NEARLY 2 YEARS WAITING: New Mustang GT PP is finally mine!

[Gibbo]

That's why I love the A45 currently, you can literally stamp on the pedal and it will launch out of a corner without even the traction control light coming on. It generally looks (and feels) a bit cringe if you get the back out in a rwd on normal roads, a bit like you simply cannot drive properly. There's just no space to be able to do such a thing 90% of the time.

Really?
I quite enjoy sliding around, empty roundabouts are great fun in RWD and power oversteer is fun, whenever I do it well it puts a big grin on my face. Feels superb and never had issue with lack of space and I am not the best driver but a good driver can be sideways as much or as little as he wants and stay in lane and in control. Having owned an EVO X and GTR its all far too easy having endless traction, makes it easier to go fast though and holds a big advantage in the wet.

But I think for other RWD owners, whenever I've being sideways, I never cringe, I SMILE!
What other people think, I could not give a beep beep about.

 

[Gibbo]

.......

Is this Ford UK system buddy?

It was rumoured that export models would get active exhaust and digital dash as standard.

If this is UK system is is very nice to see the adaptive suspension as that is clearly magneride and nice to seat Recaro seats, though I will probably stick the standard seats as the cooled and heated is a nice option unless you can get the Recaro to include cooling and heated?

 

[Gibbo]

The Ford USA build and price your 2018 Mustang.
The open to public main Ford USA website as people in USA can spec and order their car now for delivery oct/Nov time, till that gets delayed due to popularity I guess lol

Ok i see, so the dash an exhaust could be standard as part of the performance pack which is option able in USA but standard here same as 2016-2017 were.

Well gutted if Royal Crimson is not an option over here though really like that colour, and the 10 speed auto was looking forward to that too.

10-speed is the new auto option, that is 110% available, trust me they would not make all exports manual only as it would kill their sales as the current generation was like nearly 50% auto, the reason its not listed is just because it is always an option to select automatic.

 

[Gibbo]

.....

Gonna call Ford/Dealership later and put my provisional order in, did they take a £1000 deposit from you?

 

[Gibbo]

.......

Great to know!
Any other options listed?

Also the Recaro seats, do you know if they support heated or cooling function?

 

[Gibbo]

Are you getting a convertible now?

Nope but I use the heated and cooling function quite regular and plus the regular seats are some of the best seats I've ever sat in for comfort. Yes Recaro look nicer and might save a bit of weight saving but are generally not as comfortable though still acceptable, but if they have no cooling or heating function is quite a downer, particular if they are leather. If I can have a cloth/suede option then Recaro would be fine but leather recaros on winter days are not nice.

100% not convertible, shall be a couple with pretty much every option and 10-speed auto. Ordering today.

 

[Gibbo]

Phew! Thought you'd gone mad!

I never really saw the point in heated seats tbh unless driving with a the roof down on a nice cold and crisp day. A/C is good enough for me.

Once of those things that once you have had them you want to keep them. I thought I would never used chilled seats, but every time its warm/hot I use them, generally use them instead of using AC and heated seats always use, the ones that heat bottom and back are very nice which Mustang and 911 did.
Simple case of once you've had, not having them you miss them. Not a deal breaker but are options you think you'd not use, but then you have them and find yourself using them.

 

[Gibbo]

.........................

Awesome buddy, Recaros for me then!

Where is your dealership? Only ask as if your not too far I will put my order in with you instead as you obviously know exactly what your doing.

Glad to see UK can option black roof with all options, something USA does not allow.

Don't support you can see if the 10-speed is as per USA with the 3.55 Torsen can you?

 

[Gibbo]

Well my order is placed, just not official, but Ford HQ have it.

In other news seems the engine is getting a much bigger make over than anticipated:
http://www.fordnxt.com/news/a-peek-inside-the-2018-mustangs-gen-3-coyote-engine/

So its not just port and direction injection, its now over 5.0 in size, its got a new intake manifold to support higher 7500RPM, guessing its a slightly cut down 350 manifold, it also has a host of other internal upgrades.

