I have a stang book which generally shows that V-6's represent about 2/3'rds of all Mustang sales. This info is not that hard to find. There are other interesting facts, such a 5 speed vs manuals. Most 6'ers are auto's, while a higher percentage of GT's are sticks. But, when you get into Vert GT's, there is a higher percentage of autos made for them then for coupes.

You also get special colors sometimes with more high-line models. It is called "market extension" and essentially, people that pay more for a model generally want the world to know that they did. You know, different badging, colors, spoiler, or whatever.

I personally think that one of the nicest looking mustangs for the money is a V-6 with the Pony Package. Once again, in 2006, Ford did it again. I think a V-6, 2006 with the pony package looks better then a GT.

I look at this post through two different sets of classes, one as a Mustang fan and another as an MBA student. This is really all about marketing....this is why I like this discussion so dam much.

Put yourself in the mind of Ford and ask yourself, "what would do if you were them." Hopefully, if you are doing your job, you would only be thinking of one thing....the customer.

I am in the progress of doing a market development plan for VW in regards to the "New Beetle". In 1998, Steven Keyes (director of public relations) stated that they wished to position the New Beetle "with one foot in the past and the other on the accelerator heading directly into the future." Think about how this statement relates to the new Mustang. This is why the Mustang and the Beetle are a sales success, while the Prowler and the GTO were total bombs.

It is very difficult to build a "retro" car that captures the feel of the old, with the technology of the new. It is hard to keep both sides happy.

 

Thats right...2/3rds!

Thats 66.6%!!

Not 65%!!

Get your facts straight

Im just a stat *******. I dont believe statistics unless they're backed up by some kind of proof I can look at. 84.2% of people agree that most statistics are made up!

 

Numbers don't lie, liars use numbers

 

I dunno...that 09 GTO looks pretty good in concept form.

 

Ban And Ban Again Find Woman Then Stop Liking Pontiac Cars

 

one word- Warranty

 

Everyone knows that 75% of all statistics are made up.


There are more powerful V6's out there than the V8's used in the Mustang, Past and Present. The new Lexus IS350 has a 303hp V6! Nissan/Infiniti's 3.5 has been putting out 240-280 in various configurations for a few years. There are enough examples out there to make a novel of a post. These are "high tech, high feature" V6's in top of the line models. None use forced induction, they use variable valve timing and other new innovations.

Now look at the Mustang's V6. The old 3.8 was a Ford mainstay since the 80's that had few upgrades, used pushrods instead of OHC tech, and made what 200hp at its best (not including the Super Coupes of course)? The new V6 is a SOHC from the Ranger pickup, light years ahead of the old 6, but still decades behind the Nissan/Toyota/Honda 6'ers. Simply bolting a blower on it to make huge power numbers wont get people to sell their G35's for a Mustang. The high tech 6'ers are alot smoother and get better mileage.

I remember a few years back Ford leaked the plans for the post Fox body Mustang. It was a plan to move the car into a more "competitive" direction, a FWD coupe desinged to fight Japan's sport coupes. 4 and 6 cylinder models, and a turbo option.

Ford got so many letters in some very colorful language telling them where they could stick this new car if it were called on Mustang. The new car's name changed. You and I know it as the Ford Probe, a dissapointing seller for Ford. The Fox platform was modified and the SN95 debuted... and Mustang popularity soared.

If Ford thinks this 6er is a good idea and the right direction for the time, I'll go with it. IMO they have made some damn good decisions regarding the direction of the Mustang. They were dead on when they dropped the "Grande" Mustangs for the II in the mid 70's. The original Mustang was an overwhelming success, and they've stayed on top of the pony car market despite GM offering bigger numbers in the Camaro/Fireturd/GTO by making the car what people wanted.

Unfortunately the purists, like myself, won't accept a performance 6'er. But we're the minority.

 

lets not forget all porche's that have high horse v6's

 

ok, but SuperSix has a Stage 3 engine package for an extra 90hp w/out other bolt ons for $2200 with installation and some bolt ons your talking roughly 4-4.5 Grand...the difference between my Mustang V6 (when i got it brand new), and a New 2003 GT mustang was atleast 5 grand, sure every so often you might find a cheaper one at the end of the season but at the exact same time, brand new and if all i was worried about is Horsepower then the V6 is a really good option, not to mention one of the added benifits, being the suspension, since it's almost 500+ lbs lighter...(that drops to a 2lb difference once i'm in the car lol)...yeah guyz i know people are worried about these new 6'ers havin problems later on, but i'm looking at it from an enthusiast, AND a Business stand point also...sure they're not guna sell a huge amount of them, but then again they probably won't produce a whole hell of alot of them...how many CObra R's were there? 50 grand for a not that much more powerful V8...it's all in how they look at it...

