sure, it's great in straight lines, but....

[whiteboyslo]

.....how are the S197s in the twisties? i'm a fan of seeing hellatious trap times and all, but i'm an even bigger fan of finding some winding backcountry roads and running the hell out of 'em. Has anyone really tried to wind the car out yet, maybe at an auto-X or something? how does it do? what are some of the immediate upgrades that should be made to improve the suspension? drop it? sways? LCAs? adj. panhard bar?

Mike

 

[VOORHEES]

If you take Motor Trends word on it(I don't), they are terrible. But, they are biased *******s anyway.

 

[V6WBlue05]

I think it's ok. I go driving through the Cascades and haven't had any problems with it. I can normally keep it 20 to 30 over the 'caution' speed limits the few times it's got a little out of shape it telegraphs it well so you don't loose it.

 

[whiteboyslo]

yeah, i really don't trust any of the car magazines when it comes to their opinions. too much bias, and you never know what their definition of "good" is. plus, they're testing the bone stock car. with a little bit of $$$, mundane cars can handle obscenely well. my focus, for example, handled OK for an econo car, but $2K in wheels, tires, brakes, and suspension later and it's like the car is on rails.

Mike

 

[jasonlee0704]

Every car mag I've read gave the 05 Mustang raves for being light-years ahead in handling vs. the previous Mustangs and for doing great as compared to other cars in the same $25K category as a base Mustang GT.

If you're talking about Motor Trend's thumbs down for the Mustang's handling vs. the 350Z, remember the Z is in a completely different category.

Z = $27K-34K, premium fuel, small sports car with a heavy emphasis on handling and performance through the twisties.

Mustang GT = $25-28K, performance on a budget muscle car with a heavy emphasis on raw horsepower and straight-line acceleration.

The Z's direct competition is not the Mustang, it's a BMW Z4, a Honda S2000, and a Mazda Miata.

The Mustang GT's direct competition doesn't exist anymore.

 

[300bhp/ton]

Every car mag I've read gave the 05 Mustang raves for being light-years ahead in handling vs. the previous Mustangs and for doing great as compared to other cars in the same $25K category as a base Mustang GT.

If you're talking about Motor Trend's thumbs down for the Mustang's handling vs. the 350Z, remember the Z is in a completely different category.

Z = $27K-34K, premium fuel, small sports car with a heavy emphasis on handling and performance through the twisties.

Mustang GT = $25-28K, performance on a budget muscle car with a heavy emphasis on raw horsepower and straight-line acceleration.

The Z's direct competition is not the Mustang, it's a BMW Z4, a Honda S2000, and a Mazda Miata.

The Mustang GT's direct competition doesn't exist anymore.

some of you guys need a reality check.

Any performance car can be an alternative to another, just depends what you want. a 350z and a GT Stang are pretty similar in nearly all respects - SORRY BUT ITS THRE TRUTH.

-front engined
-rwd
-v engined
-performance styled & minded
-affordable
-everyday usability
-coupe

Only peoples unfounded preconceptions and sub catagoriseations seperate such cars. Price is only the issue that stops people having more choice. But a rich person might still buy a cheaper car.

What is a Mustang - and no the answer I'm loooking for is not Pony car. Yes it is one but what is a Pony car?

Pony car: A good looking, reasonable performing, sensibly priced fun performance car. Well couldn't this also include muscle cars, sports cars, GT's, pickups and family saloons and so on.

And when you guys say handling, what do you mean - grip levels OR handling. They may cross over but they are totally different things, as you can have a great handling car with very little grip and a very grippy car that has aweful handling!

 

[05PhillyStang]

I think what jasonlee was trying to say is that the Z was engineered for handling. So if you compare the Mustang's handling to the Z, of course it will look bad. It's like saying the Z has poor straight line ability. Maybe, if compared to the Mustang's. Just remember: It's all relative.

But I do agree the "Any performance car can be an alternative to another, just depends what you want" statement. The Z is competition, each car just has it's own unique charactetistics

 

[05Stangster]

To answer the question in the original post - in my opinion, the Mustang is great at the straight line and is great in the twisties. I would consider the Z to be excellent in the twisties. Unless you plan on using your Mustang for professional circuit racing, I doubt you will need any more cornering performance than the Mustang offers. You can always do some modifications if feel you need more. I am very happy with how my GT corners and handles the hill country twisties

 

[300bhp/ton]

To answer the question in the original post - in my opinion, the Mustang is great at the straight line and is great in the twisties. I would consider the Z to be excellent in the twisties. Unless you plan on using your Mustang for professional circuit racing, I doubt you will need any more cornering performance than the Mustang offers. You can always do some modifications if feel you need more. I am very happy with how my GT corners and handles the hill country twisties

thats a pretty damn good comment.

