iowabowhunter said:
Hi guys,
I'm looking at buying a new toy. I can't decided between the new Mustang and a T/A. I used to be Ford loyal but I have owned a couple Firebirds in the past so this no longer holds true. I posted a thread similar to this one over on F-body.com but all I got was a bunch of bs and Ford bashing. I'm wanting to know how the cars compare in ride quality and workmanship and if you had to do it all over again what would yo do? I would like to know from some of you that have actuall owned an LS1 car and now own a Mustang or maybe own both.
Thanks
Bob
Well how much do you want to spend?
The Fbody LS1 is a great car, they handle good and ride well for a performance car, plus have 345bhp STOCK and are easily modified.
Also they are pretty cheap to buy know, but are still new enough and reliable enough to be used as a daily driver. The interior is perhaps a little bland, but it's well designed and screwed together.
Remember both Ford and GM are big multinational corporations, neither builds better car, there's just stupid biased fools out there that slag the other off.
The s197 is fantastic looking car, best looking car for the past 10 years IMO. The interior looks good too, esspically with IUP, although I will be honest the interior is far more plasticky in the Mustang once up close. The seats also don't support brilliantly for spritied driving, where as the seats in my Z28 are superb, they even have adjustable side bolsters.
When I drove a s197 I found the low speed ride quality to be quite poor, one you speed up it tends to settle itself out, IMO the Fbody has a better low speed ride quality. This is probably due to the lower profile tyres fitted to the Mustang, as the suspensions systems are very similar in concept.
In performance terms the Mustang is good, and with a fairly good aftermarket too, but in STOCK trim an LS1 is faster (more power and less weight). Also will you want to mod a new car and void the warranty?
If I had the money I would have probably gone for the Mustang (for the looks alone). As it was the Z28 cost me about a 1/4 of the price of a Mustang GT and I'm very pleased with it.
In every area the Fbody will match or exceed the Mustang, except for looks (arguably). And of course age. But it will do it all for far less money
N.B. If anyone thinks sitting in an Fbody is low down and sitting on the floor, then they need to go and sit in a proper low down sports car. The Fbody is not low down at all.