Alive & Kicking

Finally, Ford has taken the covers off the first all-new Mustang in 25 years. There are but a few carryover parts from our beloved Fox- and Fox-4 ponycars. Those looking for high technology, improved suspension, increased horsepower, more grip, and a stylish exterior need look no further than this car.

The MM&FF faithful no doubt want to know what's under the hood and we're happy to report that the new GT will be the most powerful base V-8 Mustang ever. Ford has blessed the 4.6 with three valves per-cylinder (two intake valves and one exhaust), variable camshaft timing, an aluminum block and cylinder heads, and a host of other new technology.

When word first leaked that the new Mustang would draw heavily on the styling cues of its predecessors from the '60s, we were skeptical to say the least. Can you blame us? They said the same thing when they introduced the Mustang II. Thankfully, one look at the new design and our fears were allayed. It looks like a cross between a '69 Mustang (nose), a '66 Shelby GT350 (roof, C-pillar) and a '99-present (sides). How they made this all work speaks volumes about the rich heritage of our beloved ponycar.

Under all this pretty bodywork is a sophisticated new chassis that, while loosely based on the DEW98 Lincoln LS/Thunderbird platform, is truly different and contains a suspension unlike anything ever used under the Mustang before. Up front is a true MacPherson strut-type suspension, with rear facing L-arms (instead of A-arms) and a spring mounted on the strut itself (the Fox and Fox-4 Mustangs of 1979-2004 use a modified MacPherson strut system), while out back a three-link rear suspension with a Panhard rod is now employed. Back by popular demand is the solid rear axle and the old reliable 8.8, with a reinforced housing, larger axle tubes and 31-spline axles. Those looking for an independent rear will have to wait for the next-gen Cobra.

The interior is the most striking of any Mustang since the mid-'60s. It's full of modern touches and ergonomics, with a nod to the past for its styling direction. The highlight is probably the optional instrument cluster lighting, which is color configurable and can be back-lit in any of 125 backgrounds by mixing three primary colors with the change of a dial. The speedometer and tachometer can illuminate in blue, green, white, purple, orange or red, or variations of all of the above.

At Job One, only two models will be offered, the base V-6 and the 4.6 GT, and one body style, the coupe. The convertible will come later in the year. There will be no sunroofs, no T-tops and, much to our dismay, no hatchback. Don't expect the SVT Cobra to return until 2006; it remains to be seen when and if models like the Bullitt or Mach 1 will rejoin the lineup, but one person we interviewed led us to believe there is a very strong possibility some sort of specialty model could appear. On the weight issue, Ford has gone to great lengths to pull the pork out. Even though the car is physically larger with more interior space, and a lot more content, its said weight will be within 100 pounds of the '04 Mustang--no lightweight itself. Aluminum is used throughout, including the front and rear control arms, the hood, the engine block and heads. We'll reserve judgement until we put one on the scales.

Sad to say, we haven't had a chance to fully wring out the new car. Our only introduction was through photos and interviews with the primary movers and shakers behind the new car. Stay tuned for a full drive report.

Overview
Perhaps the most daunting task was to figure out why the Mustang was doing so well in the marketplace and why the Camaro/Firebird went bust. The lessons learned would provide the direction the new car would take, and hopefully assure its success well into the 21st Century.

"Art Hyde (former Mustang chief engineer) and I spent a lot of time discussing why are we still doing so well and our competitors are no longer in business," explained Hau Thai-Tang, chief nameplate engineer of the new Mustang. "We concluded that not only was the Mustang the quintessential Detroit musclecar, but we had to deliver a car that's very usable, one you can live with, with good utility, good visibility, ergonomics, and easy to get in and out of. All those little things that separate a one-off, fun-to-drive car from a great car you can live with day in and day out.

"By the same token, we realized the core customers are the ones that set the image for our car. The majority of folks buy into that image. Like Harley-Davidson/Hells Angels image sets the brand, the majority of customers are bankers, lawyers and Ford vice-presidents," he added. "You have to deliver product true to the roots and soul of the car that hits the target customer. You can't take your eye off them and design for the majority of folks. " Thai-Tang said the biggest challenge was starting with a clean sheet of paper and sculpturing an entirely new car. After all, the Mustang must be many things to many different people. For some, it's a base V-6 model that's fun to drive and sporty; for others, it's a full-tilt Roush, Saleen or Cobra R.

"The car has a lot of coverage in the marketplace. At one time, it started with the base car in the high teens and went all the way up to the Cobra R. If you look at that amount of market reach and coverage, it tells you a couple of things. One, it emphasizes the strength of the brand, the fact that we take it from high teens to in excess of $50,000, and still command that kind of revenue," Thai-Tang said. "But it also shows you've got to design a very scalable platform that's efficient and affordable that you can still make a good business case and offer good value for the majority of the customers. "But the platform has to be capable enough that as you move it up the performance spectrum and do things like Cobra and Cobra R, the base architecture has to withstand all those high demands. For me, technically, that's the hardest part."

