your argument is dumb. if someone wants a v6 let them get the damn v6. it's faster than the 5.0's of yester year. If it makes them happy awesome.

Now just because you want the v8 doesnt mean they have to go and get it or anyone without a v8 is a pansy

11/1/2010 2:16:03 PM

I agree with Duke. Mustang and V8 just go together. Getting a V6 is like going to a fine steakhouse and ordering a burger. Yes you can do and it will be fine, but it does not make much sense.

11/1/2010 2:22:57 PM

Call me a peasant, but I think I could have some fun with a 305-hp V6 Mustang.

11/1/2010 2:23:09 PM

That has nothing to do with my argument, though!

11/1/2010 2:49:19 PM

Quote :

"Let me try this again... What I'm saying is not that the V8 is a better choice for the average person than the V6. It's not. It's that a DIFFERENT CAR would be a far better choice than a V6 Mustang. Think of a Mustang as simply an inexpensive way to carry you and that engine (the V8) around. That's the whole point. Without the V8, it's a pointless car, and you are better suited with a variety of other choices."

oh, a different car? other choices? like a v6 accord coupe, which is more expensive and slower? i mean, that's what you're saying, that the v6 mustang fills no consumer niche? their sales numbers would seem to disagree with you...

...or is it just that YOU would never purchase it? because, as i've noted several times, you aren't the target, nor do you represent the average drivers...so your opinion really doesn't MEAN anything, nor does it carry any weight (from a business point of view, anyway)

11/1/2010 3:46:34 PM

no, not from a business point of view. i'm talking from a consumer point of view.

and i'd never buy a V8 Mustang, either.


also, when I say "Accord", I'm really kinda speaking generically of the wide selection of commuter cars. it doesn't have to specifically be an Accord (and I've already expressed my distaste for Accords of both the coupe and V6 varieties).

It's similar to the argument that I make about soccer moms who buy SUVs just to pick the kids up from school and go to the grocery store. A minivan (or even a wagon in some cases) would be better for this (assuming they didn't need any of the towing/4x4 capabilities of the SUV, which they usually don't).

Of course, a 4x4 SUV does have some strengths (although they come with trade-offs, so they're only good if you need them). A V6 Mustang just really isn't good at anything.

[Edited on November 1, 2010 at 5:50 PM. Reason : RE: more $ and slower: I thought we didn't care about the power...hence the V6 to begin with.]

11/1/2010 5:49:39 PM

Quote :

"A minivan (or even a wagon in some cases) would be better for this (assuming they didn't need any of the towing/4x4 capabilities of the SUV, which they usually don't)."

true, but there is something to be said for style...and most people are quite resistant to the whole mini-van thing. Which one would you rather drive, a sedona or a tahoe?

style >> "would work/be better" to many people

in the end these are all personal decisions anyway.

11/1/2010 6:23:13 PM

[Edited on November 1, 2010 at 7:59 PM. Reason : Cars for Crabs]

11/1/2010 7:55:42 PM

Gah, you guys need to get off this guys nuts for a minute.

Sure, the V6 isnt whats necessarily intended for the car, or even what the car is best fitted with, but for most people having a two-door with 300hp is plenty of fun. Not everyone needs to have something on rails and having a xx.xx weight/hp ratio.

All things considered, its going to be a fun car. Not everyone needs to, wants to, or cares to have the next step up in engine, especially when its a daily driver. While a pig compared to an s2k, the 350z was a great everyday car and a v6 mustang is going to put you in the same ballpark as one just with more seats and better fuel economy.

Would I buy one? Honestly, no. But am I going to condemn someone for wanting a certain car, when in the big picture of things its better than most out there, not at all.

11/1/2010 9:27:01 PM

Quote :

"but for most people having a two-door with 300hp is plenty of fun. Not everyone needs to have something on rails and having a xx.xx weight/hp ratio. All things considered, its going to be a fun car. Not everyone needs to, wants to, or cares to have the next step up in engine, especially when its a daily driver. "

again, that's not my argument. let me frame it yet another way:


Mustangs suck. Get something else that's better. *, **


*= Unless you get the GT, which at least has a shitload of power for not a lot of money.
**= or unless you get a 1965-1970 model with the V8, which is a classic.

[Edited on November 1, 2010 at 11:07 PM. Reason : ]

11/1/2010 11:04:59 PM

^ the new GT is expensive as shit, the v6 is a steal at what they are selling it for.

Its sitting around the same price as a mazdaspeed 3 and the colbalt ss, both which will out do it in the corners, but it will kill either one in a straight line. Plus you dont have to drive Goverment Motors hunk of plastic roided out econobox. Nor do you have to buy a hatback that blends in with what your next door neighbors wife got when they had a baby.

11/1/2010 11:31:28 PM

My 911 only has 320hp, wow. What's the 0-60/0-100 and 1/4 like on the new Mustangs?