Maybe i just read what you guyz wrote wrong, but ever since i got my V6 i've found a new respect for the lil guyz...of course i don't have the money to throw into a super race car, maybe in a few months I will, I just don't think your feelings are warrented. Alot of people like the V6 Mustangs, and i'm sure many of them will want a supercharged V6 rather then a V8...alot women hate the loud noise of the V8's and the constant rattling of the body...I love that, but alota other people don't...The new mustangs are a new breed, just sit in them...they're much more sophisticated looking then our's...I'm forseeing an entrance of more middle class people buying the newer 05's...

 

I would like to know how you idiots figure a v6 mustang is getting into the ricer circle its not like we our stangs have small displacement sixers our engines our 3.8 and 4.0's and wait your comparing your 4.6's to ours. I believe in the muscle car days thats almost like comparing a 427 to a 302 or worse...50 cubes. It is all about displacement. I guess since i have a six cylinder that just means im gonna go put on a rice exhaust and cruise

 

No way man. Don't do it.

The 6'ers will always be more entertaining to those with more limited budgets and younger people. I only see kids doing this sort of stuff.

V-6 Mustangs are not rice. People that turn them into rice are.

 

Dude, you are spot on there! The Probe is an Excellent comparison, just like the old coke vs new coke fiasco.

Even though you may think you are in the minority, the purest have more control then you think.

Thanks for reminding me of the Grande. That car was a joke. It was supposed to be "My Father's Mustang."

 

I saw the same thing on Stangnet. http://www.stangnet.com/2005-Mustang/shelby-cs-6-v6-ford-mustang.html the link. Maybe instead of calling it a Cobra, they can call it a much smaller and friendlier snake. Here's a headline...buy the all new Shelby Hognose snake with a superchaged V6. I used the hognose snake since it "plays" dead and also likes to act like a rattlesnake by twitching it's tail really fast in the dry leaves. I thought it was fitting since it would be acting like it's a meaner snake(Cobra), when it's not. It'll still be a bad@#$ car, and they'll sell plenty. I'm not picking on V6s because everyone has their reasons for what they like or can afford. If given a choice, most people would take a Cobra if money and insurance wasn't an issue. Like other people have said, 2/3 of the cars built are V6s. When I bought my 04 GT, they had two GTs on the lot and twelve V6s. The other GT was an automatic, as were most of the V6s. I'd say that 75% of the Mustangs in my area are V6s. There are three Cobras that I've seen and one authentic Saleen around here. More power to anyone who buys a Mustang, regardless of if it has a V6, V8, DOHC, SOHC. At least it's not a 4-banger with an exhaust by Folgers coffee.

 

my body doesn't rattle any more than any 6'er I've been in.

You claim we're hatin' on V6's... seems more like you're trying to find reasons to hate on V8's.

 

Listen, i think you got the wrong idea of what ford is trying to do here...this isn't the future mustang...this is just another one of it's "mod"..Bullit, Mach 1, Boss, Shelby, Saleen, Roush, there are so many this is just another option...some would think it's rediculous to buy a Mach 1 for so much more money rather then the GT and then just add stuff to it...same thing here...some people will throw down the extra money (which isn't that much to alot)...i'm not hating on V8's i'm just pointing out that not everyone wants one, the Ideal mustang doesn't have to be a V8 for alota people...aka mostly women drive V6's and Mostly guyz drive GT's...(do i need a numerical figure shambles...), My SOLE POINT IS THIS NEW SC6 is NOT A SHELBY...the artical says it's comparing it to the GT350...so lets get that right...and lets not be so quick to shoot down another mustang just cuz it's using a different set up instead of a V8...it's still got almost as much displacement as a 4.6...hell i can get MY V6 to 4.3L with a simple camshaft change...thats alot bigger then the Nissan V6's, also those V6's are 30k cars, not even close to the price, with 30k, OMG the isht i could do...blower, engine packages, all the bolt ons, juice...frame work...i could easily get the car into 10-11 sec's with the extra money from 30k...

