Things I'm Going to Do in the Near Future:

"Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney" (braddelaparker)
10/22/2013 at 09:43 • Filed to: None

When the 2015 Mustang comes out, I'm going to blindfold a group of automotive journalists and have them ride around in a 2014 Mustang and a 2015 Mustang back to back and have them guess which one has a live-axle. I've got $300 that says they collectively score below 70%.

DISCUSSION (11)

dropthatclutch > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney
10/22/2013 at 09:46

I've got a better idea. Blindfold them, and have them DRIVE the Mustangs.

FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney
10/22/2013 at 10:01

haha, I bet you're right.

Casper > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney
10/22/2013 at 10:21

It would depend what kind of driving you were doing. If you have ever raced a live axle vehicle, you know it, but just cruise down the highway, it is very unlikely... but don't pretend it isn't a huge improvement. I'm thoroughly excited that the Mustang will be a budget sports car finally. It will be interesting to see how well balance everything and where they start landing time wise in autocross with the change over.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > dropthatclutch
10/22/2013 at 10:23

Sounds messy.

I like it.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney
10/22/2013 at 10:24

I bet most people wouldn't know the difference. It may be a feel thing but I can tell you some of these Mustangs in the last few years have been throwing down some crazy good track times for having a live axle.

Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney > Casper
10/22/2013 at 11:04

It will absolutely be a huge improvement, but it's deflating to see people who write about cars for a living revert to the same mantra of "It's the 21st century...the Europeans don't use it...it sucks" without actually providing anything qualitative or quantitative to substantiate what they're saying.

Ford has that shit dialed in right now. In 2005? The leap from LRA to IRS would have been huge. But this year? A jump, no doubt, but not of nearly the same proportion.

Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner
10/22/2013 at 11:07

The only thing I've experienced and that I've heard from other folks consistently is that a well-set up LRA will struggle on a bumpy/rough track compared to an IRS and won't ride as well. Other than that, I think the distinction is something that's just been repeated so much that it's just taken as "common sense" and that's evidence enough for many people. Ford indeed has that shit dialed in.

Casper > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney
10/22/2013 at 11:09

Nah. The current LRA is pretty damn good. It's only rough surfaces, uneven traction conditions, and really aggressive driving that it will come into play... but it will be a great improvement. Just because you have something that works, doesn't mean you shouldn't modernize it for something better. This opens a whole new spectrum for lower cost tuning of Mustangs and will let them move a lot more from the stereotype of a straight line car into twisties without having to spend $50,000+ on a top of the line prepped model.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney
10/22/2013 at 11:39

That sounds right to me!

Someone had a "who else is making great engines right now?" post on oppo one day recently and I said chevy was doing amazing things with its small block v8 (see the corvettes). Someone came back with pushrods?! really? how impressive is that? old technology!!!

I replied that I thought it was even more impressive to keep up with the pack in performance and mpgs while using older technology than it was to use something newer.

Just my thoughts, but if you can save development costs and keep using older technology - and it isn't holding you back in performance - then there's no reason for newer technology. That is until you reach it's performance ceiling anyhow.

Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner
10/22/2013 at 11:48

And I won't even reject the notion that Ford has probably hit that performance ceiling with the LRA, or they're pretty close to it. But that doesn't mean that said ceiling isn't doing some pretty impressive things for a pretty impressive price.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney
10/22/2013 at 11:55

Well said again!