Why do people like mustangs?

[CactusHugger11]

OK I'm not trying to start a huge argument or piss anyone off but I have been wondering why people would buy a mustang GT over say a Trans AM or Z28. The main reason people buy a V8 sports car is because they want a fast car with great performace. Well a Trans AM out performs a Mustang GT. So why do so many people buy them. If you've purchased a Mustang GT perhaps you could shed some light on this subject.

[95mustanggt]

Why do people buy any one brand over another?

There are many reason why I bought my Mustang GT over the Z28 I was looking at.

1. Price - Mustangs tend (for the sake of arguement, I'm assuming mustangs are cheaper) to be a lot cheaper than Camero or Firebird.

2. Build quality - This one may be subjective, but from all the people I've talked to, personal experience, and research I've done, the GM products just flat out don't last. They develope squeaks and rattles faster than any car I know of.

3. Style - I like the look of the firebird, but the newer Camero looks like a cross between an LT1 and a dam Chrysler Intrepid! This is something that is personal taste, but it is still a variable.

4. Power (Not stock for stock) - You mentioned that the Z28 and Firebird are faster and that is why people buy sports cars. You hit the nail on the head there. The GM product does not have 1/2 the aftermarket support of the mustang. Open a Sumit catelog and look at the LT1/LS1 section and then look at the 4.6/5.0 section. There is not much you can do to a F-body. But a mustang can be made a hell of a lot faster than stock. You pick the right heads/intake/cam combo and 350 HP at the flywheel is easy to get and puts you right back in the game with the LS1 (blows away the LT1).

So there are just 4 BIG reasons why I personally would buy a Mustang over an F-body. No one else may agree, but that's my take.

[98SteedaGT]

That's not a good comparison. So what if a Z28 or TA is faster, I would hope so. they have to have a 5.7L engine to do it, try putting a 4.6 w/ equal power, then lets compare a mustang to a TA or Z28. I know plenty of TA's and Z's ... and vettes for that matter that have had their rear ends handed to them after running an equally power mustang. I for one have out manuvered the F-Body cars on numerous occasions. I like my GT

[CactusHugger11]

OK TAs cost about 3000 more than a GT. But your still get 50 horses over the GT. As far as your 2nd and 3rd points I think those are a matter of opinion and couldnt really be made into valid points. I do agree that the new Zs dont look that sporty and I wouldnt buy one but the new TAs, especially with the ram air option? You cant tell me that doesnt look mean. Your 4th point may be correct I dont know I havent really looked into it, but wouldnt it be true that whatever you did to a GT if you did to a TA youd make it faster dollar for dollae since your starting off with a bigger engine?
And for the second response hell yes a bigger engine is going to produce more power. Wouldnt you want a bigger engine so that you had more power? Which gets back to my original point why a GT over a TA? And one more thing: mustangs look like they sit pretty high off the ground for a sports car, I mean they sit about as high as a taurus or car like that does. TAs sit lower. So based on tha law of physics it would seem that a TA would out handle a GT as well as out power it.

[Mercury]

I dont know about outside of Fayetteville, but F-Body's are not cheap. By not stretch of the word can they be called a bargain.

When I went new car shoping about 1 year and a half ago, I looked at Camaro's just for kicks. THere wasnt one Z28 there for under 27k. And When I looked at FireBirds (Which I was actually considering because everyone talked about how "Expensive new Stangs were") I didnt see one that was under 29k. And they were all Autos. Except for two Ram-Air WS-6's. One Red, One Black, they had 6 spds, and were awesome looking car. But when I saw the price, I started laughing (The Salesman didnt appreciate it.) 34k for the red, 36K for the black.

Well, to make the point. I bought my 2000 GT, 5spd, Performance Red (I told the dealership to find me a Perf Red GT with a 5spd, thats all that mattered to me.) BRAND NEW, for a hair under 20k. Cant beat that.

Personally, I like the Styling of the Mustang way more than the Flying Cheese wedge, catfish looking Camaro. I even like it a tad more than the Ram Air birds.

As for Performance, I dont know about other 99+GT's, but mine rips along pretty damn good, as a few members of this site can attest to.

