What happened to a significantly smaller and lighter 2015 Mustang?

[98_Undertaker]

even 200 lbs would be good. It's like someone said, when you add up all the small weight savings it really adds up overall.

This IRS is completely different than the one in the 99-04's so I'm sure they did their homework on how to keep it as light as possible.

 

[50 Proof]

there wasn't a single part on the car that they did not look at for weight reduction.

i.e. cost savings, like that Chinese built transmission they're still stuffing in there. As if 200lbs will make any woopdy doo of a difference for most people who will be buying the car. Woohoo for cheap parts, I mean weight reduction.

 

[vergil]

This reminds me of the C7 Corvette. They did a lot to save weight, but added a lot back in with more premium components and content. It sounds like the Mustang may have done a lot of the same things. Plus, the Mustang got bigger (wider) and the Corvette did not. The end result was the C7 was roughly equal in weight to the C6. I don't see it being any different for the Mustang.

What would a 200lbs. reduction put the 2015 Mustang GT curb weight at, about 3,300 - 3,350lbs? I just can't see that happening when I look at what other cars weigh (i.e. Corvette).

:rockon:

 

[LostPony]

I'm thinking the car will come in about 100 or so less in GT trim. The lighter components up front should help weight distribution bringing it closer to 50/50. So many questions left in the air, and speculation will be rampant until Ford releases real numbers.

 

[BMR Tech]

Lower, wider, better weight distribution.....I'll be happy.

It would definitely be cool if it were 100+lbs lighter, though.

 

[kingnut]

they should have made it shorter and wider. i say no more than 100lbs were shaved possibly only 75lbs.

 

[sunburned]

Then it would be looked at as a BRZ/FRS competitor. I am so glad that didn't happen. I know those rumors of the Mustang getting smaller were just a hoax, but they got the proportions of this car right this time around and it looks so very clean.

What's wrong with comparing it to the BRZ? A coworker of mine has one and it's an awesome handling car, just very underpowered. Could you imagine a car like that with 400+ hp?? It would be amazing and the mustang would destroy the BRZ. Just push the tires a bit further out to the ends of the car and make the car shorter as a whole so it's not so damn big.

BRZ - 101" WB, 60" TW, 166 x 70" body

03 - 101" WB, 60" TW, 183 x 73" body

11 - 107" WB, 62" TW, 188 x 74" body

15 - 107" WB, 65" TW, 188 x 76.5" body


So yeah, the mustang used to have the same wheelbase and trackwidth as the BRZ, but it was 17" longer overall. Do you consider the 03 Cobra a tiny car like the BRZ? Now the mustang has grown 5" longer and 3.5" wider from back then. Pretty drastic change.

It's like Ford, Dodge and Chevy are seeing who can make their muscle/pony car the biggest over time...

 

[ObieFox]

A couple hundred pounds lighter just doesn't cut it to me. Hell, most of us fat asses in this country could lose 100 pds ourselves if we wanted to cut some weight.

The IRS may deliver better street/track handling, but I cant imagine that it will be lighter than the comparable 8.8.

AND, I bet one of the first aftermarket areas of focus will be swapping stick axles back into them for guys making big power and drag racing....

 

[Jroc]

A couple hundred pounds lighter just doesn't cut it to me. Hell, most of us fat asses in this country could lose 100 pds ourselves if we wanted to cut some weight.

The IRS may deliver better street/track handling, but I cant imagine that it will be lighter than the comparable 8.8.

AND, I bet one of the first aftermarket areas of focus will be swapping stick axles back into them for guys making big power and drag racing....

Agreed.

I don't see how it's suppose to compete competitively with a upcoming Alpha platform based Camaro if it didn't get any smaller. Hell now Camaro engineers will have time to observe the Mustang, and one up it with relative ease IMO if it's no smaller than the last Mustang. Bad move Ford. You've been letting the Gen5 chassis outperform yours with the introduction of the ZL1, 1LE SS, and now the new Z/28.

This S550 platform looks like it was derived off the old S197 much like the SN95 was derived off the Foxbody platform. Another bad move. GM's new Alpha platform seems to be very good. It's lightweight with pretty much a 50/50 F/R weight distribution. If the ATS is as composed as it's touted to be then what do you think the next Camaro's going to be especially with technologies such as MR? Obviously we don't really now what the new Mustang will do, but I've been thinking for a while that for the next Mustang to be good competition for the next Camaro that it was going to have to be stellar, and totally different than the current Mustang and this doesn't appear to be it.