I've been fortunante enough to drive quite a few cars including a couple of LS1 Z28's and an 05 GT Mustang. I would say as a road cars they all seemed very capable (didn't really get much opportunity to test the 'on-limit' handling on the public raods), the GT especially felt very taught but in comparison to my 1982 XJS the ride and refinment was years behind. This is one of the limitations of a live rear over an IRS.

Do remeber that a GT is quite a heavy old boat with a suspension setup that only really works on smooth surfaces. The inclusion of a panhard rod is an improvment although a Watts linkage would still be the better option. As the major design flaw with all live rear setups is the lateral axel location and control. High profile tyres will help here, as they are the first part of the suspension setup, if you have a bigger sidewall it may allow a little more roll but it will also react to bumps and dips better meaning the rest of the suspension doesn't have to try and deal with as much lateral movement.

 

[Dean Gamburd]

Interesting thread with a lot of good input. I live in the hills and work in the flats so I am up and down the hills every day. Plus late at night I have been known to go driving through the canyon roads for fun.

I use to drive a Chevy Z28 until it just wore out . I had to add a few suspension pieces to the Z28 to help stiffen the front end up to help point the nose into the turn. Don't have that problem with the 05 GT. My GT is still stock in the suspension dept. I have added the Jet Performance Module and the car is just plain fun to drive. It does want to break loose at times but gives enough warning as to counter it well before hand. The roads out here are pretty chewed up after all the rains we have had so part of it is the roads...

But we should also discuss driving styles too as that plays a big part in how the car is rated for handling. Personally I am a controling kind of driver. I keep the car under control though I push it to the edge. So far the 05 GT has been able to give me what I want without any real surprises and it moves up and down the hills quite nicely thank you. There are some very embarassed Porsche owners in my neighborhood who have much more respect for the Mustang these days.

I plan to change out the anti-roll bars at some point and add an export or shock tower brace and see how that changes things... but for a $25K car right off the dealer floor, it's light years over my old Z28 and the same over the older mustangs...

Oh, and I drove the heck out of a Z350 before deciding I much preferred the 05 Mustang GT.... just got to love the horsepower and torque of the Mustang..

 

[scottie1113]

I've got a 95 GT vert and I also like to drive the twisties. Yes, the car understeers a bit and when the road is rough the rear end hops a bit, but sice I don't drive at anywhere the limit on public roads it has never been a proble. I haven't driven a 2005 Mustang yet but almost all the reviews as well as owners posts here and on other bords lead me to believe that the car handles very well.

I've had a few sports cars and sports sedans over the years--old Jag XK-150, Porsche 914, BMW 3201, Alfa Spider, etc--and I can truthfully say that my Mustang has given me more smiles per mile than any of the others--and that's on the ancient Fox platform. I don't think you'll be disappointed with the 2005 Mustang's handling, not even on Highway 1.

 

[YelloMP5]

I took out a rental V6 automatic on an S-Curve last week and I thought it did pretty well. Of course when my stang comes in, im gonna get springs and some bracing.

 

[topless beach]

Remember that the whole package counts for something. A WRX is a very competent & affordable car, but it's not much to look at. Every car I've ever owned was a tradeoff, and I haven't yet heard of the perfect car at any price.

 

[whiteboyslo]

all sound good guys. thanks. i guess i'll have to be my own judge once i finally get behind the wheel of one. it's just gonna be a learning experience going from my tiny FWD to a heavier RWD.

as far as the comparison between the GT and the 350Z, i may be able to shine some light on that once i finally get my GT. mom has a 350Z Roadster that i've played with behind her back a few times, and i must say i'm VERY impressed with the handling of the car.

i guess the last thing that's worth throwing out is that i'm a "control" driver myself. ass-out can be fun, but track times don't lie. a controlled loop will always be faster than some crazy half-drift all-torque driving (although that can be more fun!)

Mike

 

[YelloMP5]

all sound good guys. thanks. i guess i'll have to be my own judge once i finally get behind the wheel of one. it's just gonna be a learning experience going from my tiny FWD to a heavier RWD.

Its not that hard! Im coming from a Mazda Protege5!