be made into a 600+ HP longitudinal engine Mustang.

Proof? It's all over all the images we've seen so far. Review all the previous posts and images and it'll line up exactly. Start with the mule, then go to the measurements discussion where so much is identical, even the wheelbase. The spy photogs and industry analysts have all said the same thing, and they do this for a living.

Pride/tribalism? It's getting in the way of the seeing the very simple evidence here. Sorry to puncture your pride and insult your gang, but it's just an evolved S197. Which as discussed over and over many times in the past months is not necessarily a bad thing. It's not a perfect world, but it's not a bad thing.

Time to end this silly tangent... before the Camaro fan-boys start repeating that they wil be competing against a Fusion. They'll have a field day with that silliness. And the Ford engineers will be wondering why they bother for such ignorant wanna-bes.

Hate to break it to you, but the possibility it is not CD4 does not automatically lend itself to fact that it is a modified S197. I don't think it is CD4 -- but I also don't think Ford is in the game of stretching dollars out of old technology for another 10 years.

You are acting like Ford only has or can create 2 platform options on to which they can build a car.

 

[Overboost]

Easily. It's not even close to a CD4. Absolutely ridiculous that anybody could think a FWD car with a transverse engine could be made into a 600+ HP longitudinal engine Mustang.

Proof? It's all over all the images we've seen so far. Review all the previous posts and images and it'll line up exactly. Start with the mule, then go to the measurements discussion where so much is identical, even the wheelbase. The spy photogs and industry analysts have all said the same thing, and they do this for a living.

Pride/tribalism? It's getting in the way of the seeing the very simple evidence here. Sorry to puncture your pride and insult your gang, but it's just an evolved S197. Which as discussed over and over many times in the past months is not necessarily a bad thing. It's not a perfect world, but it's not a bad thing.

Time to end this silly tangent... before the Camaro fan-boys start repeating that they wil be competing against a Fusion. They'll have a field day with that silliness. And the Ford engineers will be wondering why they bother for such ignorant wanna-bes.

Your blatant ignorance astounds me. No one said they were exactly the same. The comment was "CD4-derived". NO ONE in their right mind would think a transverse mounted 4-cylinder would also accommodate a longitudinally mounted V8.

There is more proof that the new car is a departure from S197 than anything else. The strut towers, the rear suspension, etc. have all shown quite a difference to what we're used to seeing.

 

[Tony Alonso]

And the Ford engineers will be wondering why they bother for such ignorant wanna-bes.

That's entertaining hyperbole. :lol:

 

[S550Boss]

You are acting like Ford only has or can create 2 platform options on to which they can build a car.

?

They have only 1 platform they can use to create a new Mustang... and that is the S197 + an as-yet-undisclosed sum of development funding. Those figures typically show up later in the launch cycle... we've seen them for the FOX, SN95 (itself just an evolved FOX), and the S197. I wouldn't be surprised if we don't see them this time - the dollar figures are certainly of competitive interest.

At the press launch of the SN95, we saw a cutaway body shell that was color coded as to which parts came directly from the FOX, which were modified, and which were new. Keep in mind the SN95 is so close to the FOX that many major parts interchange.... you can even bolt the entire dashboard up fairly easily (and oddly you can put an S197 dash into a SN95 if you want to as well). I suspect this cutaway shell was something that engineering was using that somebody decided would be cool to show in the launch. I need to find that picture I have of it one of these days.