I have also heard F-Body owners griping about noises, such as rattles, and squeaks, and dash panel vibrations, and wind noise. The only prob I have with my stang is the throw out bearing likes to make some noise every now and then, and if I'm racing it, I can hear the belt squeal every now and then. But then again, I drive like a maniac....so....

But one of the main reasons I picked the stang, other than bieng 8-10k less than the Birds, is because of its Heritage, I'm a Ford Man, and definetly because I'm a Mustang Man. But an openminded one.

[95mustanggt]

Originally posted by CactusHugger11
OK TAs cost about 3000 more than a GT. But your still get 50 horses over the GT.

Like mentioned before, The GT is a hell of a lot cheaper than 3 or 4 grand. And even if it was, a supercharger could be in the car for that difference, then the Z is not 50HP ahead!

Originally posted by CactusHugger11
As far as your 2nd and 3rd points I think those are a matter of opinion and couldnt really be made into valid points.

I agree that the 3rd point may not be valid, but the 2nd point is DEFINATELY vaild. I would not buy a car for 10 bucks if I knew it was going to fall apart. I know too many people with big problems to overlook this point and say "oh that's not valid". IT IS VALID. There are people in the world that buy cars based just on reliability (even if it is just percieved, hence the following of the Corola and Accord).

Originally posted by CactusHugger11
Your 4th point may be correct I dont know I havent really looked into it, but wouldnt it be true that whatever you did to a GT if you did to a TA youd make it faster dollar for dollae since your starting off with a bigger engine?.

Not neccessarily true. If you don't have the performance parts available it either gets really expensive or not possible.

One of the best examples is the response the 4.6L has to Boost. It may be smaller, but you can pull a lot of power out of it.

Now, I'm not going to say that you can't make a Z or TB fast. That would be just plain ignorant. But I think it is fair to say that a "Mustang goes faster easier". Plus you can do the work yourself, take more pride in the car and turn it in to something YOU made. That's what I like.

Originally posted by CactusHugger11
Which gets back to my original point why a GT over a TA? And one more thing: mustangs look like they sit pretty high off the ground for a sports car, I mean they sit about as high as a taurus or car like that does. TAs sit lower. So based on tha law of physics it would seem that a TA would out handle a GT as well as out power it.

Be very careful about the laws of physics. There are a LOT more of them than you are aware, nothing is ever as easy as "it's lower so it handles better". Car and Driver reported that the 2000 Mustang Cobra R had the highest road grip test results of any car they tested last year. And a simple side-by-side comparison will quickly show the height difference between a Cobra R and a Ferrari or Vette.

There is no cut and dry reason why some one likes a mustang over an F-body over an other car. So trying to pick out one reason that puts the final nail in the coffin just isn't going to exisit. If it did, no one would buy anything other than Mustangs.

Just remember that Mustangs out sell the Camero and Firebird combined 3 to 1. That does say something.

[Hammer]

Hmmm,
How should I respond to this?
Maybe I should ask why people buy F-Bods?

Both cars have their pros and cons.

You said that people buy sports cars because they want performance....

If all you want is off-the shelf straight line performance with a warranty and you don't care what it looks like, drives like, handles like... or how long it will even last after the warranty goes out.... Go ahead and buy that FBod...

Sorry, but to be honest, build quality on F-Bodies is sort of an inside joke in the car industry.

Despite it's lack of off-the-shelf straight line power, the Mustang still dominates the after-market. It's just too easy to make fast...
(I should know... I have a reliable, easy to drive daily, comfortable, well-appointed car that eats Vettes for breakfast for just a little more than what many F-Bod owners paid for their SSs)

By a more than a 3 to 1 margin customers chose the stang.
While I can't speak for others, here's some reasons why I bought one:
After Market Availability
Dependability
Build Quality
Drivability on a daily basis
Visibility
Looks
Heritage

I have no animosity at all toward f-bods, in their own way, they are some powerful machines.... but for some of us, power alone does not complete the package.