Really keen to see a power plot comparing gen3 to gen2 as though the peak figures are nice, my guesses are the gains under the curve will be even great and nice to see higher 12:1 compression, should not be so lazy.


I probably won't bother quite so much with power on this new one at first, I suspect panel filter, tune will see it at 500HP where my present one is currently at but it will be vastly quicker due to the 10-speed and the power curve. Think my focus will be just to pull some weight out of it, as I will go Recaro seats (fingers crossed) and as I am essentially gonna wait for, turn it into something visually similar to 350 externally, I will also put the Shelby 350 R rear delete in, great as no one will ever ask for a lift, move my wheels, brakes over and I will probably also fit the upgraded DSC GT350 magneride controller, thats if I find the stock ECU lacking in handling, fingers crossed the stock unit will be fine.

Power wise I shall just sit back and watch what the US guys discover, but I might leave intake well alone and engine bay, if the tune gets me to 500HP, I will then just attack the exhaust, full headers, centre resonator delete but keep the stock active system so I can select quiet mode etc, sport for loud as the stock system should sound nice and in theory that would bump the power close to 550HP anyway. End of the day it will get to a 100 in around 7s flat, will be quick enough and have traction, can't really see much need for a blower on an 18 10-speed as it will probably just smoke the first five gears, but hey I've being know to change my mind.

 

[Gibbo]

Haha nice one, what happened to waiting a year Have you seen any official pricing yet or is it just deposit-down time?

Can't help myself, no pricing yet, I expect it to be circa 45k as I pretty much want every option.

 

[Gibbo]

I like that quiet mode. I feel like a right idiot in an F TYPE when I leave for work.

Knowing me I will never use it, but it could be handy if I plonk headers on next one to have something to calm it down on early mornings or late night.
Kind of also sad that this one will go at somepoint, love driving the thing.

 

[Gibbo]

What deposit they asking for ?

No deposit right now, they normally want 1k though typically, but might be because I am already customer but the order won't be put through until Ford UK make MY18 ordering official, just be at front of queue. Was willing to wait but seems Ford have made a lot more tweaks they did not reveal, quite smart to get people excited over new tech and then they keep giving more and I cannot help myself. Love the current one but if this one is better in every way then great, even if front-end is a bit droopy, easily remedied with the 100+ bodykits that will come.

I expect the moment all the giving ends is when they tell me to lube up and bend over as they hit me with the price, gonna be an easy 45k as I want like every option which was around 42k on current car at current prices.

 

[Gibbo]

Are Bristol Street Stoke our only real access for the 2018 Mustang around here?

To be honest I found the sales guys (Ben Salmon) nothing but fantastic. Its the service/warranty department that are a total let down. But sales and bodyshop are brilliant and the bodyshop quality of work is excellent.

I did speak to Burns in Congleton, who said they could order one, but they would simply be ordering via a main Fordstore, in short acting as middle man. So I use Bristol Street for sales/bodyshop and use Burns in Congleton for servicing and warranty work as they are totally awesome guys at Burns, really look after your car and know what they are doing. But what I will say is both Stoke and Congleton never raised an eyebrow on warranty claims, not even for changing out my cats, we know my car is far from standard.

So your only other options are Wolverhampton and Derby, heard good things about TC Harrison in Derby who do seem to supply a lot of RS/Mustangs.

But back to Stoke, sales wise they were superb, the car was professionally detailed (not washed), no plates were attached and they kept it in the showroom. When Autobrite had my car last week they said because Ford did such a good job on prep and the paint had zero swirls that over a year later my washing technique is clearly good because again the paint was essentially swirl free, apart from some minor scratches on passenger door which they polished out they said the paint is essentially in superb condition.

 

[Gibbo]

That's actually good to know. As a family we've always had good service from Burns in Congleton and never had many dealings with Bristol Street.

Is it known yet what options are available on the car, what yet are standard as UK spec when the ordering goes live? (I know you've said you're gone on to be front of the queue so to speak)

The idea of a new car with 3 years warranty for the price of cars to be had a few years old (E63's, M5/M6's) is attractive.

