VIGOROUS DEBATE ON THE 2010 MUSTANG GT

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Over on the Car Craft Magazine forums, the assumed deficiencies in the 2010 Mustang are producing a prodigious debate. One poster -- Turbo Ted -- speaks passionately for scores of Mustang fans who are worried about the 2010 Pony's competitiveness:

"Vehicle type--------Wt.. . . H.P.. . .Lbs per H.P.
2010 Mustang GT....3800. . . 315 . . . 12.06
2010 Camaro SS.....4100. . . 400 . . . 10.25
Challenger R/T.....4100. . . 372 . . . 11.02
Challenger SRT-8...4200. . . 425 . . . 9.88
Shelby GT500**.....3900. . . 500 . . . 7.8

**(Not available to regular guys who have to punch a timeclock for a living. And who knows if they'll even keep making it after 2009.)

Does anyone else see a problem with this picture?

Even if the 2010 Mustang is 300 lbs. lighter than the Challenger and Camaro, it's going to get KILLED on the street.

With nearly a decade to plan for the return of the Pony Car wars, it would seem that Ford's been asleep.

Hyper-partisans, such as "Camaro Craft's" own Jeff "LSx" Smith are going to have a field day pushing the Camaro and dogging the Modular.

It didn't have to be that way.

Certainly, given the state of the Detroit 3, who knows if any of these pony cars (or the companies that build them) will be around in five years (Barring a miracle or a merger, GM will run out of cash in 2009; Chrysler will be sold and niche market stuff like Challenger will probably get axed; 35 m.p.g. CAFE is going to kill V8s for anything except ultra-expensive luxury and sports models).

Thus, it's just plain stupid that Ford expects its long-suffering loyalists to go up against a pair of twelve-gauge sawed-off shot guns with a cap gun.

They're blowing the last opportunity to build a legendary supercar for the masses (one that will likely have to tide all of us "Joe Lunchbox" V8 lovers over for a decade or more).

A wise man once said, "if you claim to build a better mousetrap, you'd better catch a few mice."

The emerging problem with the 2010 Mustang GT is "no mice" . . . . Do we really want to spend thousands more on a V8 that's going to be matched up with the other guy's secretary-special V6 in the minds of those at the Drive-in on Cruise night?

Do we really want to give up all of the technical leadership to the Japanese? (If you want a DOHC 4V V8 with variable valve timing and other modern feature, it doesn't look like you're going to be getting one from Detroit . . . .)

I can't tell you how MAD I AM at Ford BLOWING IT!

Finally, it might be almost OK if the wimpy 2010 Mustang GT had the basic building blocks for aftermarket performance, such as forged pistons, H.D. forged rods and a forged crank. Then on "day two," Mustangers could feed some serious boost to their new Steeds to keep up with the "day two" Camaros.

BUT NO!

Ford, in all of its MYOPIC WISDOM will probably see fit to keep on plugging in worthless, glass-jawed hyperecutectic cast slugs, spindly cracked-cap rods and willowy cast cranks, limiting stock-block boost to a paltry 5-8 psi. That will force anyone wanting to build a competitive Mustang to spend thousands of dollars on a "built" short block.

That's not what made the 5.0 Mustang a legend. And that's not what's going to drive the Challenger and Camaro back to extinction.

Doing the job half-way and letting the stupid bean-counters run the show is part of what got Ford in the mess its in now.

Well said!