Suspension/Brakes
When it came time to decide on the rear axle, the team spent an inordinate amount of time at media events, Fun Ford Weekends and talking to its customers. As you might imagine, a very vocal majority told them they needed to keep a solid rear axle in the car. Others didn't know what kind of axle their car had, nor did they care to as long as it worked.

"From a customization, durability and reliability standpoint, there are inherent advantages to a solid rear axle for drag racing, for camber, all those things and the core customers really wanted that," noted Thai-Tang. "What's worked in the past is giving customers the option. We do that today with the IRS on the Cobra and we'll take the same approach on the new car. In the future with some derivitive products we'll make that available."

The '05 setup has two lower control arms, one upper and a Panhard rod. Technically, it's four links, but only three fore-aft. It's very weight efficient and doesn't have the problems with bind that the '04-earlier cars have.

"We were able to de-couple the fore-aft load path from the lateral load path and minimize any sort of over-constraints," said Thai-Tang." "We've designed a world-class solid rear axle suspension that will deliver very good driving dynamics, and great control for things like axle hop."

While the Lincoln LS and Ford Thunderbird use a traditional SLA front suspension, and Team Mustang did try to re-use some of this architecture, there was no way the SLA would allow the use of the 4.6-liter Modular engine family. The SLA was designed only to take the 3.9/4-liter AJ engine as the biggest powerplants. In the end, Ford knows strut-type suspension--the Focus, Mondeo (of Europe), Jaguar X-Type, Freestar, Taurus, etc. are all struts with rear-facing L-arms.

"It's an architecture we're all very familiar with; we know all the inherent benefits and issues with it, and know how to tune," Thai-Tang said. "We're very happy with it. We're going from a modified MacPherson strut that we have today where the spring is on the control arm to a conventional MacPherson strut/rear-facing L-arm."

Ford worked with one of the suppliers to develop a lighter-weight control arm that features an H-section. The stiffness and weight efficiency is comparable to a conventional stamped lower control arm. It gives the car a lot of stiffness and functional benefits, but it is also lightweight and cost efficient.

The wheelbase has increased significantly to 107.1 inches, which gives the car far more interior space and improves weight distribution. The SN95 models clock in at 101.3 inches.

The base V-6 model will roll on BFGoodrich 16-inch tires, while the base GT rubber will be a 17-inch Pirelli. The wheels on the base car look like old Halibrands from the '60s, whereas the 17s are similar to those on the Bullitt, optional 17s are a knockoff of the rims seen on last year's Mustang GT concept car. Optional on the GT (shown on our cover car) in the future will be 18-inch wheels with BFGoodrich tires.

Stopping the new cars are four-wheel vented disc brakes, with the GT naturally getting the bigger binders. The fronts on the GT are 12.4-inch rotors with twin piston calipers, with 11.8-inch rotors and single piston calipers in the rear.

Powertrains
For all you V-6 lovers, you'll be happy to know the new engine is the Cologne 4-liter, a nice 60-degree engine. It will sport overhead cams, 200 hp and should be far more civilized than the old 3.8. A T-5 five-speed is the standard gearbox; optional is the same five-speed automatic found in the GT.

Those opting for bent-8 power will barely recognize the 4.6. First, it uses the aluminum 4.6 block last seen in the Explorer. It's got four-bolt mains, and is not the '96-01 Cobra block. Using this lighter material to cast the block resulted in a 75-pound weight savings where it was needed most--over the front tires.

The real news is in the cylinder head/valvetrain area. There is enough technology here to boggle the imagination: three-valve-per-cylinder heads, variable camshaft timing and a charge motion control valve.

The heads, which feature two intake and one exhaust valve, were first seen on the new F-series, 5.4-liter V-8. A single camshaft on the head opens and closes the valves. The port has been elevated and significantly revised. The two valves give you a lot more curtain area. The spark plug is now centrally located, which gives you a symmetric flame front, thereby greatly reducing the possibility of detonation. The variable cam timing gives greater control over fuel, timing, emissions and performance.

"I'm real excited about the three-valve head," says Terry Wagner, the Modular V-8/V-10 engine program department manager, and powertrain manager for the new Mustang. "It brings the base 4.6 to a whole new level, and gives 300 hp at a level never offered before."

Normally, adding a second intake valve is a good way to kill low-speed performance. In order to maintain velocity, the engineers added the Charge Motion Control valve, which acts in much the same way as the old intake manifold runner controls in the '96-98 four-valve Cobras. Unlike those flaps, which were located at the intake manifold, the CMCV is located at the head and blocks flow to half of the intake valves at light loads. This increased the velocity in the port, which also creates a tumble motion to help control the combustion. At higher loads and higher speeds, the valves open to get maximum airflow.