Pricing is unknown, official ordering probably sometime by end of September.

MY18 UK car should be out of the box Performance Package as current model. We of course get the newer engine, 10-speed auto option. Rumour is we will get digital dash, active exhaust as standard. Also seems like we get nice options such as magneride from GT350 and Recaro seat option.

 

[Gibbo]

my personal opinion only is :- are you sure it can be remedied because the grill is too low and too wide !

yes

 

[Gibbo]

Hi there

I've had the car just over 18 months now, its changed a lot in my ownership, being an early adopter some mistakes with early modding was made, well not mistakes but not the best option but also because at time options available now were not available then. Driving this car is a shear joy, though the other car on the drive is a totally sorted M3 (CSL beating drive) I always find myself taking the Mustang to work and on weekend trips.

Even though I've finally turned old and decided manuals are no longer a thing for me I still absolutely love driving this car, particular in warmer months, the handling for a big GT car is very good, it drives like a smaller and lighter car than it is, of course at the same time its no Cayman. Thought not much quicker than the M3 due to its weight and manual gearbox the power is simply more grin inducing as there is power and torque everywhere 1500-8000rpm.

It's being a great car, its had some warranty issues, the main nightmare being the oil cooler but that was more at fault of Bristol Street Ford in Stoke being absolutely totally useless when it comes to service and due to an absolute fail on there part at sourcing parts to remedy the job and then fitting the part incorrect resulted in 7 weeks downtime, what an utter joke! Thankfully I've now moved all service/warranty work to a family run Ford dealership in Congleton (Burns), who are absolutely superb and have turned warranty work around in hours!

It would probably be wise to sell now, but I simply cannot, going to keep the car for remainder of year and enjoy it, then make the decision to sell as is or remove most of the items that don't really impact its look, made a list of said items:

- Shelby GT350 Wheel: £300 (Move to MY18 maybe)
- Titanium Knob: £100
- KW Clubsport 2: £1500
- Steeda rear shock mounts: £200
- FRPP Anti-Roll Bars: £300
- BMR CB005: £200 (Move to MY18 maybe)
- BMR Vertical Links: £200 (Move to MY18 maybe)
- Steeda RLCA: £100
- Shelby GT350 Strut brace: £200
- GT 350 IM: £750
- GT 350 TB: £200
- GT 350 CAI: £200
- SCT X4: £200
- Steeda Water UD: £100 (Move to MY18)
- Steeda G-Trac brace: £100 (Move to MY18)
- Corsa Extreme: £1000
- FRPP Oil separators: £100 each (£200) (Move to MY18)
- Pony Decklid: £100 (Move to MY18)
- Front LED Fogs: £100
- Front RGB Fogs: £150
- Front sequential indicators: £150 (Move to MY18 maybe)
- Rear sequential harness: £100 (Move to MY18)
- Hood struts: £100 (Move to MY18 maybe)
- Steeda rear gearbox bracket: £50
- Velossa scoop
- Eibach 15mm spacers: £100
- Wheels/tyres: £1500 (Move to MY18)
- Two-piece brake disc: £1000 (Move to MY18)
- PP Dark silver customer wheels with MPSS: £1000
- Eibach lowering springs: £150
- Stock springs: £0
- Stock dampers: £0
- Stock exhaust: £0
- Stock intake: £0


Before anyway ask, none of the above is for sale! Just for my own personal rough sums of what I'd sell said items for roughly if I did decide to put the car back to a somewhat more standard setup more for looks than all out performance. Hence why I kept all stock parts and have the Ford Eibach Lower springs and Eibach spacers meaning I can simply re-fit stock shocks, Eibach springs, Eibach spacers, Stock custom coloured PP wheels and leave the RTR kit, steeda splitter, GT 350 wing, stripes and other visual stuff on the car so in short next buyer gets one very tastefully modified good looking car. Of course I might just decide how it is now if the money was right.

Ford offered me 31-32k back to stock for the car which surprised me, as it cost me £35,385 18 months ago new, can't really beat that for such little depreciation, though I'd sell it privately anyway.

