Drove a stang. More love for the celi now

[Blastofo]

So my friend traded in his civic for a 99 5spd base model stang. We went to a club, and he had more to drink than I, so when we left, he gave me the keys.

It took me a couple minutes to get used to the mustang's clutch and shifter...

First I noticed how much longer the clutch is. There is much more distance to the disengage point.

The shifter had longer throws. Of course the gears were spread apart wider compared to the gt-s 6 speed. Which is a good thing because you'd have to be a tard to misshift it. The shifting felt kind of loose though. I liked how they placed the shifter though. Its more easily within reach.

Steering was not as sharp. Maybe its because the steering wheel is larger? There were some curves on the freeway we were on. I drove on the same spot with my gt-s on the same day. I took it around 82 mph. With the stang, I was going 70 and it didnt feel tight enough to go any faster.

As far as acceleration goes. It's hard for me to judge since I didnt drive it enough to get good at launching it from a stop. And having 2 passengers doesn't help. Lower end torque seemed pretty much equal to the gt-s. Probably would have felt stronger with just a driver, but hearing the engine struggle at its 6rpm limit and not feeling any top end was kind of a let down.

I did like the interior room. I'm 6'1 and I felt less restricted in the mustangs cockpit. But then again I think the ride is too high for a sport coupe. So that kind of kills it.

Though it would be more fair to compare the GT model to the gt-s. Even with a V8 engine in that car, i'd still never trade my celi for it!

No flames please. Most of what I say is just personal preference.

[SlasherX]

No flames here...the car isn't made for everyone. That's why we are able to enjoy so many other types ofsports cars if we so choose.

The stock shifter is a POS that they throw in the stangs...the first mod is usually a short throw shifter..the Steeda TRi-Ax is the one I have and I LOVE IT! It has a spring preload for the 2nd-3rd shift so all you have to do is push up and youll catch 3rd everytime. makes powershifts much quicker and a common rule of Mustang lore is that the stock shifter is so bad, that when you upgrade toa short throw you drop damn near 2 tenths off your quartermile.

the ride height is a problem with all stangs since the 1994 redesign from teh fox..they added mroe travel in the suspension for better lateral grip, but in doing so they made overall handling feel very boat like...two mods combat this..number one..the cars riding on a 30 year old chasis..so you need to strengthen it by adding subframes...subframes are another one of those MUST GET mods because it binds the overall chasis together and you'd be AMAZED how much of that unevenness in turns, etc. is chasis flex. it feels like a totally new car after that mod. Notice that both the sub frames and shifter mods are pretty cheap to do as well. i got both for $250 total.

Next up is the springs..its a v6..ford gave it softer spring rates than the GT. Swap those out with some stiffer springs and aftermarket shocks and struts and the car now will handle as good as most anything else out there, and for its price range, itll be tops. a balanced rwd with a now tightened chasis...can't really beat it.

seating position can be changed via the standard 8 way power drivers seat. it took me awhile to fiddle with mine so it felt "just right" but now that i've done that, its quite comfortable, even on my long 13 hour rtrips from PA to Clemson. the seats feel like a million bucks. :)

Acceleration wise....down low it should fairly beat out a GT-S. it isnt until about highway speeds and above that teh GT_S will outperform the v6 in acceleration..but once again..the V6 has an aftermarket for that "problem"(heads,intakes,cams, turbos, nitrous, superchargers, bolt on's, gears,etc.)...the GT-S doesn't.

The clutch is adjustable..you just have to select the most ocmfortable position for takeoff by pulling on the pedal til you hear the click..it offers up to 4 different positions. pretty cool feature from teh factory. clutch itself is out of the 99+ cobra..you aren't breaking that thing! :)

Steering isn't as sharp because the car is bigger, has a poorer front suspensio setup, and has bad camber curves. aftermarket can take care of this as well.

enter the mustang..while not everyones car of choice, it can sure be made to fill most peoples desires. :)

[iwantaferrari]

some of the boatyness etc isnt found in the GT, take one for a spin... NEVER say never, i said id never drive a 4 cyl, and now most of the new cars im considering getting (including the celi GTS) are 4 cyls.....

[SlasherX]

Originally posted by iwantaferrari
some of the boatyness etc isnt found in the GT, take one for a spin... NEVER say never, i said id never drive a 4 cyl, and now most of the new cars im considering getting (including the celi GTS) are 4 cyls.....

yeah, teh GT gets stiffer spring rates and has greater rolling resistance since it uses 17 inch wheels. hell, the bullitt came fromt eh factory with subframes, koni shocks/struts and lowering springs.

[FastDriver]

I've never driven a GT-S, but I do have a question. How much is the price difference between it and a base model stang?

[Reality Man]

let me be the first to say that the V6 clutch SUCKS.
first time i drove slashers car i wound up revving it to 3K RPMs before the damned thing engaged. Its about as light as the clutch in our civic as well. POS.

Also, like dave said: the stock shifter sucks too...first thing you have to do to a stang is get a new one. The stocker feels like it belongs in a F350.

And no, its not really fair to compare a GT-S to a 15K car. Hell, my GT was loaded (cept leather) and only 19K. Again, like dave said, there are are alot of differences between the V6 and the GT.

Dont expect any mustang other than a cobra to be strong up top. its like expecting your car to have gobs of low end torque.

[Reality Man]

Originally posted by FastDriver
I've never driven a GT-S, but I do have a question. How much is the price difference between it and a base model stang?

loaded 01V6s are 14K here.

