Ford Mustang (2005 and Newer)

06mustanky · March 2006

My 06 GT with the 18" wheel option came with p235/50zr18 Goodrich G-Force kdw tires. I'm not sure what they mean by "suspension upgrades" but mine is "firm" that's for sure.

tayl0rd · March 2006

From what I heard, they softened the suspension with the 18" wheels to keep the ride "compliant."

gtforme2 · March 2006

We have an 05 GT, with the 17" wheels. Thinking of upgrading to the to 18" wheels. If went to 18" you'd think we'd feel lot stiffer ride? Would there be a way to keep ride same as today with the 18" wheels?

akirby · March 2006

You could try a different brand of tire but when you go from 17" to 18" wheels (keeping the same overall tire diameter) you're reducing the sidewall height which typically results in a stiffer sidewall and more harshness. A different tire brand or model *might* compensate for that to some degree. But I'd count on some reduction in ride quality.

You'll also severely reduce your tire choices and increase your tire costs.

pony_pirate · March 2006

Those are down sides to 18" wheels. So what's the up side? Is it mostly cosmetic, rather than performance?

akirby · March 2006

I'd say it's 80% looks, 20% performance. And that's only if you're really pushing the car extremely hard or running on a track day. In normal or even spirited driving you won't notice much difference in handling, but you will probably get more harshness especially on uneven roads.

My advice is to stick with the 17" tires - even if you change wheels. If you think you still want the 18s - go price the same tire in both sizes just so you know what you're facing when it's time to buy new ones.

pony_pirate · March 2006

I forget which, but one of the major car mag reviews of the new Mustang faulted the tires, wishing the car came equipped with "stickier" tires. What would be an improvement over the Perrelli's? What could one expect to pay? Does Michelin make good performance tires?

rmackowsky · March 2006

Just picked up my 06 GT with 18" fanblades. I test drove many GTs with 17", and I can tell you that I don't notice any significant difference in ride harshness. I hadn't heard about the suspension tuning for 18 wheels until now -I'd like to see more definite proof of that. I too was concerned about ride quality with the 18s, but I'm very pleasantly surprised and happy with the ride quality. This car absolutely rocks!

gtforme2 · March 2006

Hey all, thanks for the feedback. You're right on the looks piece, that's what appealed to me. The 18's close up that gap of open space between tire and fender that just looks better. But, frankly I like the way the car rides now. Before even drove the car was concerned about the ride (wether it would be comfortable enough to drive over extended periods). It's proven to be "just right" (not Papa Bear and not Baby Bear) combination of smoothness and firmness, but not harsh. So given what's been said; cost, ride comfort, and minimal performance gain I guess I'll stick w/ the 17's.

One other question, I have the brushed aluminum wheel, what does everyone think about changing out the wheels to the to the bullet chrome's?

akirby · March 2006

Michelin makes great performance tires - the Pilot line is hard to beat for performance and comfort but they're also really expensive. Check out the tire surveys at tirerack.com.

kwh · March 2006

My son is looking at a 2005 Mustang 6 cyl. He likes the look of the big fog lights on the GT. How much would it cost too have the big fog lights installed on a used 2005 Mustang? Thanks.

akirby · March 2006

Here's one on Ebay:

"Mustang V6 GT Grille and Foglight Kit"

mschmal · March 2006

I think my dealership paid about $600 to have them installed on a V6 coupe.

Mark

smaher007 · March 2006

I recently test drove an 06 GT, and the engine seemed to be sleeping below 4000 rpm. Of course, I only got to drive it for a few minutes with the salesman carefully eyeing the speedometer. What does everyone else think about its low end power? If I did buy a Mustang, I'd rather not rev it all the way up to 6000 on a regular basis, but is that what it takes to get truly impressive acceleration?

pony_pirate · March 2006

"Sleeping below 4000 rpm"? What gear were you in? How fast exactly to you need to go? My GT takes off like a rocket in 1st thru 3rd, so much so that I had to watch myself carefully when the car was new, because it was too easy to hit 40 in a half a block. In day-to-day traffic, I usually shift around 1100-1200, the low end, both to save on gas and because there's just no need or room for additional speed or acceleration. (Only exception to this is steep hills.)

At highway speeds, I occasionally drop down to 4th if I want to take off.

smaher007 · March 2006

It was normal around town traffic, and I should have mentioned that it was an auto cause thats all they had. Again, since it was only a test drive I only got a limited impression (btw, may I say that Ford dealers have no idea how to give an exciting test drive). The GTO 6.0 on the other hand, felt abundantly powerful at all rpms and pinned me to the seats. But i guess thats what 400 hp and torque will do for you.

