you have nothing to hang your head about, even with her 16.00 flat. that would still be a low 10.?? in the 1/8 mile for her. Consider this, a stock 2.73 geared aod fox body mustang with no mods at all, and on street tires, will only run about 10.10-10.20 in the 1/8 mile, trust me, I had one, and it was stock right down to the air silencer, so times aren't bad at all, they just seem that way because you are used to looking at v-8 times and seeing those in the 13's or high 14's, so don't fret about it. i think for what these cars put out, these times are great, auto or stick, and they are certainly comparable to the old fox bodies when you are talking stock to stock.
I'm still humming and hawing over getting a new stang right now vs. waiting a bit. My car is almost paid for and going a year or so without having to make a payment at all is very tempting. Threads like this don't make the wait very easy.
The trend of the V6 keeping up to or out running the Fox 5.0's began with the 99+ cars. Stock they can run a 15.6 with an open dif. and a driver with more experience than I'll ever get in my lifetime.
My 02 is not as heavy, but it is still frame challenged. With 204BHP and 245BTQ - My best times are all in the 15.4's @ 90 without subs and NO traction (2.3-2.4 60 FT), so I might get a bit more out of it with some extra metal. Thing is, it's just not an 05. If these cars are getting mid 15's stock, it's a 14.8 car in the right conditions on 87o! With the right SCT tune, I could see mid 14's or better. That is just amazing considering the 250+ lb weight advantage I have, duals, tracklock, 93o Tune... and the times being so close. It would seem the S197 is cutting off .5 just with the chassis design. If power to weight was the same for 99+ vs. an 05, I could see the 05 6's near a second faster in the 1/4.