The GT/Ecoboost/V6 Rivalry!

[Fatguy]

The GT/Ecoboost/V6 Rivalry!



So here goes and just something that has been bugging me about the percentage of posts on this site. If I were to count the posts on the general forums on any general issue I could bet you that that vast majority are from GT owners. Now percentages change over the years but most of the Mustangs were not V8s. But when it comes to performance cars and drivers I can see how on forums these days the vast majority of posters would be GT owners. But the non-V8 cars are also more orientated to performance enthusiasts these days, so naturally you would think that there would be a good mix of GT/Ecoboost/V6 posts.



Sadly the vast majority are GT posters. I can’t help but think that most non-GT Mustang owners are subtly intimidated and thus mostly lurk. This is a shame as my experience has been that the real enthusiasts are the kids that have just started to drive and work on their first cars whatever they are and try to do their best to bring out the best in it. My last four cars before this V6 were high performance V8s with true dual exhausts and one with a custom stainless exhaust end to end, so I’m not intimidated by not buying a V8 – been there and done that. But me thinks the others are…



I always go out to make sure everyone knows I drive a V6 on this board and I’m proud of it. Love the car and drive it virtually every day, even in snow storms. I race all the kids and because it isn’t a V8 the races with the kids are actually races and they are eager to tell me about the mods they did to their rides. I suspect if I had a GT or a Vette I would be on my own much of the time. Plus I used to bug non-V8 Mustangers about not getting a V8 so this is my punishment or karma…..



So am I reading this right? Do you think non-GT owners are simply intimidated by this board and so post less often that the GT owners?



One other thing: Thanks to the administrators for finally putting in the “V6” into the general banner, it’s something that always bothered me on the old layout that “V6” was never listed…

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[Rock&Roll]

And you forgot “Your Car sucks if it don’t have PP”

 

[Zooks527]

If I had to guess (and that's all I'm, doing, guessing), I think you're just seeing a percentage split reflecting the difference between general owners out in the world and "enthusiasts" on the net. The people who are on the forums are people interested in the cars, interested in the tech, and interested in what other people think. To my mind, they'll be the people who tend to go further up the option / power list, especially on something seen as a sports / muscle / pony car.

 

[Guard5.0]

And you forgot “Your Car sucks if it don’t have PP”

Can’t imagine anyone bragging about the early PP cars. Any additional power (FI) easily overpowered the stock suspension which wasn’t that good to begin with. I had lowering springs on with PP dampers (not recommended) for a week with only 570 rwhp and the rear suspension was comically bad.

 

[Fatguy]

But that’s just the thing guys...

We get so hung up on horsepower we forget about the fun of having to work for the speed. I hardly ever get challenged by other Mustang owners but I do get challenged by the ricer crowd.

And I’ll say it now: Ricers can race and be fun to race. I actually like to keep my auto V6 in “D” and constantly down shift for more power. The funny thing is that I never seem to run out of ability to make it go faster. Now that does not mean you will win the race but it is fun to have to work more for it than before with V8s that didn’t really care what gear you were in. But I digress...


I’m just saying that if you were a die-hard V8 guy and had to live with a V6 or Ecoboost S550 Mustang - Well you actually could survive the experience and start to like it. And I’m actually being honest here - as bizarre as it is to say that from a guy who swore he would never drive anything but a V8 (I also said the same thing about a solid rear axle - so look at me now... ).

 

[CurtisH]

My last Mustang was a 2005 GT. It had the 4.6 3V with 300 HP. I loved that car and it was a blast to drive. My current car is a 2018 Ecoboost PP and love it. It is actually more fun to drive. It has a much better suspension. Like you, I recognize that you have to have a ton of power to have fun.

By the way, I love the GT and Shelby models. I just don’t think I would enjoy the extra power enough to justify the added cost.

 

[Meatball]

I agree, the non-V8 folks need to enter the light. I think this all stems from the SN95 and prior gens where the base engines sucked...they were there for non-enthusiasts who wanted the looks and aura of a Mustang but didn’t care about power. But now....look at the cheapest, 15-17 V6. 300 hp (or maybe 305? Did anything really change?) for $22K MSRP. Aside from the awesome looks and interior and IRS platform, you have a car than can go 0-60 in the mid 5s and trap at about 100mph. A fiesta or focus ST or Civic SI would KILL for numbers like that, and they cost similarly. And it matches a WRX, which is “respectable” on the street and costs much more.