Overall, I'd rather get the Mustang, which is why I was hoping people would tell me I'm crazy and that the pony is plenty fast.

macatowa · March 2006

OK, you're crazy! the Mustang is plenty fast!
GET A Manual 5 Speed!

smaher007 · March 2006

I also just remembered, I saw a few cars on the lot had California emission, since I live in a "cross-border state" (Pennsylvania). I'm not sure if my tester had it but I would assume CA emmission would hurt performance somewhat. Does anybody know how much impact it has?

Thanks.

mschmal · March 2006

PA is not a crossborder state, its a CA emissions required. NJ is a cross border state.

If you visited a PA dealer, everything you saw should have had CA emissions.

Mark.

baggs32 · March 2006

Wouldn't it specify CA emissions on the sticker? None of the vehicles on lots here in PA have CA emissions specified.

smaher007 · March 2006

I noticed it on some stickers but I wasnt really looking for it at the time. I didnt realize that PA was now a CA emission mandatory state, it wasnt last time I bought a car. I imagine either all stickers have it listed in the fine print, or maybe not all cars on the lots have it yet. I think it might be new in PA. :confuse:

baggs32 · March 2006

We just bought an '06 Explorer four weeks ago and nowhere on the sticker does it say CA emissions.

I'm curious because I've not heard anything about this and am wondering if it's going to raise the price of our yearly required emissions test again. :surprise:

akirby · March 2006

I think all explorers meet CA emissions.

rorr · March 2006

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/articleId=109757

Apparently, Ford and Shelby are getting together (again) to bring a GT350H to Hertz. A limited run of 200 black w/gold stripe Mustang GT's, with mild intake/exhaust upgrades (around 320hp) will be available from select Hertz dealers this summer.

sweeeeeeet....

lavrishevo · March 2006

Only 320!? I gained close to 30 with intake and tune, let alone headers, exhaust, cats and x-pipe.... I'm not impressed at all.

D

spdwy33 · March 2006

Yea - the pony is plenty fast. And a real blast to drive - not to mention damned good looking.

GTO is blindingly fast, no question. But it is 'butt ugly' and not at all 'user friendly' as far as interior room. And it has those damned red gagues!

We compared the pony against the GTO and the Hemi Charger. Rulled out the GTO in about five minutes. Charger took a little longer. But in the end, the librarian said it all - 'it won't be nearly as much fun writing a check for anything less than the Mustang'!!

Silver premium GT convertible is on the truck now and should be in our hot little hands very soon!!

Good luck!

zlskrs · April 2006

The 2007 order guide says both PA and NJ are Cross-Border states. CA emissions vehicles can be ordered in those states but it is not mandatory. CA emissions is mandatory for CA, ME, NY, MA, VT; optional in AZ, CT, NV, NH, NJ, OR, PA, RI. I saw the guide at Stangnet.com.

smaher007 · April 2006

Yea I saw that same guide too, but that previous post said PA is CA emissions mandatory. I looked into it on the web but couldn't find any conclusive evidence either way. I tend to believe the 2007 order guide since it just came out.

pony_pirate · April 2006

Don't like the new 18-inch wheels. Prefer my 17-inch solid-aluminum wheels to the rounded spokes of the new 18-inchers. Prototype of the SVT Cobra GT500, btw, has similar flat snow-flake wheels, just thinner, not those thick rounded spokes.

As for shiny chrome wheels, could you possibly shout "Pimp!" any louder? :shades:

lavrishevo · April 2006

I think the 18" wheels are great, they stand out a lot more than the 17" aluminum ones. The ride quality is fine to. This of course is just my opinion but one neat thing to mention is that the sticker on the car said I had the normal 17" wheels and I did not check the tire size till after I got the baby home. So it worked out good for me, a 1,000.00 dollar option for free.....

I'm not complaining.

D
:shades:

rjlaero · April 2006

This might have been covered before, but does Ford offer a stripe package from the factory? I've seen some really sharp looking GT's that had the white stripes down the entire center of the car and it looked really sharp

mschmal · April 2006

For the GT there are no factory stripes. There are lots of strips you can get though from Ford Accessories and from aftermarket companies like Rousch.

Ford has 9 inch Lemans strips. I Understand that Ford stripes are PAPER backed and as such they are kind of hard to install.

The GT500 will have strips from the factory.

Mark.

jclf · April 2006

Any word on the 2007 mustang gt? How will it be different from the 2006 model?

baggs32 · April 2006

Just some new options including factory Sirius, heated leather seats, Pioneer navigation system (like the one in the '06 Explorer), two new colors and two more discontinued, and some new interior appearance/feel options. No performance enhancements have been announced and the order guide is already out so it looks like there won't be any.