Also, I will have a 550+hp (when I'm done with it) 911 twin turbo around for a few days. You guys are welcome to drool over it w/it's owner's permission.

In other news, Duke, sir you've GOT to check out my 911 before you get too cozy w/that POS vette -yeehaw!

11/2/2010 2:17:16 AM

Quote :

"A V6 Mustang just really isn't good at anything."

i'm hardly a car fanatic, but a quick google search of the numbers leads me to believe that, for the money, it's very good at being a sporty v6, of which there are many other options...so compared to its competitors, it's faster and cheaper (facts) and looks better (an opinion, of course)

Quote :

"I thought we didn't care about the power...hence the V6 to begin with."

i don't know that v6 = no power...again, i'm hardly a car nut, so my views are all derived from internet searches and my limited experiences, but it seems like the 2011 mustang v6 is pretty powerful for what it is...certainly powerful enough to deserve SOME respect

looks like the v8 commands a $7500 premium for 107 horsepower...that seems like a good value (seriously) considering the only fuel economy hit is 2-3mpg...but if you're not going to use that 107hp (the majority of drivers), it's still $7500 wasted

11/2/2010 8:07:18 AM

Quote :

"I don't want a car that had to be shipped here from some far away land."

durrrrrrrrrrr international trade never gave societies better products. STOP ALL THA IMPORTIN'

11/2/2010 3:26:21 PM

Get the v6. Haters gonna hate bro. Everyone else is gonna mad cause their $30k+ pocket rocket verts can't hang in a straight line

11/2/2010 4:23:35 PM

Get the v6. Haters gonna hate bro. Everyone else is gonna mad cause their $30k+ pocket rocket verts can't hang in a straight line

11/2/2010 4:23:35 PM

(response to original post): those are great prices. If you've just gotta have the current shape mustang, I'd say go for it. The non-motor changes to the mustang that came in 2010 were enough to make the prospect of buying a mustang appealing to someone who couldn't get past any number of the touchy-feely aspects of the 2005-2009 that you'd have to accept in order to get a v8 for those prices. Just shooting through cars.com, It looks like that you can't get a last-year v8 for that money

(response to original poster's apparent foregone intent to buy a v6 but perhaps now concerned about buyer's remorse in light of callous v8-er-nuthin' comments made here):

A big-cube naturally aspirated engine is a very special thing. This might be true a bit more of the ls- chevies and the hemi chryslers more than the smaller displacement fords, but the ability to shove in any gear and pull super low revs on the highway in a tall sixth gear is truly a satisfying experience. Last night, sport durst let me drive home a challenger r/t to wow scare the bejeezus out of my wife, and I really thought hard about getting one. Having a big sloppy muscle car next to a rev-it-or-give up sports car in the garage is a very appealing prospect. Combining the two, which I guess means buying a vette or building a v8 kit car, like a cobra, seems to merely compromise oneself out of some of the beauty of not being able to 'have it all.'

As Ahmet pointed out, someone's gotta buy the new cars so the rest of us can buy them used. For that and for other reasons, gear heads have a natural incentive to encourage what they'd like to see maintained about the essence of cars they perceive. Duke isn't going to buy a mustang, but he's more comfortable with a world where mustang is synonymous with 'v8.' But that doesn't mean that he's really incapable of seeing why someone would want the v6. What's important to note here is not that duke objects to a lower spec, its that in thus case, as it's always been with mustang v6's, whether they are slow (all of them before now) or not (the new 3.7L), but by whether the 'mustang'-ness will be continued into the future by consumers who will buy the mustang and continue it's flavor in the national fleet for future generations, as part of a defense against the appliance-ing of the automotive landscape. By analogy of opposing degree of the specification ladder, I'm sure ahmet would love it if 911 became synonymous with everything implied by 'gt3', and thinks that the turbo and awd models somewhat miss the point. While mid-engined cars are hardly passé or everywhere within the market now, I'm sure he'd be just as abhorrent if the cayman and 911 were somehow merged, with the base '911' really just being the next cayman... allowing for sales of 911s to continue but with far fewer of them having the ass-mounted drivetrain.

To put a point on it, these miss-the-point specced cars are not valued quite to so much. For example, why not buy a Hyundai genesis? Isn't it at least a little because it 'isn't a mustang?' personal-preference mooted, it's tough to say that a mustang v6 is an overwhelmingly more appealing prospect than the Korean car, apart from the charisma that is carried by the domestic institution. You have to admit that the mustang v6 is now a good enough car now to condone buying into the love-it-or-hate-it image conjured up and enduring for the 40+ years of "mustang" tradition. Its a feel good car, but that's only because of v6's ability to borrow some of the glow that is kept alive in the ongoing heritage and commitment to the nameplate. And, as seen several times during the mustang's history, whenever the mustang drifted too close to purported desires of the non-v8 or turbo or non-stick-axle buyer, it nearly became just another vehicle with pent-up and then fading appeal.

