Hate for the 15+ "S550"

[ToddMcF2002]

I have to admit I'm a hater. I thought I was safe over at Vintage Mustang letting out a few remarks about the car but it seems I'm not making any new friends there. I just can't take the thing seriously and I'm curious if I'm truly alone in that or if there are other haters out there.

I can't get behind the styling. It looks like it has an identity crisis. To me retro styling does not blend well with Aston Martin DB9. To me the result looks completely confused. The sloped tail lights no longer look aggressive. The body color rear diffuser is terrible. In convertible form it looks even worse because it is long and low and looks like a sled.

I recently went to FL and all I saw where these things (rentals I presume) and my father kept pointing them out "there goes another one of those new Mustangs!" knowing full well I can't stand them.

Ford is looking for 10% of its Mustang sales overseas and they have designed to cater to a wider audience. The result is not a good one if you ask me. As far as I'm concerned the last Mustang was the S197.

So am I alone in this one???

[84StangSVT]

I might get crucified for this one but, in all honesty, I feel this is a better looking car than Fords attempt when the SN95 rolled out after the foxes. To this day I still do not care for the SN95's looks, but I digress.

I guess my biggest complaint with the S550 is the sheer size of the car....this thing is huge! At the car show, there was one parked next to a 1973 Mustang and it pretty well dwarfed the old one. I honestly feel the front of the car is pretty well done, could use a slightly smaller grille but the car as a whole looks aggressive which is what they were after. The S197's, while they captured the retro muscle look, they were not aggressive looking.

Generations change and each one of us see this rendition differently but IMHO....this is the best looking one they have done since the fox. They needed the update to keep the younger folks interest as the retro movement has lasted it's run for all auto manufacturers.

*running and ducking for cover from the stones now*

[sowaxeman]

I won't hate on you for your opinion....we all have them and it should be easy to respect each others opinions. Me personally, I love it. But I won't be rushing out to buy one as I love my Foxes.

I also feel the SN-95/New Edge body was the ONLY Mustang that looked like it was designed to be a convertible from the beginning. All others, including gen 1, the Fox and the SN-197+ look like an after-thought. I LOVE my foxes, but I believe they are ugly as sin with the top up....which is why you will never see me driving or showing my Feature with the top up

[wraithracing]

I will agree that the SN95 cars never really did it for me either. I actually owned a 98 Cobra and ultimately sold it, because I had no passion for it, although it honestly drove, rode, and had more power than most of my Foxes. I personally might have kept it had it been the 99-04 style as I like it much more, but I digress and I am off topic.

As for the new 2015+ Mustang, I have to admit that they have grown on me. I do like the front end style of the car as I feel they are aggressive and good looking. YES there is a bit too much Aston Martin in the design, but that seems to be the same for the Fusion, The Tesla, and others! Talk about Flattery for Henrik Fisker.

I personally HATE the back end of the new Mustang. I had similar feelings for the 10-14 cars too, although the 13/14 were better IIRC. I do agree that the cars seems to be getting HUGE overall and Heavy as H#LL too. Unfortunately much of that seems to be crash rating related as much as anything.

I was a fan of the Retro style to begin with, but I am over it by now. It's time for Ford and others to actually move forward in their designs and quit trying to rehash the past. I have a 69 Mach 1 and I don't need or want a new one to look like it, I would like to see some innovations and some uniqueness with a new car. I have no issues with sticking to the "muscle car" styling of long hood and short deck, but that doesn't mean it has to be THAT Long and so much like the cars before.

I am not normally a Corvette fan and generally don't bring them up for any reason, but I will say the new Corvette is a good looking car IMHO. I feel GM did a good job of remembering the past, but moving forward with the design. Personally the new Stingray is a much better looking car than the previous model again IMHO. I don't want Ford to copy them in anyway, but it can work as an example of what is possible.

Trey

[roadkill]

I am a fan of the S550's but I have found them to be rather polarizing looks wise. And count me as someone that's never been an SN95 fan, I think they're too effeminite looking for my tastes.

[Droog]

It always takes me awhile to warm up to a new one. I like the current car from the back and sides, not so much from the front. Some of them I don't warm up to ever, like the 05-09 and the New Edge cars which I though were a stylistic mess.

[ToddMcF2002]

In terms of styling I really like the 11-14. I just didn't like the heavy driving feel so I sold my 14. The New Edge Dominators look good to me but I generally agree on the whole SN95. The interior is really bad too. I really like the new Corvette and that is a great point. GM has really set the bar high for model progression with that one.