[SlasherX]

Originally posted by Reality Man
let me be the first to say that the V6 clutch SUCKS.
first time i drove slashers car i wound up revving it to 3K RPMs before the damned thing engaged. Its about as light as the clutch in our civic as well. POS.



haha, you just can't drive! :p BTW, my clutch still works fine, despite your attempts at flambaying it. :)

[Reality Man]

Originally posted by SlasherX


haha, you just can't drive! :p BTW, my clutch still works fine, despite your attempts at flambaying it. :)

im just used to clutches that arent made for women.

[SlasherX]

Originally posted by Reality Man


im just used to clutches that arent made for women.

closet-secretary...you know you liked it.

[cjbaldw]

Originally posted by SlasherX


haha, you just can't drive! :p BTW, my clutch still works fine, despite your attempts at flambaying it. :)

Regarding your comment that the clutch is the same as the 99+ Cobra. Are you sure about this? I find it hard to believe given the 99+ Cobras utilize the Tremec T3650 transmission, a different unit than the T5 that ships with all standard GT's and V6 models. I would further doubt this given I'm fairly certain the Cobra uses a lighter flywheel than the standard GT stangs as well, and SVT almost always upgrades the clutch in most of their cars beyond the stock factory units. For instance, my SVT Contour has the same tranny (MTX75) but a performance clutch and lightened flywheel as compared to the standard V6 Contours...just curious if you could show me where it says that the units are identical? :)

[SlasherX]

Originally posted by cjbaldw


Regarding your comment that the clutch is the same as the 99+ Cobra. Are you sure about this? I find it hard to believe given the 99+ Cobras utilize the Tremec T3650 transmission, a different unit than the T5 that ships with all standard GT's and V6 models. I would further doubt this given I'm fairly certain the Cobra uses a lighter flywheel than the standard GT stangs as well, and SVT almost always upgrades the clutch in most of their cars beyond the stock factory units. For instance, my SVT Contour has the same tranny (MTX75) but a performance clutch and lightened flywheel as compared to the standard V6 Contours...just curious if you could show me where it says that the units are identical? :)

Yeah i apologize for the misinformation, i just found out yesterday after posting that that i was indeed incorrect. the overall diameter of the 99 up cobra clutch disc is 10.5", while the v6's is 11". why the v6 has a larger diameter disc intrigues me, my theory is that since the 3.8 transmission uses teh same bellhousing as the 5.0 motor did, and since the 3.8 does indeed use the 5.0's t-5 tranny since 94 (99 being the switchover to the t-5z), the v6 is indeed using a 5.0 clutch. thats only thing that i can think of, as this clutch has yet to fail on any of the guys running 300rwhp 300rwtq and doing 5k drag slick launches.

it was mentioned to me that it could be a possible 93 cobra clutch/bellhousing since the car does use the cobra's t-5z tranny, but that is just an assumption and i highly doubt it with the limited run of 93 cobra's that occured(4993)

[SlasherX]

this is for Reality Man, who couldnt post last night because of an error.

"i had a long post typed out...so of course i got an error when i sent it.

the short version:

GTs used the T5 till 95.
96-01GTs used the T45.
late 01-02GTs use the 3650.
V6s have always used a slightly different version of the T5.

The cobra clutch and V6 clutch are not the same.

SVT does not build the cobra. We all wish they did. Unfortunately team mustang is in charge, therefore what SVT does with their cars has no bearing on the cobra."

[cjbaldw]

Originally posted by SlasherX
this is for Reality Man, who couldnt post last night because of an error.

"i had a long post typed out...so of course i got an error when i sent it.

the short version:

GTs used the T5 till 95.
96-01GTs used the T45.
late 01-02GTs use the 3650.
V6s have always used a slightly different version of the T5.

The cobra clutch and V6 clutch are not the same.

SVT does not build the cobra. We all wish they did. Unfortunately team mustang is in charge, therefore what SVT does with their cars has no bearing on the cobra."

Good info. Actually SVT builds nothing, as it is a marketing arm within Ford. SVE builds the cars. Rumor is that John Colleti (head of SVE) is taking away the Cobra from Team Mustang when they switch to the DEW-97 chassis in 04, mostly due to the fact that Team Mustang took it hard due to the 99 Cobra screw ups and the fact that John has such clout within the Ford organization right now due to the success of the Lightning, and the Focus SVT hype. We shall see what really happens.

I heard from a Ford employee that the T3650 is NOT used in normal GT's, they still have the T45 tranny, only the Cobra uses the T3650, and that only started in the 01's, the 99 Cobra used the same T45 as the GT's...doesn't really matter to me either way though :) They should have switched over to the T56 IMHO, especially given the Cobra's high revving requirements to get the performance out of the car, and to boost MPG, why they didn't do that, I don't know. :confused:

[SlasherX]

the t-3650 tranny switchover occured mid year 2001, starting with the Bullitt. its a fact.

heh, i've already heard a ford employee say that the 67 mustang inline 200 cid 6 put out 170hp..so as for their credibility..

;)

[trapdowner]

as the former owner of a 98 gt with what was called the sport package aparently this was a special package offerd in late 98 taht included special 17" wheels fords lowering spriongs sorta like the ones on the bullit ic an only assume and a gay ass stripe package that 4 stangs here now have copied i lvoed mine. never took it to the track though. i had the borla side exit exhaust which was a ford motorsports part it was the ebst sounding exhaust i ever heard i loved it. had the bbk cai and that too amde a huge dif in performance when combined with the bbk 75 mm throttle body.. but i agree 100% with slasher stock shifter sux. i upgraded to the b& m ripper. well too bad that a drunk driver decided to t\run a stop sign and destroy it or i would still have it o well, contemplating a new one but am not sure yet....mike