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Mustangs: best and worst

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paulxcook

Diamond Member
The Ford Mustang is probably the best-known classic American car still in production today. It's been through many refreshes and a few redesigns, some good, some bad.

I'm no a "car guy" exactly, but I have a passing interest in muscle cars, and I'd like to get the Garage-dwellers' thoughts on the Mustang.

According to Wikipedia, there are 5 generations:

1st: 1964 - 1973 - classic pony car body
2nd: 1974 - 1978 - not sure there's much that sets this gen apart...
3rd: 1979 - 1993 - the boxy "Fox" body
4th: 1994 - 2004 - looks like more of a sports car
5th: 2005 - present - classic and modern styling collide

Favorite? Best for performance and racing modifications? Worst? Prettiest? Ugliest?
 
i thought the 71 thru 73 or so? was bigger and maybe different generation? or was it just a sub generation on the same platform?

the 74 thru 78's were the biggest flops of all of them
 
mustang II was the worst (pinto based, dropped the V8 and the convertible for a while iirc), although a very good seller.

i'm not sure whether the 4th gen is even a real gen. iirc, it uses all the same underpinnings as the fox body.

the current one may be the best for mods and racing not only does it have a very mod-able engine, it has the best suspension setup the mustang has seen in decades, if not ever. (although it's also the heaviest, but that is what safety and overhead cams do)
 
Best to worst as far as driving experience
Current (5th)
Last (4th)
Muscle (3rd)
Original (1st)
"Mustang II" (2nd)

Prettiest
5th
1st
4th(1999-2004 especially, the SVT Terminator S'Charged make me turn my head)
2nd
3rd
 
Originally posted by: Summitdrinker
the 74 thru 78's were the biggest flops of all of them
Click to expand...

Yup, huge flops. They only sold in higher numbers than any of the previous years. Despite being maligned, the '74-'78 cars sold extremely well for Ford.

ZV
 
'03-'04 SVT Cobra Terminator all the way! :heart:

Ungodly performance with even light mods, bare necessities in electronics and gadgets (ABS and Traction control), capable corner carver with tuned suspension and IRS, and the outright wicked stance that defines the term 'mean' and screams "I'm going to eat your lunch and rape your family" when viewed coming up in your rear view.

The back isn't so bad either, kinda boring though, nothing to see but tire and exhaust. :evil:
 
I am not a mustang myself, more of a Chevy/Pontiac guy but the 03-04 cobra with the supercharger is by far the best bang for buck performance wise.

With around $1000-$1500 in mods you can have a solid 11-second car

I think the fox body style is probably the second best just because the car itself can be bought for so cheap now
 
Originally posted by: b3av3r
I am not a mustang myself, more of a Chevy/Pontiac guy but the 03-04 cobra with the supercharger is by far the best bang for buck performance wise.

With around $1000-$1500 in mods you can have a solid 11-second car

I think the fox body style is probably the second best just because the car itself can be bought for so cheap now
Click to expand...

Which mods are you referring to that would result in an 11 sec. time?

I think an '04 Cobra with an '05 interior would be perfect. The 99-04 interior is so disappointing in contrast to the exterior.
 
I am quite preferenced to the current generation. The current V8's being dropped in them gives some very decent times for the price in this car category. There are bolt on super charger kits available for the car I believe. Then again almost every car ahs one, heck my 2004 Expedition has a drop in supercharger kit available for it to get my 5.4L from 260HP to 440HP. The handling is also very nice.
 
The best bang for the buck drag mustangs are the 79-93 fox body cars. Cheap, light, and one of the largest aftermarkets of any car. The 65-70 fastbacks are the best looking. I'd be happy with any one of those.
 
Originally posted by: paulxcook
Originally posted by: b3av3r
I am not a mustang myself, more of a Chevy/Pontiac guy but the 03-04 cobra with the supercharger is by far the best bang for buck performance wise.

With around $1000-$1500 in mods you can have a solid 11-second car

I think the fox body style is probably the second best just because the car itself can be bought for so cheap now
Click to expand...

Which mods are you referring to that would result in an 11 sec. time?

I think an '04 Cobra with an '05 interior would be perfect. The 99-04 interior is so disappointing in contrast to the exterior.
Click to expand...

You can break into 11s with just drag radials and a flash tune (they run 12.5-12.7 stock on average.

Tires, intake, exhaust, cams, twin screw, fuel, tune = 9 second 700 RWHP street car.

And a few other cheap things like rear end bushings and subframe connectors and what have you in order to hook.

As for the interior, get custom stitched leather for the dash and center console, paint and clear coat the inner bezels in the color of the car (for me that would be metallic grey, not so sure about doing this with red or yellow might look ricey), and a few pieces of brushed aluminum trim like door handles, door and steering wheel switches, cup holder rings, just a little here and there, don't over do it. Looks nice then. MGW shifter is a must though I personally don't have a problem with the stock shifter, even going into 3rd and 5th rapidly in high RPM.