[brianj]

I actually like them. They are very much a love/hate type of car, however. The only other Mustang i remember causing as much of a "That's not a Mustang!" type furor was- the fox! Lol.

[Supersonic G.T.350]

I love it, only mustang since the Fox that has grabbed my attention. If money aren't an issue I'd own one today.

[Haystack]

If someone gave me a 2015 I'd drive it. As far as weight goes, a fully loaded 87 gt weighs about 3600lbs and has almost none of the safety features of the 3400-3800lb stang so I don't see much to complain about there. Not sure I'd ever buy one though, even if they ever do get cheap.

[downtime!]

As a long time Stanger, and a huge Mustang II fan, I remember initially hating the Fox when it hit the showrooms. How could they square off all those great corners? Time, of course, changed that opinion for me, and now there are few cars on the road I like better than a Fox Capri.

SN95's never did it for me, but I did have a nice Sonic Blue '03 GT that I bought just for the color. Horrible interior, weak powerplant, buckboard suspension. Not a pleasant experience at all.

When the S197 came out, I was instantly hooked. Still feel like Ford got it right, right off the bat, with these, and I've owned 4 2005 GT's and 2 V6 cars. Will probably always be my favorite late model.

I bought the '12 GT simply for the 5.0. With the KB on her, she made 650 at the wheels and ran mid 10's all day long. Best interior up to that time, good suspension and brakes, TERRIBLE manual transmission (went through 4 of them in 2 years). I'll probably have another one at some point in time, what with the prices dropping like they are.

The S550 is, in my opinion, the best Mustang all around Mustang Ford has built to date. Aesthetics aside (too subjective to argue about, I think they look great), the hardware that you receive when you tick the right box is simply amazing. It will stop, go and turn with cars costing a heck of a lot more money. Haven't ante'd up for one yet (never an early adopter), but one will find its way into the garage before too long.

[xctasy]

The S550 lookes like its The One. The only critical punch you can land is that its starting to get over produced like a really great Popular music album.


Unlike the little Fords, it doesn't exude a confused image, but its as billigerant as the Prodigy in any abandoned London Underground tunnel. Its wah-wah guitar loop baseline is the SOS call that has been the breeder for every Mustang since the first Shelby GT350...Performance! Even the little Cologne V6 n the Mustang II was a runchy little go getter, even with a 18.3 second quarter mile. Ford has moved its baseline into the premium automative level with this and the previous S197.

If the S550 was a little more like a Camaro's low rent quality, it could be sold for 30% less, and Ford could offload maybee 250000 a year. But Ford have done the research, they've done it that way on purpose.

What you don't realise is that in 1980, Ford discovered that Honda, Mazda, Audi, Porsche, Daimler Benz and BMW and even Volvo and Saab were cashing in on peope who wanted something more exclusive, and right in the middle of a recession, those automakers went hunting for new money via product placements and cultivating images. It was worse than the 1973 senario when the Celica and So Ford started a quest for searching for a new kind of customer that could bankroll excellance in engineering. The Modular 100 mm bore spacing 4.6 was the start of the High Endification of Ford. The S550 is conclusive proof that you can cut prodcution to a tenth on 1965 levels, triple prices, and not just survive, but thrive! The Mustang has reached 911 Porsche style pre-eminance, and it rocks.


Its un-American not to put your best face forward. Even if it was stollen off an Aston.

I've driven every year Stang since 1964.5 to 2011.


I no longer devan foreign imports, so I miss out on the latest and greatest American muscle cars.

Or, more specfically, the old minters with Boss 302's, Clevelands, 429 Lima's and FE 428's. The only new Stang I really liked was the 2007 Saleen. I really liked it. As much as the 1970 440 Six Pack Challanger.

I personally was real worried when the Fox Mustang became a specialty car in 1986 when the Capri, and all other Foxes started being pensioned off. Traditionally, Mustangs have been cut down econo cars based on Falcons, Pintos and Fiarmonts. When the S197 came out, it was a hash up of Jag S type chassis parts without IRS. Since the cars it was based on were flops, it looked like the Mustang was gonna bomb in 2005.

Mass production creates quality, and low price. It makes band recognision and builds a ground swell of great feeling. In the USA, becauue of satuartion complexes from the frequency of sighting, Ford has to practice non linear periodisation, and mix and mash up the product line to ensure market dominance in the minds of the public.Since the price has gone up so much, its no longer a numbers game to make 417000 by the 4 th of the 7th.