As such I need to stop modding ideally, I shall probably find this hard to do, I simply enjoy messing too much as this thread is proof off, I think its also a reason why in a way I do not want to let it go, I've put my mark on this car, I am extremely happy with it.

Still the MY18 has a lot of features I really like and want, which I cannot retrofit into the current car, meaning chopping in really is the option. Keep it some say, well to me having two so similar cars to me just seems stupid, I've contemplated letting the M3 go because its a similar drive (RWD, front engine etc) but that car is going nowhere as its an absolute animal.

The next Mustang is going to be all shouty, Tango and Cash style, orange/yellow (depending on light), GT 350 styling or what takes my fancy, V8, 10-speed, mag ride (will put my KW's on if we don't get this but its being spotted on UK options), Recaros and pretty much every other option. This time round I will get rinsed on depreciation as I suspect it to be a circa 45k car and within 12 months to be worth 35k.

I am just hoping the next generation S650 Mustang is a total flop, looks nothing like a Mustang, gets turbochargers, becomes AWD and loses the muscle it had remaining, otherwise if S650 is another hit, I will simply have to trade again. Thats not expected until 2021 on our roads though so got a bit of time and by then GM and Dodge could also have RHD offerings of the new Camaro, Challenger and maybe even Corvette, that could be the time I go from Pony car.

So this Friday my current one gets a round of final mods done:
- Green 5.0 DOTS
- Window chrome trim DE-CHROMED, many here shall approve of this.
- Gloss black roof
- Red light tints


I did have one more modification planned, but it was a big one in money and work, which was a the GT 350 front bumper on the car as it simply looks amazing, but at £2000 fitted its not easy or cheap to do but it would make the car look even better, particular more menacing, might even help re-sale as I suspect many would jump at a Mustang that looks like a GT 350, only the petrol heads would realise it was not, still I think this idea shall now be scrapped.

Hopefully this Sunday shall be sunny (Ford Fair Silverstone) so can hopefully get plenty of photos done of the car with its updates.

They are great cars and you can see from my list above in detail what I have done to the underpinnings, I'd say now handling wise a set of KW's would be enough for most on the stock car.

 

[Gibbo]

Yea was offered 32k for my car from ford as well

They are being fair on trade-ins, Burns Congleton sold their 2nd owner 2017 car for £37,000 couple of weeks ago, so people are clearly still buying them and I guess for Ford if they can turn 2k plus profit on the trade-in plus whatever profit on the new car, they are happy.

 

[Gibbo]

RS owner reviews Mustang GT:

 

[Gibbo]

the orange colour looks amazing so you've got that right...........it looks brilliant on the shelby GT 500, esp with white stripes..........i'm so sick and tired of seeing dark Metallic greys, it's such a boring colour, unfortunately it's become a fad over the last 10 years, but bright colours are starting to become popular again, well let's hope so !

http://mustangattitude.com/cgi-bin/showcar.cgi?pic=/2008/2008_00041_01

you've spent quite a bit on your car...........it soon adds up doesn't it

Not sure on white on yellow, think black works better, I won't be doing over top stripes though again, just black roof, black mirrors, black badges. That S197 in the link looks rough and a poor example to be honest.

Hobbies cost money, cars do not come cheap, just like any hobby. To me its fun I spend thousands on messing with cars, enjoyment cost money. Just dropped £2000 on the M3, it never ends!

 

[Gibbo]

I used to like the S197 but that looks horrible, especially compared to the S550.

This.
But Ford pulled of a masterpiece with S550, I think the GT350 personally is the best looking Mustang of all time, even beating Eleanor, can't believe I said that. Now imagine this, the S550 looks so good now, in 50 years time they will be even superb.

I am kind of hoping Ford gets it so wrong on S650, because at least then I won't want to upgrade haha, so fingers crossed S650 is ugly and no longer NA or a V8 or something else crazy to loose the appeal. As ideally I'd like to keep my current one longer but I simply cannot resist the MY18, it simply offers too much.