Ford Front Bumper Engineers win SAOY Award

gilmoujr · Dec 16, 2004

Yes, you heard right. Ford 2005 Mustang Front Bumper Engineers win the Stupid Ass of the Year award... from me anyway. Who in the hell designs a bumper for use in the USA that does not leave room for a front license plate (that is required in most states). I mean, there are two "pilot" holes for screws but the license plate hangs down 2-3 inches below the edge of the bumper and there is no place for two more screws. They designed the whole car great except for this... Now the car is going to be a rattle trap and the paint is likely to rub off in a matter of weeks. I hope the Ford guys are listening.

Next time you build a car, let some of us take it for a few weeks and let you know what your nerdy-ass engineers don't think of...

Fastrack · Dec 16, 2004

My Taurus..

My Taurus has the same type of thing, about 1/3 of the plate hangs below the bumper. I personally think it looks neat. And my car is now 10 years old and the paint is not rubbed off.

Can't wait till the spring to order my GT

Ben

thunderstorm144 · Dec 16, 2004

gilmoujr said:
Yes, you heard right. Ford 2005 Mustang Front Bumper Engineers win the Stupid Ass of the Year award... from me anyway. Who in the hell designs a bumper for use in the USA that does not leave room for a front license plate (that is required in most states). I mean, there are two "pilot" holes for screws but the license plate hangs down 2-3 inches below the edge of the bumper and there is no place for two more screws. They designed the whole car great except for this... Now the car is going to be a rattle trap and the paint is likely to rub off in a matter of weeks. I hope the Ford guys are listening.

Next time you build a car, let some of us take it for a few weeks and let you know what your nerdy-ass engineers don't think of...

Tin snips.

DaNd4Speed · Dec 16, 2004

gilmoujr said:
Yes, you heard right. Ford 2005 Mustang Front Bumper Engineers win the Stupid Ass of the Year award... from me anyway. Who in the hell designs a bumper for use in the USA that does not leave room for a front license plate (that is required in most states). I mean, there are two "pilot" holes for screws but the license plate hangs down 2-3 inches below the edge of the bumper and there is no place for two more screws. They designed the whole car great except for this... Now the car is going to be a rattle trap and the paint is likely to rub off in a matter of weeks. I hope the Ford guys are listening.

Next time you build a car, let some of us take it for a few weeks and let you know what your nerdy-ass engineers don't think of...

Whoa!...a little hatred to engineers huh? Yeah, Ford hasn't done enough in improving the Mustang. Let's just forget the 5 mph bumpers there's no place to mount my license plate, this is real important stuff! As an engineer myself, I'm glad you had no input in the design at all. Have you heard of a license plate mount? My Sunfire has a pointed front end, and yet I don't need to bend my plate in an angle in order to mount it to my bumper. It mounts perfectly fine using the plastic plate bracket which is flat on one side (for the plate), and contoured to the bumper on the other side. Probably in the case of the 2005 Mustang, the bracket would mount to the underside lip of the bumper, completely hidden from view.

Mustang5L5 · Dec 16, 2004

gilmoujr said:
Yes, you heard right. Ford 2005 Mustang Front Bumper Engineers win the Stupid Ass of the Year award... from me anyway. Who in the hell designs a bumper for use in the USA that does not leave room for a front license plate (that is required in most states).

I would give the SAOY award to the guys who designed the front bumper on the 99-04 Mustang. I find it stupid that they DID design a bumper with the front lisence plate indent. I don't run a plate up front and i think it really makes the front of my car look ugly.

But to each his own.

PS. Engineers didn't design the bumper cover. That's really the styling department right there. Engineers designed all the stuff under the bumper that will save your life in a crash...like ABS systems, crumple zones, suspension, etc. Don't blame them for a bumper design that they had no say in.

sveet · Dec 16, 2004

I loved the C5 Vette plate set-up. You could remove the "Corvette" plate and replace with the required State plate and then replace with Vette filler plate if you don't run a plate.

I, too, don't like the '99-'04 GT set-up. I would run a front plate if I could remove it without permanent damage. The only way to mount a front plate is to drill holes in the bumper.

Scot_94GT · Dec 16, 2004

usually people who blame things on "bad engineering" have no clue what engineering is. yes...I'm sure an engineer designed the look of a bumper. If you wnat to mad at someone, be mad at your state representatives for having such an idiotic law requiring a front license.

Same thing goes for people who blame the engineers at Ford for not giving the car enough power. Duhh...do you think the engineers don't know how to make it the best way possible? It's the mangaers and the finace department the says "no! make it cheaper!" If it was up to the engineers the Mustang would probbably have a 900hp twin turbo engine with a 6speed and every other car-goody....but it would cost a ton of money. When the engineers outrank the bean-counters, you end up with something like the Salen S7.

Mustang5L5 · Dec 16, 2004

Scot_94GT said:
usually people who blame things on "bad engineering" have no clue what engineering is. yes...I'm sure an engineer designed the look of a bumper. If you wnat to mad at someone, be mad at your state representatives for having such an idiotic law requiring a front license.