When plants thrive, they stiffle other plants. So Ford has had to rework and hybridise the Mustang. They've done the same thing with the Ranger, Bronco and Tbird. In fact, Fords ethos flies in the face of Robert McNamara's hailed Play in Prioria finacials, and has gone right to the BMW and Daimler Benze method of targetting money.


The T bird died because it got over exposed, comericalized, and walked away from screaming baroque.


The Mustang lives because its been turned into a high end car which out Aston Martins an Aston Martin.


To me, the 1980 Black Mustang Cobra and Capri RS were the baddest looking an meanest Fords ever made, and as a traditionalist, Ford took the biggest risk ever by deciding not to sell 400000 cars a year like they often did.






With those hoods, they deserved a good P71 351 2V, or a brace of 400 Ford V8's as an option, and some 415 section mags off a 512i Boxer Berlinetta.

Instead, relative to what GM had at the time, it was one of the most hobbled Mustang's ever, but no where near as lame as the stock Falcon and Pinto based cars could be stock.

The Turbo 2.3 at least had low 17 second 1/4 mile ability, but the 255 was only fractionally faster than the 1974 2.8 Mustang, and slower than the 1975-1978 Mustang 5.0's.


Now, every Stang is a out and out freekin hardcore performance car. Yeah!

[Travis T]

I'll be keeping my 04 GT convertible for a while, the new car just isn't very attractive. I don't care how well it drives if I have to have a car cover put over it to look at it.

[Basin Motorsports]

I don't necessarily hate the new S550. In the last two years I have grown to despise the ability to simply buy a car and bolt on stuff to get 600hp. Technology is great and all, but I think it's starting to dull the car enthusiast experience. It is perhaps a sign of my age and I've hit that point in life that having the newest thing out there isn't great to me anymore. I've definitely turned to nostalgia and not to having the next best thing. I more thrive on findng ways to avoid having the newest of everything and trying to recycle my oldest stuff for new purposes.


I find that I rarely read articles on the newer cars anymore unless it's a supercar (which is even rare). I'd rather read about the pro-touring movement of turning 60's and 70's cars into the greatest thing, but even that is starting to get dull with oversaturation on parts available.

[noac]

Best stance ever from the factory, IRS and a great interior. Also still a tremendous value as long as you don't go crazy with options. Crouse Ford had one at their show, 2016 GT Manual red with very few options for 30K. This was for a brand new car. My daughter just bought a new Honda Civic with very few options....it was low 20's.

[Travis T]

Best stance ever from the factory, IRS and a great interior.

And still requires the car to be covered in a car cover so you can look at it.

[xctasy]

Thank G"d its 50 years on from 1966.

Back in 1966 to 1968, no one was interested in the 440 hp plus Super Performance Mustangs like the Paxton Supercharged GT350 or the worked Shebly 427.


Look at the performance spikes, we are on a golden age of the seventh wave of really hard out performance Mustangs.



In order to drink the beer, you don't put it in 8 ounce paper cups like they did in 1965 and 1982.


The S550 is a shatter proof kevelar and pewter mug that you can pratically drop and still drink the contents. And the contents is triple stenght unless stted otherwise...

Shelby had a heck of a job making proper 427 upgraded cars sell in 1968...there just wasn't a market. He had tested IRS, Fuel injection, rear discs, four wheel drive, they were all potential options, but the market wasn't focused on performance, even after Ford won Le Mans. To grow it, they had to make Itailian Supecars. Total Performance died with the Speed Kills ads of 1971. Right in the middle of 55 mph America, it rose again with Ford Motorsport.

Performance sales have been cultivated by Ford since 1982 to be high end options, just like it was in 1965. But now, the whole car has to hack 170 mph performance and still crash into a 200 ton block at 50 mph, and look after pedestrians as well. That's why the latest Stang lookes the way it does.


Now there is a later day Total Performance Focus. Its very important that if Mopar sells 700 hp, and Chev sells 850 hp, so can Ford. The cost of making a car safe to that level is high, but its payed for by keen buyers who want that level of expertise.


The issue with the boredom of 600 hp options is that ever since 1980, emissions and crash legal is the only game in town. With the cost of just emissions certification being 100 thousand dollars just to do a back to back Federal Test Procedure validation on a part that can be proven not to trigger OBD/DTC codes or screw out before 50000 miles...the trigger cost is too great, and so we've been moving to option box 600 hp to 850 hp cars for a long time. Stability controls and the eclectronic throttle have fairly well limited what the average Joe can do. If you wanna play, you really gotta pay at the dealer level.