Back once when I traveled a lot and rented a lot of cars, I rented just another base, nondescript Mustang from Avis with no 5.0 badge (this was about 2012). I thought it would feel like the old sn95 base models. I was blown away...I couldn’t believe how much pull that car had.

Let me say, as a ‘17 5.0 owner with FP power pack 3, I fully respect your kick-butt V6 and super torquey EB mustangs...they’re fully legit. Put on a 3.7 or 2.3T badge and be proud!

 

[showbbq]

I've been driving a '19 Ecoboost for a while and it's great for city driving. It feels light and has a good amount of low end torque. But the way I drive it the fuel economy is only slightly better than the GT. With the GT you have endless power and the exhaust is half the fun. Both models are great so I see no reason why anyone should be intimidated. If I had a choice, I'd take a base GT over a fully loaded Ecoboost.

 

[Mantis]

If I had to guess (and that's all I'm, doing, guessing), I think you're just seeing a percentage split reflecting the difference between general owners out in the world and "enthusiasts" on the net. The people who are on the forums are people interested in the cars, interested in the tech, and interested in what other people think. To my mind, they'll be the people who tend to go further up the option / power list, especially on something seen as a sports / muscle / pony car.

Partially agree with this as some folks are enthusiasts for show or sound and not go. The forums offer great resources of info on all of the above.

 

[Fatguy]

You actually forget how bad performance can be on this board.


So my wife needed a car to commute to work. She had a Toyota Tercel in mind of all things. Anyway we went to the dealer and took a test drive and I was driving. I took a detour straight to the freeway and at highway speeds and floored it! Guess what happened - nothing happened as in the transmission didn’t kick down, the engine didn’t rev, nothing... it was maxed out!


So no way was my wife and future mother of my kids commuting every day in that death-trap! I took her to a Chevy dealer and got her a V6 Cavalier (they were these plain boxy cars back then but hers had a real wing and was red. I took that on the freeway and floored it. It kicked down, the motor roared and accelerated out of any trouble she would find herself in.


Anyway when we took delivery we were both driving home and came side by side at the lights and she was looking at me with a big grin on her face. She in this new red winged car and me in my usual black 5.0 (I forget which one). The lights turned green and I raced my wife down the street for the first time. Actually that was a good memory...

 

[tw557]

I think most Gt owners are more passionate about the cars then v6 and ecoboost mustangs. I think most us non gt owners feel we have settled. Gt's are just so respected from any magazine article to the guy down the road. So I think maybe a little intimidating to talk much about a lowly ecoboost or we feel the car is just "good enough" and we don't invest as much energy into thinking about our cars as we hope one day to get into a gt anyway. It's a shame because our v6 and especially the ecoboost's are so under appreciated.

 

[Blue Moon]

My EB is the only Stang I've ever driven, so I can't really compare it to others. But it's the most fun car I've ever had, and I love modding it too. And I've gotten a lot of good ideas for mods from M6G, so, thanks, everybody who shares and is willing to answer noob questions.

I don't know about the V6 crowd, but there's another forum specifically for the EB where I hang out more than I do here. It's easier to get the answers I need when I don't have to sort out whether I'm looking at posts that will help me or not.

 

[ivantwilliams]

At this moment in my life, if I could do it all over, I would purchase an Ecoboost, with Active Exhaust. It would bloody certainly save me a fortune...!

 

[Shifting_Gears]

I think it’s a combination of several factors.

The majority of the performance minded Mustang owners have V8 cars
The majority of V6/EB owners aren’t engaged on the level of joining a Mustang forum
The enthusiasts of the EB/V6 crowd are generally younger and more likely to join a group through an app like GroupMe to talk to club memebers, get updates on meets, etc.

I think every major Mustang forum has a V6 or EB specific sub forum and they never seem to have the same traffic as the V8 sections.

I don’t think the GT/V8 owner mentality is something that would scare off someone with a V6 or EB. It’d be silly for someone to look down on another Mustang owner because they don’t have as many cylinders. It happens, but I don’t think that’s why there’s less posters in those categories.

 

[Vicr]

I don't think I give two shits as to what anyone thinks. Rivalry? Screw
that, I can afford to buy anything i want and I bought a used 2015 Eco Premium. maybe too much pretentiousness on the part of some V8 guys.I also own a V10
Ford.

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