I'm not sure that showing it was in Ford's best competitive interest... especially given how antiquated and wretched the FOX platform was by then. Although it was interesting technically to show it. The story of why and how the FOX got evolved into the SN95 is a lot of bad news about cutbacks, mixed up product planning, internal politics, and corporate culture. It's so typical that it is very similar to the dumbing down of the DEW98 that led to the S197. And Ford has said that the S197 changed so much that a new designation was needed. That means evolution... how much is the question. The old car wasn't the thing in the swamp... but it wasn't the upright creature at the end of the line either. We know that critical measurements like the wheelbase and front track are identical, and that the rear track increased as slightly from the mule. How many dollars and how much engineering time was spent optimizing the chassis and bodyshell otherwise remains to be seen. How much would a gram strategy applied to an existing platform yield? We also know from the mule that there wasn't any radical engineering such as magnesium strut towers or the like (saw an Aston Martin Vantage today that uses a forged aluminum shock tower to the same purpose) - we've already seen the very slightly revised strut tower in the mule (where gram strategy reduced 4 bolts to 3). We also know from interviews that they believe they would be lucky to take out 200 pounds. The operative word is is "take out". So what did change is subtle and we'll hopefully know more next spring.

But I doubt we'll see such an engineering cutaway this time that illustrates the changes from the old car - there is no valid marketing reason to do so and every competitive reason not to do so given the upcoming Alpha Camaro. Marketing will make the S550 out to be whatever and however grand they want it to be. The dealers will pitch the car as "all new". That's critical to regaining sales momentum here in N.A., as well as establishing it worldwide. And remember that the better this car does worldwide, the more money there is to reinvest back into future special editions and eventually a replacement for the S550. There is another country in the world that is growing more new spending in the public than we are here in U.S. and the Mustang has to be big there too. One Ford is the only thing that is going to see a future Mustang enabled to reach higher yet.

But a look underneath the S550, some measurements (such as the distance between the subframe rails and the location of the gas tank), some aftermarket poking around (for example, somebody will hold up an S197 strut to an S550 strut to see if it can be used - maybe it can and likely it can't but that would be a fast path to getting struts out onto the market), and the inevitable industriousness of the Mustang hobbyists, and will find out a few years later how much legacy it has in it (70% or 80%?). And there are Ford hobbyists of the mind to track this type of thing across 100 years of Ford history and the extent of their work is surprising.

 

[crysalis_01]

I am disappointed (but not surprised) that the new Mustang isn't a hatchback... hatches add weight, complexity, reduce structural integrity, and require a body designed from the ground up around the hatch. Therefore, this evolved S197 can't be a hatch.
I carried a full set of race tires, tools, and camping gear inside numerous Fox Mustangs to racetrack over the years. That can't be done in the current car. The utility of a hatchback is far above that of a trunk. But at least the current (and new) Mustang doesn't have the tiny slot that the current Camaro has for a trunk opening.
If the new Mustang does well in sales, and especially if it does well worldwide to built serious volume at last, perhaps Ford will invest in a brand new from-the-ground up chassis for this car some day - engineered from the start for a hatch.

So, are we certain now that this is indeed an evolved S197 and not some sort of a CD4 derived chassis? Or is this just conjecture?

 

[mister.peabodyjunior]

So, are we certain now that this is indeed an evolved S197 and not some sort of a CD4 derived chassis? Or is this just conjecture?

Very heavily modified.

 

[stable68]

Very heavily modified.

Im assuming this means there will be very very few s197 elements in the platform

 

[mister.peabodyjunior]

Im assuming this means there will be very very few s197 elements in the platform

If you are talking about shared parts, only a select few. And I'm not talking sheet metal.

 

[rb336]

I keep hearing that the S550 platform will be variable in configuration, with only the engine bay lacking that variability. This would make a lot of sense, enabling the development cost to be spread over a number of models. Of course, I have no idea how that would be done

 

[crazyfastfreddy]

Very heavily modified.

If you are talking about shared parts, only a select few. And I'm not talking sheet metal.

i dont even understand how it can be called a very heavily modified s197 if it has only a few select parts that are shared.

dont almost all ford cars share a few parts....

 

[Tony Alonso]

i dont even understand how it can be called a very heavily modified s197 if it has only a few select parts that are shared.

dont almost all ford cars share a few parts....

I believe he meant shared parts between the platform structures themselves; things like A-pillars, floor pans, engine compartment bracing, transmission crossmembers.

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