Same thing goes for people who blame the engineers at Ford for not giving the car enough power. Duhh...do you think the engineers don't know how to make it the best way possible? It's the mangaers and the finace department the says "no! make it cheaper!" If it was up to the engineers the Mustang would probbably have a 900hp twin turbo engine with a 6speed and every other car-goody....but it would cost a ton of money. When the engineers outrank the bean-counters, you end up with something like the Salen S7.

Well said!

(mech engineer here)

thunderstorm144 · Dec 16, 2004

Scot_94GT said:
usually people who blame things on "bad engineering" have no clue what engineering is. yes...I'm sure an engineer designed the look of a bumper. If you wnat to mad at someone, be mad at your state representatives for having such an idiotic law requiring a front license.

Same thing goes for people who blame the engineers at Ford for not giving the car enough power. Duhh...do you think the engineers don't know how to make it the best way possible? It's the mangaers and the finace department the says "no! make it cheaper!" If it was up to the engineers the Mustang would probbably have a 900hp twin turbo engine with a 6speed and every other car-goody....but it would cost a ton of money. When the engineers outrank the bean-counters, you end up with something like the Salen S7.

:worship:

Exactly. This is how things work in the real world. (Former Mech Engineer).

Like, I am sitting at my PC with a modeling program and it occurs to me that the indent for the license plate should definitely be an inch and a half smaller in height than the plate that will go in it. Yah...that's what I was thinking.

gilmoujr · Dec 17, 2004

Okay. Points all taken. I was just pissed off when I wrote it and venting. My apologies to the engineers. But SOMEBODY screwed up. Someone said up top that I should buy a bracket for it. Did Ford, in its infinite wisdom, make one? If not, then they should have... or made the bumper more conducive to holding a plate... My opinion still stands about it not being very functional.

05silverstang · Dec 17, 2004

Okay. Points all taken. I was just pissed off when I wrote it and venting. My apologies to the engineers. But SOMEBODY screwed up. Someone said up top that I should buy a bracket for it. Did Ford, in its infinite wisdom, make one? If not, then they should have... or made the bumper more conducive to holding a plate... My opinion still stands about it not being very functional.

No one screwed up. Look at most of the new cars today. Almost all just have the pilot hole indentions when they arrive at the dealer. This is the point where the dealer can install the bracket/holder. I rolled off the lot with my 05 before anyone could get close enough to drill any holes into my baby and no one will! If you want to put the bracket on yours... go for it. But thank god they didn't put that crap on mine.

Reimann · Dec 17, 2004

gilmoujr said:
Okay. Points all taken. I was just pissed off when I wrote it and venting. My apologies to the engineers. But SOMEBODY screwed up. Someone said up top that I should buy a bracket for it. Did Ford, in its infinite wisdom, make one? If not, then they should have... or made the bumper more conducive to holding a plate... My opinion still stands about it not being very functional.

I happen to agree with you that they should take the front license plate into consideration when designing the front bumper. Chevy does seem to get it right, Vetts and later model Camaros had the removal piece for them. Just becareful posting any type of an opinion here. No one wants to hear an opinion that differs from what they already think.

Dotanukie · Dec 17, 2004

About ten years ago my buddy worked for Ford as a summer intern while he was working toward his masters in EE. He worked on the Ranger pickup line. Basically, they would give him a preproduction lot vehicle and say, go out and drive the hell out of it and tell us what needs to be changed (they would often drive to baltimore for a crab cake lunch, from New Jersey), or, take this truck, do 90 through that field of speed bumps, nail the brakes and tell us what happens. He and the other kids they had working there caught lots of little things that they suggested changes to, stuff like ergonomics (the cup holder works better over here) and detail items. Maybe we should be blaming those kids for stuff like a license plate mount and not the project engineers.

Best part of that job was that he usually got to take whatever thing he was working on on a Friday home for the weekend.

05silverstang · Dec 17, 2004

manicmustangman said:
I happen to agree with you that they should take the front license plate into consideration when designing the front bumper. Chevy does seem to get it right, Vetts and later model Camaros had the removal piece for them. Just becareful posting any type of an opinion here. No one wants to hear an opinion that differs from what they already think.

Haha. Wouldn't it be more of an engineering blunder to design away from making the attachment of a front plate optional? I agree the Vette solution worked... but have you seen the 05? Here's a pic in case you havent.

VETTE PIC

And on a side note, if you post a thread with a strong opinion don't be suprised to get strong replies in return.

*group hug*

gilmoujr · Dec 17, 2004

Dotanukie said:
About ten years ago my buddy worked for Ford as a summer intern while he was working toward his masters in EE. He worked on the Ranger pickup line. Basically, they would give him a preproduction lot vehicle and say, go out and drive the hell out of it and tell us what needs to be changed

I would love that job. I do not think that the people who did the Mustangs (99+) took the cup holders into consideration. I think that they should not even exist in these cars... No need for drinking - pay attention to the road...

JonJon · Dec 17, 2004

My 99 isn't screwed into the bottom, it's fine.

and yes, the engineers are morons for the 99/00 cupholders.

Ford Front Bumper Engineers win SAOY Award

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