 

Everybody who follows NASCAR is aware of the "restrictor plate" racing at Talladega and Daytona. Big wrecks occur because 43 race cars are bunched together at 190 mph. Well, in the 80's the speed was even higher and the wrecks were career ending. Why you ask?
Bill Elliot drove both for Coors and Bud back then. His car was a Ford Thunderbird with a V6 engine, and all other Chevy, Pontiac & Buick were V8s. On "super speedways" ole Bill was able to just drive away from his competitors whenever he wanted to.
Anyway, When Bill got the #9 up to 220 mph at Talledega, NASCAR immediately changed the rules. All cars had to be V8's and fit into a standard areodynamic package. That killed the Thunderbird as far as competing in NASCAR and Ford promply dropped the line.
What really changed everything was the aerodynamic advantage the T-bird had over all other makes, the small nose was way superior to all others. The V6 and V8 engines made the same 700 horsepower but the T-bird was so slick, at high speeds, it couldn't be caught.
Incidentally, that is the reason most GT Mustangs (lightly modded) will only go about 135 mph, aerodynamics prevent further speed. If it were possible to modify the front end sheet metal, like the Nascar front ends, those ordinary GTs would be able to get into the 160 - 180mph range (although it would take a while to get up there).
The point (finally) of this is that Ford worked closely with NASCAR engine builders on those old V6s from the 80s, let's see what they come up with.

 

fordhasnever done anythign special to a v6 before i personally think its about time and its a koollooking car andlets not forget all the suspension upgrades and the borla exhaust

 

I think its a neat idea. Reminds me of the supercoupes of years past. Its sumthin different and a novelty if it was just a limited production.

 

credibilty = gone.

camshafts do not add displacement.

 

I think hes talking about stroking his crank(hopefully) and that would add displacement.

 

Since this post was pretty much aimed at me - LOL, I'll take it from here.

BTW, I love this debate, I have no ill feeling towards anyone. It really is a great discussion.

I am not an economic major, I have a degree in chemistry and biology and an MBA in marketing. I think the term you meant was "marketing" not economics. But you bring up a good point, even if you don't realize it.

The downfall of the American automotive industry is because they are terrible at marketing, and they have let the economists at the company run things. As a result, they make bad marketing decisions. There are tons of examples.

They also don't make tons more money then me, in fact I probably make more then most of them. But that is becides the point....just because Ford has an "army of them" does not mean they always know what they are doing. The truth is, most small companies market much better then most large companies, because big guys sit on their butts and forget about what got them there.

GM in it's hayday used to have a 54% market share of the total auto industry. Even with all their highly paid employees, they have lost most of this. Ford, in the past year, has fallen from #2 to #3. Why? Bad marketing. The auto industry as a whole is an example of ****, poor marketing. It is generally recognized by marketing scholars to be the worst marketed industry of all industries. Why? Because manufacturers believe in throwing mud at the wall to see what sticks. That is not marketing, that is trial and error.

When it comes to the Mustang, however, I think Ford has done a pretty good job and they will no doubt hopefully continue to do so.

 

I have no issues with a supercharged V6. Hp is hp, and it doesn't matter if you have a V6 with a supercharger and nitrous, or a heavily modified 4V under the hood. None of that matters at the end of the strip when you pick up a win or a loss. I could understand this argument if everybody here ran a car that was bone stock, but how many times have you bought an aftermarket part and wondered, "Why didn't Ford just do this at the factory?" If they made GTs with superchargers from the factory, then you wouldn't hear the Cobra owners bitchin' as much about how superchargers only belong on 4v engines. Well, I've stirred the pot enough for now. I'll check back in later.

 

for the $35K (minimum) that this car would cost, I'd much rather buy an 05 GT and supercharge it for 450 rwhp...

 

eh, I dont like it

 

Yeah sry, i type fast and don't read what i type, theres more stuff here on www.supersixmotorsports.com they have a bunch of packages and yes you can change your displacement to either a 4.2 or 4.3...so my crediability = don't give a **** what you think...

 

He was busting on you because he thought you meant that changing a cam can change displacement.

 

Would dilly azz sons of bitches stop your dam bickering! A Mustang is a Mustang no matter how manny dern pistons it has. Zhit, my 1974 Cobra has only 4 and look at me. I'm cool.