Check out this review at Edmunds.com...

http://www.edmunds.com/reviews/compa...3/page002.html

[Ares]

Im a long time GM boy. Well 60's and 70's cars anyways My mustang is my first new stang.
I bought mine;
#1 it was cheaper then a Z-28 or T/A, cheapest Z-28 when I was looking went for 27k vs mine with 23k sticker. I wont even mention sticker shock on T/A's
#2 Newer F bodies IMHO are ugly/overwieght,
#3 think alot more can be done with the Mustang.
#4 Again better looking.

[blue00gt]

I happen to know 4 good friends that have new ram-air T/A's and Camaros. They all complain of engines burning oil and rattles developing when the car should just be done breaking in. These are $32K cars that seem to be built like a Pinto.
I also don't like their looks or how you can't judge where the extremities of the car are because of seating position and the shape of the body.
I am a diehard Mustang man, but I did go look at T/A's before I bought my GT. I think most people decide to buy the Mustang because of practicality, reliability, and the fact that for $3K difference, you could put that money into the Mustang to outhandle the GM and keep up in a drag race, too.

[SMOKE]

Originally posted by Ares

#1 it was cheaper
#2 Newer F bodies IMHO are ugly/overwieght,
#3 think alot more can be done with the Mustang.
#4 Again better looking. [/B]

Agreed. All that besides the loyalty factor, I love Mustangs. Raised on them.

[jsh]

I looked at new Z's and TA's along with the 01 Mustangs. To be honest, the prices do not differ much if you are a smart shopper. I like the looks of the Z's better than the TA's, and love the GT mustang's looks. The main reason I chose the GT is because (and I have no regrets) it's so much more comfortable inside. Better ERGONOMICS. Better VISIBILITY. Better RIDE. There's more to life that just horsepower, although that is important. I wouldn't have bought a mustang if they hadn't upped the power to 260 in '99. That's pretty much my minimum acceptable, so I am very pleased with my choice. Mine's a convertible, too.

[SteveK]

In response to why people buy Mustang, people buy cars for styling. Styling is the number one reason people buy cars.
The people on this forum may or may not agree with this.
Then comes the price. Then utility.
I read that in the consumer digest or something.

I bought mine because I like it. I had one before and was very dependable. I also have a Corvette. I always wanted one.
Chevy counterpart is far more expensive to fix. And Mustang is almost as much fun(with less HP).

I think the argument of spending money to make one as fast as another is irrelevant. We buy Mustangs for cheaper price and spend another $10k to make it as fast as a Porsche. But the guy in the Porsche doesn't care about that. Driving a sportscar is for the way these finely crafted machines drive. No sedan feels like it. (definite exclusivity)

Trying to beat another sportscar is just a game that we have created for ourselves... and we have fun with it. But that's not the main reason I bought a Mustang.

[Mustang92]

I'm sure everyone has their own reasons for buying what they did. I personally looked at the LS1 cars as well as Cobra and picked the GT over all of them. At the time no body had even mentioned a IRS to Live axle swap otherwise I would have the Cobra.

Also keep in mind that when I set out for a car I wanted something that would not only look good but would be a good platform for drag racing without having to replace a lot of driveline parts. Plus Chevy does not have much of a following in the way of a racing series which I happen to enjoy doing with NMRA and FFW.

Body: The Ram Air cars do look mean but they are heavy and heavy cars tend to break parts faster. The GT at first was not my favorite but it grew on me the more I saw them and saw potential with the body once the aftermarket opened up.

Interior: The LS1 cars seemed nice inside but the there was the downside of seating position and visibility. I like to be aware of my surrounding and didn't feel like I could in this car. The mustang was better except the seats where not the best but liveable.

Driveline: I spent a lot of time at the track and have plenty of friends that race. The F body rear ends are very weak and don't handle much abuse, there isn't much in the way to strengthen them other than replacement. On the hand they do have a very strong transmission. The Cobra with IRS is what turned me off from the Cobra since it's more of a handling not drag racing type suspension. The GT with live axle hands a good amount of abuse and can be beefed up fairly easily and cheap. The trans in the GT doesn't have the best rep but I'm willing to bet it would hold its own if driven properly and so far it lasted me 69K miles and I just broke a 4th gear shift fork. Not bad for 6K RPM launches on slicks.

