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Mustang GT vs. M3: Mustang "Better Balanced, Better Torque, Faster through turns"

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senseamp said:
On smooth asphalt, maybe. Even then they noted how much more planted M3 was.
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Actually they noted the Mustang was able to grip with all four tires through the entire track where the M3 was not - the only place they said the M3 was more planted was at the top of the small hill and the IRS wasn't the reason... it was the shocks and the driver clearly stated that.

Professional racing driver > you.

I don't live in Afghanistan... most of the roads I drive on are nice and smooth.
 
Vic Vega said:
Actually they noted the Mustang was able to grip with all four tires through the entire track where the M3 was not - the only place they said the M3 was more planted was at the top of the small hill and the IRS wasn't the reason... it was the shocks and the driver clearly stated that.

Professional racing driver > you.

I don't live in Afghanistan... most of the roads I drive on are nice and smooth.
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In the video it's pretty clear that he's going over bumps. It's just an inherent attribute of solid axle that when one wheel hits a bump, the angle of the opposite wheel is changed. You can't engineer that attribute out.



Where do you live that the roads are all smooth?
 
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Throckmorton said:
In the video it's pretty clear that he's going over bumps. It's just an inherent attribute of solid axle that when one wheel hits a bump, the angle of the opposite wheel is changed. You can't engineer that attribute out.



Where do you live that the roads are all smooth?
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Again... the ONLY place in the video where the M3 was "more planted" was in a single section of the track and it was CLEARLY attributed by the driver to SHOCKS... as in, the M3's were stiffer, had quicker rebound... it was not the IRS. The driver stated that the Mustang was able to grip with all four tires where the M3 was not.

I'll go ahead and wait for yet another reply ignoring the above fact and saying how much better the M3 is because of the Mustang's terrible LRA.
 
Vic Vega said:
Again... the ONLY place in the video where the M3 was "more planted" was in a single section of the track and it was CLEARLY attributed by the driver to SHOCKS... as in, the M3's were stiffer, had quicker rebound... it was not the IRS. The driver stated that the Mustang was able to grip with all four tires where the M3 was not.

I'll go ahead and wait for yet another reply ignoring the above fact and saying how much better the M3 is because of the Mustang's terrible LRA.
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He said "much better shock control" after he goes over bumps while steering, not "shock absorbers". I took that to mean handling of shocks of bumps, not him using the slang term for shock absorbers.

7:22
 
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OK, if Mustang's live axle is so great, and it was gripping with all four tires while M3 wasn't, how come it lost despite having a 100 lb-ft torque advantage with the same weight?
 
Didn't read the thread, but how can you guys compare Mustang to an M3 when the Mustang doesn't even have independent rear suspension?
 
How many people here seriously looked at buying an M3? Did the performance of the Mustang GT factor in or did it not matter? There is a lot of talk about people not cross shopping the two and I wonder if any has.

Personally, I wanted an M3 bad about a year and half ago and then I started to see the Mustang GT reviews come out. This diminished the desire for the car enough that when it came time, I decided to go with the CTS-V. If the M3 was the dominate sports coupe/sedan like in the past, I would be driving one now.
 
KentState said:
How many people here seriously looked at buying an M3? Did the performance of the Mustang GT factor in or did it not matter? There is a lot of talk about people not cross shopping the two and I wonder if any has.

Personally, I wanted an M3 bad about a year and half ago and then I started to see the Mustang GT reviews come out. This diminished the desire for the car enough that when it came time, I decided to go with the CTS-V. If the M3 was the dominate sports coupe/sedan like in the past, I would be driving one now.
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I looked seriously at buying a used m3....it was an 02. I also looked at an 02 mustang, and the m3 beat it straight out...


Does that count?
 
HybridSquirrel said:
I looked seriously at buying a used m3....it was an 02. I also looked at an 02 mustang, and the m3 beat it straight out...


Does that count?
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Well, the last gen M3/Mustang comparison wasn't even close. Which is why this comparison is hard to swallow. Hopefully the next M3 will deliver beyond expectations, though CAFE might just kill that.
 
KentState said:
Well, the last gen M3/Mustang comparison wasn't even close. Which is why this comparison is hard to swallow. Hopefully the next M3 will deliver beyond expectations, though CAFE might just kill that.
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BMW has never not paid a CAFE fine.
 
KentState said:
How many people here seriously looked at buying an M3? Did the performance of the Mustang GT factor in or did it not matter? There is a lot of talk about people not cross shopping the two and I wonder if any has.

Personally, I wanted an M3 bad about a year and half ago and then I started to see the Mustang GT reviews come out. This diminished the desire for the car enough that when it came time, I decided to go with the CTS-V. If the M3 was the dominate sports coupe/sedan like in the past, I would be driving one now.
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I just ordered one on Monday the 14th. As I wrote earlier, I test drove a few cars but ruled out each for various shortcomings (none of which were performance related) or things I just didn't like. I'd go into details regarding each of the cars, but I really don't think it would be too groundbreaking other than describing my own thought process.

And I never even thought of the Mustang.

And I ordered the DCT. 😉 But that's a whole 'nother issue that I'd be happy to debate with anyone.
 
Get over the detail that the Mustang doesn't have IRS. One significant thing that I've learned from being an engineer, and building race cars, is that the underlying mechanisms do not matter nearly as much as their execution.

It is true that IRS has the potential to be better than a SRA in many aspects. Having said that, I would take a well-designed SRA and great weight distribution over IRS and a poor weight distribution.

Also, I do believe the driver was talking about the damper rates (shock control) and how the Mustang could use stiffer shocks. I'm not surprised that the Ford vehicle dynamics engineers would sacrifice some cornering ability for a smoother ride, given the stereotypical buyer for the Mustang. I would be curious to see the M3 run against a Mustang GT with sportier shocks.
 
JCH13 said:
Get over the detail that the Mustang doesn't have IRS. One significant thing that I've learned from being an engineer, and building race cars, is that the underlying mechanisms do not matter nearly as much as their execution.

It is true that IRS has the potential to be better than a SRA in many aspects. Having said that, I would take a well-designed SRA and great weight distribution over IRS and a poor weight distribution.

Also, I do believe the driver was talking about the damper rates (shock control) and how the Mustang could use stiffer shocks. I'm not surprised that the Ford vehicle dynamics engineers would sacrifice some cornering ability for a smoother ride, given the stereotypical buyer for the Mustang. I would be curious to see the M3 run against a Mustang GT with sportier shocks.
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Very well said. Have you looked at the specs and tuning of the new GT350? I would have to imagine that it would just plain murder the standard GT and M3 on the track.
 
senseamp said:
OK, if Mustang's live axle is so great, and it was gripping with all four tires while M3 wasn't, how come it lost despite having a 100 lb-ft torque advantage with the same weight?
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I'm not going to take the bait and make the claim that the live axle is superior, but there are other factors to consider than just peak power, peak torque, and suspension type.
 
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