I'll be ordering mine in December or January and am going crazy waiting for that day to come!

blackjac · April 2006

ON MARCH 20TH ,06 i brought home my BABYGIRL, 06 GT premium black,with charcoal leather seats,auto,interior appearence pkg. ,alarm system. i have 250 miles on the car , its a weekend treat which i will keep for ever,and put about 4000, miles a year on. on DEC. 1ST it goes off the road until APRIL 1st. no sand and salt will ever touch my baby lol.

blackjac · April 2006

oh yea i was able to 1000.00 off sticker and no conyeance fee, in ct. that fee is around 300.00 so its fair to say i got 1300.00 off sticker, from PARK CITY FORD IN BRIDGEPORT CT.

explorerx4 · April 2006

my rule with my '91 mustang is no more than 2500 miles per year. on the road may 1st at the earliest(sand removal).
now has 30500 mlies on it.

gtforme2 · April 2006

Yeah, got the 05 in June of 05. Plan on it forever as well. Take off road at end of October, not back on until May 1st. Big problem, can't resist driving it. Already have 4200 miles. Give tons of TLC. Will never see the insides of a car wash. I already had detailed once, going to learn to machine buff myself this spring.

By the way did you get 5 spd?

Claires · April 2006

Congrats on your new "baby", blackjac!

pony_pirate · April 2006

Saw on Discovery Channel how the Ford SVT team has been split up, this on the eve of the release of the Cobra Mustang GT 500. What could they be thinking, as the Mustang leads the way in the reintroduction of the American muscle car, as consumers are salivating for specialized performance cars?

akirby · April 2006

They're thinking that the SVT model isn't the best one. It takes too long and costs too much to take a finished mainstream production car and redo it for performance. They have to start including high performance vehicles in their mainstream design process like Chrysler and GM (and BMW and MB).

pony_pirate · April 2006

There are no decent high-performance vehicles in the American mainstream, save the Mustang and Vette.

Ford is making a terrible mistake breaking up a team which has been around for decades, just when the muscle car is making a comeback.

High-end, refined versions of the Mustang are just what the public is ready to pay for, viz the frenzy over the Cobra Mustang, and the heady prices paid at Barrett-Jackson for a Ford factory racing Mustang and Cobra Mustang GT500.

The American public is ripe for a hot car in the less than $40k range, and the Mustang is the only platform for it at present. :shades:

akirby · April 2006

I guess you're equating high performance to sports cars. I wasn't. I'm talking about high performance sport sedans and sport luxury sedans in addition to coupes, convertibles, crossovers and SUVs.

Look at Dodge's SRT program and Chevy's SS program. You don't need 500 hp to be high performance.

And who said anything about getting rid of hi-po mustangs? You'll still have the GT500 mustang but instead of it taking 2 years to debut after the base mustang it will only take 1 year or less because it will be engineered in parallel instead of waiting until after the base mustang is finished. That will also make it cheaper.

jmms · April 2006

I'm picking up a '06 Mustang GT Convertible red on red with the "Boss" striping in white on Thursday. Ford doesn't offer heated seats. Has anyone done aftermarket heated seats and if so how are they? The dealer wants $1000.00
Can't wait till Thursday!

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blackjac · April 2006

i read motortrend,car and driver. road and track every monthe page for page three times and i have not heard anything about breaking up svt. somebody is pulling a late april fool joke ?? the asian man cant think of his name ,but he was top designer on the o5 mustang and actually incharge of mustang. this fellow is now heading up svt he was transfered over. SVT is alive and well. there was a time when ford was thinking about closing up shop at SVT ,that was around a few years ago before all the hoop la about our babygirls being born in o5> lololol

blackjac · April 2006

congrads there is no other car of its kind for the money ,i love taking it out and wasting boxters and nissan z,s hahahaahahah this car (in black) hence my name blacjac, gets more looks then a size 3 blonde @ a weight wathchers meeting.

blackjac · April 2006

that congads was for imms

akirby · April 2006

SVT, as it existed a few months ago, is dead. Ford can't afford to keep making cars the SVT way - it takes too long and is too expensive. They'll continue to make performance versions of their vehicles but they'll be part of the normal production run, just like Dodge and Chevy are doing with the SRT and SS programs respectively. They can't afford to wait 2 years after a car debuts to come out with their version.

gtgtcobra · April 2006

If you want to pick up hot chicks buy the Mustang. I've picked up quite a few hot women in my Mustang. I love my Mustangs and I love the women that I can easily pick up with my car.

pony_pirate · April 2006

Sorry. You can keep all your "sports sedans and sport luxury sedans" etc.

The Mustang isn't a "sports car." It's an American muscle car, not a BMW roadster or Miata.

The Dodge's suck. Chevy's are even worse, 'cept the Vette.

The SVT did nothing to slow down the development of the GT 500.

Ford is making a colossal mistake. It screwed up the Thunderbird, putting out a car for grandfathers. Now it's totally abandonning the in-your-face guts of the SVT for middle-aged family-man transportation with a little extra kick. Screw that.

Ford Mustang (2005 and Newer)

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