Engine: The LS1s have the advantage here but even with the 80RWHP advantage they have to over come the problem of 300 more pounds of wieght and not being able to put down any real tires for traction to save the rear end. Granted with a solid rear end they would be a much more viable option. The GT still better than previous years and the aftermarket is starting to open up. I also have lots of connections to Ford racers and shops that could help me out. The LS1s would leave me starting from scratch.

Price: Most base LS1 cars where in the 25-28K range. Cobras around 28K and GTs 22K. I worked out a great deal and paid 19.8K for my GT that was pretty much the deciding factor.

Bill

[Backroadbandit]

Why not a Mustang? I have a 2001 GT, electric green, 5 speed manual transmission, leather interior and it is still stock. My daughters boy friend say's it has the look of superman to him and he's a rice man!(Holding out hope for him.)

My best friend is a Chevy person and owns a 2000 Camero SS, so I'll just give you the comparison of the two cars.

PRICE: Camero, $38,000, 328hp, automatic tranny, t-bar roof.

My GT cost $23,000 and has 260hp. In a straight line he waxes my tail and thats ok because I'am not a staight line race type person. But put us on the open road with hills and curves and he can't keep up with me. It's not his driving abilty either, we swapped cars one day and I could not stay with the stang on the curves. The SS gets all kinds of squrilly in tight turns. I find it sad that a a car that cost $15,000 more than mine cannot even handle near as well. Think about this too! For that kind of money he could have been in a Roush Mustang stag two that would open all kinds of whoop butt on a SS.

Quality: I get a fan belt squeal when I do high power shifts and that is about the only strange sounds that have been heard.
He has squeaks and groans coming from almost every corner of the SS. It sounds like a car with 70,000 miles instead of 11,000.
BY the way the stang has 8500 miles.

Style: Well that's just amatter of taste. What you think looks good is in the eye of the beholder.

Power: If I spent another $15,000 on my GT what do you think would happen to the SS in the straight run?

Quote from CAR AND DRIVER: The Mustang GT is the best bang for the buck out there, so run it up to the high revs in 3rd grear and back off the gas. There is nothing like the burble of the 4.6L or an American V8 for that matter.

[88coupe388]

you can get a lot more stuff for mustangs than any onther car
thats Y/lol
also they look better to me

[GCMustang]

My wife has a Camaro, I have a Mustang. The Camaro is a great car. Comes standard with accessories that we spend thousands of dollars on (aside from the horsepower, we're talking a torque arm rears suspension, front coilovers, big brakes, etc) but after being around my Mustang obsession, she is willing to give up her Camaro for a Mustang.

The Mustang has a hard-to-explain almost cult-like following. Part of the reason for this is the massive aftermarket. Bolt on parts are almost as plentiful as the old school Chevy SB. And not only are the cars relatively easy to work on, if you DO get stuck, you only have to turn to one of the many online forums (like this one) to find someone who has been exactly where you are and done that.

The Mustang is more comfortable than the Camaro, and looks better, in my opinion. It isn't all about horsepower. What sells the car is the overall package. And as long as Ford keeps the Mustang fans happy, they will continue to sell their cars for them. I couldn't begin to mention how many people I know have bought Mustangs, simply because they were exposed to the enthusiasm and enjoyment we see all the time.

Mustangs Rule!

[CactusHugger11]

please tell me you didnt put cobra badges on it

[GCMustang]

Originally posted by CactusHugger11
please tell me you didnt put cobra badges on it

Who? Me?

I did not. But if I decided that I was enamoured by the look of Cobra badging and put them on my car, then I suppose that would be my choice, wouldn't it?

I like the look of the car as it is. I purchased a complete Saleen graphics kit, to finish the look, but have decided against applying them. Not because I have some fixated paranoia of what others might think of my fake Saleen but because I've grown to like the sleek look of just the body kit on a monochromatic GT platform.

Anyone wanna buy a complete Saleen graphics kit?

[SD Wheeler]

Guys........don't ya'll know better than to feed the trolls?

[GCMustang]

True. We don't want to see the type of flame scars on the walls here that a few other sites tend to have.

he started it