Hopefully this new Mustang ends up proving me wrong. The 5.0 Coyote did.

 

[Beercules]

This sounds similar to what Mazda (Ford subsidiary)did with their skyactive technology.
Shave every bolt to minimum length etc to reduce weight (look at everything to save weight), direct injected turbo engine at high compression, I've forgotten the rest.

As for weight/size, using computers to optimize where to add strengthening ribs and corners to the body should help shave unnecessary weight while keeping similar dimensions.

 

[sunburned]

Agreed.

I don't see how it's suppose to compete competitively with a upcoming Alpha platform based Camaro if it didn't get any smaller. Hell now Camaro engineers will have time to observe the Mustang, and one up it with relative ease IMO if it's no smaller than the last Mustang. Bad move Ford. You've been letting the Gen5 chassis outperform yours with the introduction of the ZL1, 1LE SS, and now the new Z/28.

This S550 platform looks like it was derived off the old S197 much like the SN95 was derived off the Foxbody platform. Another bad move. GM's new Alpha platform seems to be very good. It's lightweight with pretty much a 50/50 F/R weight distribution. If the ATS is as composed as it's touted to be then what do you think the next Camaro's going to be especially with technologies such as MR? Obviously we don't really now what the new Mustang will do, but I've been thinking for a while that for the next Mustang to be good competition for the next Camaro that it was going to have to be stellar, and totally different than the current Mustang and this doesn't appear to be it.

Hopefully this new Mustang ends up proving me wrong. The 5.0 Coyote did.

Agree 100%

 

[CobraBob]

(A) We don't know anything about the '15 GT as far as performance. We don't even have the HP number yet, nor do we have any track data.

(B) We surely don't know anything about the next Camaro (SS), including weight/power, so there is absolutely no reason to think that it will 1-up the new Mustang GT.

One of the downsides of an early announcement like this is the conjecture it raises because of the unknowns. I do hope that you are proven wrong, as you are hoping. I just have a feeling that this new Mustang GT is going to raise a lot of eyebrows (in a good way) once they start hitting the test tracks. I don't think Ford is going to let us down. JMO.

 

[Scuba-Matt]

(A) We don't know anything about the '15 GT as far as performance. We don't even have the HP number yet, nor do we have any track data.

(B) We surely don't know anything about the next Camaro (SS), including weight/power, so there is absolutely no reason to think that it will 1-up the new Mustang GT.

One of the downsides of an early announcement like this is the conjecture it raises because of the unknowns. I do hope that you are proven wrong, as you are hoping. I just have a feeling that this new Mustang GT is going to raise a lot of eyebrows (in a good way) once they start hitting the test tracks. I don't think Ford is going to let us down. JMO.

I agree

 

[williamwally]

While I agree it would be nice to see an even larger weight drop then speculated (0-100lbs), and maybe see it get a bit smaller, I just don’t know how both of those can be accomplished much without sacrificing it’s usability as a car. On top of that you have new crash standards that ford probably wanted to meet which always take more weight/space.

I wonder how they can package things any more tightly without reducing interior space (which they’ve supposedly increased in the 15). If you want the size/weight of a brz, you’ll end up with the almost un-usable rear seats and trunk of the brz. The base model mustangs are usually bought as just a cool car and not a one-purpose sports car.

During the year I had my ’11 gt500 I used the rear seats, trunk, and pass through plenty. After having a wagon since, I realized I don’t need all this extra space and just need rear seats that can fit a car seat or get 4 people in for a maximum hour or so travel. The 15 should be be able to do this just fine.

The `15 having increased interior space, trunk space, pass-through space, while increasing performance (at least on-track they say), comfort, fit and finish, really make it a great GT car IMO.

 

[mechanicboy]

More use of aluminum. I have an 01' Lincoln LS 5 speed stick which the 05-14' mustang was based off of and it's significantly larger than the mustang but weights about the same because it has quiet a bit of aluminum parts that went to steel for the mustang.

Oh, and I'm sure they used more high strength steel.

 

[331coupe]

I don't think many of you take into account the use of different lighter materials, bolts, etc.. and how much they play a part in the weight of a car. The size of the 15' doesn't mean it isn't lighter, nor does the IRS. There is tons of weight that can be shed from these cars when you really start doing the math on what things weigh and realizing every little nut and bolt add up.