Naturally, the intake manifold is all new, and the 4.6 now uses a dual-bore throttle-body. The exhaust manifolds are a swept design that essentially look like cast-iron headers.

Anyone looking to adapt this new technology to their old-school 4.6 will have a helluva job ahead of them. They will definitely need a new processor to control the two new actuators. It's not just a mechanical bolt-on. Essentially 70 percent of the 4.6 engine is completely new, 40 percent of that in the valvetrain. The other 30 percent, including the rods, crank, chaindrive, etc., is carried over. Compression has been bumped from 9.4 to 9.8:1, but 87 octane is still the required fuel.

Output has not been finalized, but Wagner said that the bogey was 300 hp and that target has been met. The preliminary numbers are 300 hp at 6,000 rpm and 315 lb-ft of torque at 4,500. If this seems to you like an awful lot of work and technology to achieve 300 hp, it struck us the same way. We would've thought the specific output could be much greater, but Wagner saw it differently.

"I think you have to think about this in a context of who are we giving the 300 hp to. I mean, last year that (300 hp) was in the Mach 1, and that was a limited-volume run," said Wagner, who added that a bump in displacement was never a consideration as a means to improve output. "Here, the base we're offering is 300 hp. It's modern technology, it's obtainable, and in addition to just delivering 300 hp, we're delivering emissions and fuel economy. It's the whole kit and kaboodle. We've taken the horsepower to a whole new level, to a lot more customers, and at a lot more affordable price. We also met all the regulatory constraints that opposed us, which is quite a story."

The manual transmissions are carried over from the previous generation Mustang, but they are proven. The 3650 Tremec has shown it can withstand lots of abuse, even in supercharged applications. A switch to a six-speed was considered, but Thai-Tang explained that a compelling business case could not be made for the move. It was heavier, more difficult to package and far more expensive for the consumer. It will be considered for any derivatives in the future (read: Mach 1, Cobra, Shelby, etc.).

Both the V-6 and GT will now get a five-speed automatic, the 5R55S currenly in use in the Lincoln LS and T-Bird. Those hoping for an auto-stick-type feature will have to look elsewhere.

Exterior/Interior Design
Styling is probably the most controversial part of the new car. Everyone who has seen the new car loves it; if you were looking for some ultra-modern, cutting-edge design you are out of luck. From day one, the idea was to build on the car's heritage.

"The fact is we have a 40-year history and eight-million happy customers and a great brand heritage. Only we can claim that and leverage it," noted Thai-Tang. "I tell people when you have a 40-year family tree, you don't chop it down and plant something different. The fact is we have this rich heritage and the car is a huge success and pure Detroit muscle. It's something only we can do."

Larry Erickson, a member of Ford's Living Legends Studio, is the current chief designer of the Mustang. His credentials are impeccable and include the Ford Forty Nine concept car. Before coming to Ford, he worked in the street rod industry; among his credits are ZZ Top's Cadzzilla and Boyd Coddington's Aluma Coupe. But Erickson admits that his boss, J Mays, knew what he wanted all along.

To that end, they had to identify which significant Mustangs they were going to draw from. Among them were the '65 Shelby, the '67-68 Bullitt-style fastbacks, the '69-71s and a couple of Cobras. That's when they identified the different elements they wanted to incorporate, such as the '66 Shelby rear-quarter glass, "a timeless element that works well and is functional," according to Erickson. One area where the new car differs is the beltline. Unlike the First-Gen Mustangs, which had a more nose in the air attitude, the beltline on the new car is wedged the other way. It rises as you move to the rear, making it that much more aggressive.

While the front end looks like it was lifted from the '69 Mustang, the tail doesn't end in a ducktail, something they are still arguing about, according to Erickson.

Most noticeable by their absence is the '94-04 car's plethora of fake vents, spoilers and scoops--the true indictator that Ford VP of Design J Mays oversaw this project. The relatively flat hood takes some getting used to, but it leaves the door open for the aftermarlet. The C-shape indentation on the side is still present, but is more subliminal than in the past. Returning for an encore are the large wheel openings and flares, which will accommodate anything short of a Pro Stock slick. We're happy to report that the 4x4 ride height of the old Mustang is finally gone. Hallelujah!

Conclusions
No prices have been set at press time, but Thai-Tang suggested that the new MSRP will reflect only an inflationary price increase over its predecessor.

At the end of the day, the car should be within 100 pounds of today's Mustang. "Weight is a difficult challenge. We manage it day by day, pound by pound. I mentioned the aluminum block engine, going with an aluminum hood to get weight distribution down and we pushed the front wheels forward," said Thai-Tang. "At the end of the day we will be within spitting distance of today's car for weight, and we're giving customers a physically larger car with more interior package space, an improved powertrain, bigger tires and brakes."

Ultimately, Ford has delivered a new car that is all Mustang and we get the feeling the gang from Dearborn will sell all they can build for many years to come.