My coupe build is going to be a billet 325 stroker (either a wet sleeved teksid or a Ford Racing block made for 3.70" bore) with fully worked over 4v heads and twin 67mm turbos running around 18-20lbs boost (or more likely 57s or 61s for that low boost). On a totally stock car the turbo conversion alone can make 850 RWHP on pump gas with 57mm and run high 9s/low 10s once the car and the driver mod are tuned and set up right. With the stroker and head work I'm hoping to enter the 4 digit RWHP club... all day every day on pump gas. I don't expect to run any faster than 9s still because I'm keeping the IRS and 6 spd, but it will be able to run those 9s all day long on 91 octane without methanol or intercooler spray due to larger cubes and less boost 🙂 And it will be an absolute terror from a highway roll. Every 1000+ HP import I know of needs 117 octane race gas and 35 psi, 117 octane != street car because you can't roll into any gas station and get it when you're out cruising 😛

http://www.sctflash.com/rides.php
http://www.precision-autosport.../customers.php?id=3&q=
http://videos.streetfire.net/uploaded/hbmotorsports.htm

All the above are on the stock engine from oil pan to valve covers. Can't wait to see the results of the same setup on a bored and stroked built engine with stage 3 heads, and in a lighter coupe with some basic weight reduction (swapping parts for lighter parts, but not removing anything permanently). I love these cars!
 
1) 1st: 1964 - 1973 ('68 Fastback and '70 Boss 302/429)
2) 5th: 2005 - present (Any GT, Shelby GT500)
3) 4th: 1994 - 2004 (SVT)
4) 3rd: 1979 - 1993 (Blah)
5) 2nd: 1974 - 1978 (not a real Mustang in my book)
 
<3 my '66. It's far from finished, but it turns a lot of heads.

The only problems with restoring an old car are #1 - you can throw THOUSANDs into it, and still have tons left to do, #2 - deciding between keeping it original and modifying it, and #3 - even when you're done, you still have an old car. No air bags, no air conditioning, no power windows, no power locks, no remote starter, hood can be opened by anyone anywhere, easy to steal, etc.

Listening to even the stock 289 screaming at 5 grand makes it all worth it though. 😉
 
I really like the current models and the ones before the 1979 when they changed it to the boxy style. The new edge ones are ok, but the ones before that look crappy in my opinion.
 
5th Gen Shelby GT500 performance is apparently a bit disappointing. 500 HP but too much poorly distributed weight. That may not be news to anyone, but I'd hate to plunk down $50k or more for a machine that doesn't feel as fast as it is supposed to. It certainly looks great, though. I wonder if it really feels all that "slow", or if it just feels that way in comparison to a Vette.

http://www.moddedmustangs.com/...-vs-2006-corvette.html
 
Originally posted by: paulxcook
Originally posted by: b3av3r
I am not a mustang myself, more of a Chevy/Pontiac guy but the 03-04 cobra with the supercharger is by far the best bang for buck performance wise.

With around $1000-$1500 in mods you can have a solid 11-second car

I think the fox body style is probably the second best just because the car itself can be bought for so cheap now
Click to expand...

Which mods are you referring to that would result in an 11 sec. time?{
Originally posted by: paulxcook
Originally posted by: b3av3r
I am not a mustang myself, more of a Chevy/Pontiac guy but the 03-04 cobra with the supercharger is by far the best bang for buck performance wise.

With around $1000-$1500 in mods you can have a solid 11-second car

I think the fox body style is probably the second best just because the car itself can be bought for so cheap now
Click to expand...

Which mods are you referring to that would result in an 11 sec. time?

I think an '04 Cobra with an '05 interior would be perfect. The 99-04 interior is so disappointing in contrast to the exterior.
Click to expand...

The most popular set up I see for that car is to buy a set of drag radials, a catback exhuast, a new pulley for the supercharger which ups the boost a little, and possibly a quick tune.

I have seen a completely stock one including tires run 12.96 at the track. I would not have believed it if I had not seen it with my own eyes and had several friends assure me the guy would not lie about his mods.

Originally posted by: heymrdj
I am quite preferenced to the current generation. The current V8's being dropped in them gives some very decent times for the price in this car category. There are bolt on super charger kits available for the car I believe. Then again almost every car ahs one, heck my 2004 Expedition has a drop in supercharger kit available for it to get my 5.4L from 260HP to 440HP. The handling is also very nice.
Click to expand...

The only problem I have with the current ones and honestly most mustangs is the lack of power they have had since the mid-90s when the 4th gen camaro came out. The power/times the current V8 mustang is laying down a 1994 camaro/firebird was doing. Granted the mustang currently doesn't have that competition and I am not going to get into a huge debate about how the mustang is still produced and the camaro isn't. I just hate the fact it took Ford so long to catch up.
Click to expand...
 
IMO, best 67-68 fastbacks, 2nd best 69-70 fastbacks, 3rd any 64.5-66. Not a fan of Mustangs post-1970, but then I'm not a fan of too many cars past that -- I love the classics, just wish I could afford one!
 
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