The over the counter bolt on a 4-bbl creativity of the OHV 5.0 era is gone now, and will never return.

I saw this comming in 1986 when I thought just bolting on a turbo or doing a blueprint and under the radar cam and induction mods was gonna be the way for the next 20 years.

Well, we were wrong. CAFE, CARB, the EPA, and EO's have ment the cookie cutter has been out shapping your individuality.

For me, a Hot Rod is a pre 1948 car. A Street Machine a pre 1996 car. Post 1996 cars, you can turbo them, and get them to haul butt, and the Honda era has been tick tack toed by Ford with the Mustang. And that is how it is.

As for the design process, I'd never have done what Ford did.

For me, a Mustang should always be a common mass produced weapon based on a volume sedan, not a specialty car with no association form another Ford product. Back in the day, an Aston Martin was always an aristoratic grunt house that you could take out on a saturday night, drag race, and then snap something expensive like a Salisbury differential or half shaft, or bend a door at a drive in, or ruin the alloy pannels when your little cousin sat on the hood, and the poor people would just kinda laugh at the rich mans play thing.


When I was 12, I'd see a 1982 351 Fairmont, and badger the owner for 15 minutes, and go home wiping the drool from my mouth just thinking about a factor 200 hp, 16 second muscle car for 30 grand.

Now, the Mustang is a factory hot rod with safegaurds that is just like the K code 271 base was in 1965 to a 105 hp 170 cube basemodel Mustang. By the time a Cobra cam and 4-bbl Holley and Paxton Supercharger was put on it, your base car had gone up in price 4 times from the little leage clunker. Back then, you could get as much as 4-1/2 times as much hp as the stock 170 or 200 six. Now, its just twice the amount.

[ToddMcF2002]

I'll be keeping my 04 GT convertible for a while, the new car just isn't very attractive. I don't care how well it drives if I have to have a car cover put over it to look at it.

Pretty much my sentiment. Engineering is not the only thing that makes a car a great car.

[JTurbo]

The 2015+ nose is pretty good looking, the back end looks bloated. I test drove a 2015 last fall, but the car felt very large.

I actually prefer the 2014 a bit more....

[ZephyrEFI]

I think the S550 is the sexiest Mustang since the '69-70. Is it my favorite since then? Not necessarily. And that's very nice for you Trey that YOU have a '69 Mach 1, but many of us are not so lucky.

I do like how the styling is low and sleek like a '71-73. That said, i feel like they really missed an opportunity to shrink the car after the size peaked at the S197. The S197 is a HUGE car. But the reason for that was the Lincoln/Jaguar chassis it was sort of loosely based on. The S550 was a clean slate. I mean yes, leave room for the Coyote, and keep the proportions nice, but I feel they made it MUCH bigger than they needed to.

I'm also not a fan of how much better the Camaro apparently is. I mean, what happened there, Ford?!

I see your point xc about making more money with prestige, and the new car is definitely a capable performer, but it's just a shame they had to do it with a nameplate that USED to stand for affordability.

As for the SN95, looking back, i was thrilled they were finally updating the styling of the Mustang, and i loved the retro, but i think i was disappointed in the look of it. The body lines are very busy, and what's the deal with that plastic trim over the A and C pillars? That just looks cheap! It's not a Saturn! The New Edge was cleaner and crisper, but they should have updated the interior when they made that change. It didn't match the exterior at all.

[ZephyrEFI]

Oh, and I almost forgot. The new Corvette is hideous.

[ToddMcF2002]

Oh, and I almost forgot. The new S550 is hideous.

Fixed that for you since clearly it was in error. Thank me later.

[Maindrian Pace]

The S-550 is a decent looking car in the right color with the right wheels. I drove an Ecoboost and was surprised at the power, torque, and tractability of the engine. When the '94 came out, the first one I saw on the road was a white GT convertible with the top down. It looked like a giant tennis shoe.

[escogt]

The only thing I don't like about the S550 is the price. lol
Awesome Mustang IMO!!

[gr79]

Somehow the Mustang styling clues live on. Glad the car does too.
That silver one above is one of the better looking ones. The rims do it.

Have seen many new stingrays and stangs over the year.
Isosceles trapezoid back windows.
Distinctively odd rear styling for sure.
Mustang taillights slant up.
No more round taillights on vette