It is the mustang paradox. The money and sales are in offering the v6 or other base model, but only so long as there is a passed-up opportunity to buy the monster muscle elsewhere in the showroom. When economists talk about a 'halo' car today, when they usually talk about the light that a special model can cast upon a broad lineup of 'lesser' vehicles, they might mention cars like an Acura nsx, a dodge viper, corvette, or the cadillac XLR... But as shared part sets have become more about 'one-model of each platform for each brand' rather than 'difference levels of content within a single brand for multiple buyers', the appeal and necessity of the dissimilar top model fades.

I therefore think that the halo effect really only exists within relatively related models, and that is why the mustang exists as it does and why all of those other 'top' models eventually render themselves unjustifiable at each significant economic downturn.

The mustang v6 is not a solely supportable institution. It only can be sustained as part of a pairing with a larger engined model. Because mustang options used to be 289 or 302 or 351, whatever, it was harder to see this same effect where the lesser car merely had less displacement rather than also fewer cylinders.

Corvette coupe sales are doubtlessly given a boost by the launch of z06 and zr1 models, and Porsche would not exist today without the boxster, (although some pundits claim it was the ability to share parts and sell another model for less, I think it was the not-completely-unrelated nature of the boxster that actually convinced a lot of buyers to take a look, which is important for the future of Porsche, which has circled around offering a vw-derivative entry model and moving the boxster upmarket, which I think is a HUGE mistake. But I digress).

In short, mustang v6 buyer, I think that if you cannot reach to the v8, new or used, but you would have if you could have, then that's good enough. The real problem is all those teenage girls who, had history been slightly different, would have gotten fwd probes instead of rwd mustangs and never known the difference.

11/2/2010 4:35:15 PM

That response reads like a magazine article, and a pretty good one. Do you do this for a living?

11/2/2010 4:47:49 PM

11/3/2010 9:04:12 AM

haha

11/3/2010 9:07:35 AM

^^^, thanks. Nope.

^^ that's awesome.

11/3/2010 11:58:13 AM

^^ haha, FAIL

11/3/2010 5:10:40 PM

Got it!
Thanks for the helpful advice

12/13/2010 2:59:07 PM

well done man!

Care to tell us how much you got it for?

12/13/2010 3:03:14 PM

it was 21.5K for a base 2011 v6 mustang. I was able to use my Ford Employee A-plan otherwise MSRP was gonna be 22k

12/13/2010 9:44:23 PM

We talking about a base v6 stang with a manual or auto transmission? Is this $21.5k otd no trade?

If so, then not too shabby.

[Edited on December 13, 2010 at 9:58 PM. Reason : .]

12/13/2010 9:57:32 PM

Looks good without the wing.

12/14/2010 11:15:24 AM

This thread makes me feel good about my new V8.

12/14/2010 1:49:22 PM

so when did the v6 models get twice-pipes as factory equipment?

12/14/2010 2:54:58 PM

Yea they are nice

12/14/2010 3:40:20 PM

grabber blue racing stripes this weekend

12/14/2010 4:26:28 PM

You buy the V6 Mustang to save money, then you turn right around and waste money on ricing it up?

12/14/2010 5:58:28 PM

took me 15+ hours, hand cut everything

12/22/2010 10:49:37 PM

^now that was a mistake.

[Edited on December 22, 2010 at 11:50 PM. Reason : ff]

12/22/2010 11:50:40 PM

12/23/2010 12:08:43 AM

Awesome work. Congrats on the new whip. Hope you are enjoying it.

12/23/2010 1:28:04 AM

Good job on the stripes, it looks like you did a good job with them. That being said, I would have left the exterior alone

Quote :

"so when did the v6 models get twice-pipes as factory equipment?"

As soon as the 2011 models came out (which was back in like March, stupid I know). Now that the V6 has 305hp it needs to breath apparently.

12/23/2010 8:36:10 AM

Stripes on V6 is bad, that color is worse.

12/23/2010 9:49:07 AM

This thread makes me sad

12/23/2010 11:14:55 AM

I hope thats a photoshop

12/23/2010 12:10:22 PM

relax guys, he's got that carolina panther pride!

12/23/2010 12:43:52 PM

better deal here on new mustang

http://www.ricart.com/specials/new.htm

12/30/2010 12:03:55 AM

just ...wow

12/30/2010 1:01:04 AM

Even If it was a gt I'd still assume the owner was a vagina in those colors

12/30/2010 1:06:57 AM

Yea, why that shade of blue? Or was that what you liked best?

Dude if you are happy with it, then enjoy it!

12/30/2010 1:37:25 AM

While pride stripes aren't my thing I think you did a good job. I'm not crazy about the color but I doubt you'll see anotherone like it.

12/31/2010 1:59:21 PM

Meh. Maybe it's the point that we and others wouldn't put blue stripes on a black car, let alone perform it ourselves. For better or worse it makes it HIS car. And they can be peeled off, so no probs when he wants to sell it.

1/3/2011 12:45:29 AM