 

[starnsey]

I don't think many of you take into account the use of different lighter materials, bolts, etc.. and how much they play a part in the weight of a car. The size of the 15' doesn't mean it isn't lighter, nor does the IRS. There is tons of weight that can be shed from these cars when you really starting doing the match on what things weigh and realizing every little nut and bolt add up.

Bah! Material change? Better materials?! No way, its 'cause of CHINA! aRRRGGHH. Damn chinese parts!

:rollseyes

 

[PWORLDSTANG]

"The new car retains the current Mustang's 107.1-inch wheelbase, and despite actually looking longer than the 2014 model in person, it's one fifth of an inch shorter overall. The most dynamic change of dimension, though, is the width. The rear track has been stretched from 62.1 to 64.9 inches, and the car is 1.5 inches wider overall. Finally, it's 1.4 inches lower than the today's car."

The new Mustang is bigger, not smaller? And there is no way it is going to lose significant weight if it has grown in size. Not going to happen from an economics standpoint.

Am I missing something.....

My thoughts exactly. You can only save so much weight using lightweight materials. Certainly not 200lbs WHILE adding heavier IRS at the same time. Plus if the new car were any lighter, Ford would be promoting it. I think the new car will be heavier by at least 100lbs. I hope I'm wrong.

 

[khell]

Agreed.

I don't see how it's suppose to compete competitively with a upcoming Alpha platform based Camaro if it didn't get any smaller. Hell now Camaro engineers will have time to observe the Mustang, and one up it with relative ease IMO if it's no smaller than the last Mustang. Bad move Ford. You've been letting the Gen5 chassis outperform yours with the introduction of the ZL1, 1LE SS, and now the new Z/28.

This S550 platform looks like it was derived off the old S197 much like the SN95 was derived off the Foxbody platform. Another bad move. GM's new Alpha platform seems to be very good. It's lightweight with pretty much a 50/50 F/R weight distribution. If the ATS is as composed as it's touted to be then what do you think the next Camaro's going to be especially with technologies such as MR? Obviously we don't really now what the new Mustang will do, but I've been thinking for a while that for the next Mustang to be good competition for the next Camaro that it was going to have to be stellar, and totally different than the current Mustang and this doesn't appear to be it.

Hopefully this new Mustang ends up proving me wrong. The 5.0 Coyote did.

You do realize that the Current ATS in 4 cylinder form weights in at 3300+ lbs. Thats only 200 lbs lighter then the current 13/14's. They also have the same wheel base. I guarantee you that the new Camaro will not keep the ATS's size. So factor in the addition of the LT1, beefier tranny, and other drivetrain parts necessary to take that kind of HP and you're looking at i'd say around 3600 lbs if they're lucky. Slap on that MR suspension and the weight goes up just like the ZL1 over the SS. The fact that ford says the base mustang (assuming base model GT) beats the Boss around a track should show you what this car is going to be capable of.

 

[Jroc]

You do realize that the Current ATS in 4 cylinder form weights in at 3300+ lbs. Thats only 200 lbs lighter then the current 13/14's. They also have the same wheel base. I guarantee you that the new Camaro will not keep the ATS's size. So factor in the addition of the LT1, beefier tranny, and other drivetrain parts necessary to take that kind of HP and you're looking at i'd say around 3600 lbs if they're lucky. Slap on that MR suspension and the weight goes up just like the ZL1 over the SS. The fact that ford says the base mustang (assuming base model GT) beats the Boss around a track should show you what this car is going to be capable of.

A ZL1 has a much heavier SC'ed LSA where a SS has a LS3. LS motors are pretty damn lightweight. A ATS is also a luxury sedan where a camaro is a sport car coupe. The Lincoln LS, Ford Thunderbird, etc all weighed like an iron block GT500 even with smaller motors than a Coyote, and the current GT is noticeably lighter that that for example. I can almost guarantee that a Alpha based Camaro will be noticably lighter than a current S197 Mustang.

I would love the new Mustang if I didn't know it was going to be easily bested by the next Camaro. I just feel it. Ford needed to start from a clean slate for the Mustang to compete with a Alpha based Camaro and they didn't. they did the same thing they did in 94.