In reply to John Brown:
Having driven all 3, the Mustang, hands-down, no question. The Challenger is way too heavy too ever be useful with it's V6 (honestly, even the 5.7L Hemi's are kind of doggy). The Camaro could probably be made okay with a complete suspension re-think, but the integrated exhaust manifolds and other engine trickery will forever keep you from upgrading. Whereas the Mustang V6 PP ("Mayhem") is incredible out of the box.
Klayfish wrote:
Adrian_Thompson wrote:
The V6 Mustang, once considered a rental-fleet joke,
Err for the record I never wrote that, your edit is damning me in the eye's of my employer!
If a car is big enough for you and your situation only you can say. We have the C30 and the Mustang convertable. Me regularly do the school run which is 20-25 mins away with the Mustang, that is one driver one 12 year old and two 13 year olds. For us it works, it's a practical family car. Yet I work with people who consider a new explorero too small for two 5-6 year old kids and are desperate to get an expedition instead.
My 12 year old doens't like traveling in the back with the top down at highway speeds, as to be fair at that speed it is quite blustery back there. I've ha;ppily spent 40 mins to an hour back there at a time and I'm 6' 230lb's.
In reply to alfadriver:
You have your viewpoint, I have mine. I'm okay with that.
mtn
UltimaDork
9/6/13 1:20 p.m.
Vigo wrote:
That is a really stupid and maschiostic reason, isn't it?
Your words, not mine!
Believe me, it annoys me that I feel that way. Especially because I'm normally in the lowest powered version of cars when there are multiple engine options (318 E30, 9-5 Linear, my dad and I were talking that after he purchased his G37 he had a courtesy G25 and had more fun in that since you had to work it...) I think that a big part of why it annoys me is that I have a 6 speed Miata, and I'm always annoyed whenever I think of the fact that the 5 speed gets better gas mileage and is a better autocrosser.
Adrian_Thompson wrote:
This question has been asked before on the board. There are several V6 owners on the board, one guy has a V6 manual with performance pack and a thread in the build section, although I don't recall an update in a while.
That would be me. And the reasons I haven't been updating the build thread is that there isn't anything new to report. I've been DD'ing my 2013 Mustang V-6 Perf. Pack for over a year now and have no problems aside from some condensation in one of the rear side markers and lots of rock chips in the hood and windshield. The current V-6 is faster than most of the older V-8 models and more efficient, plus it doesn't feel quite as nose-heavy. The aftermarket has really stepped up to the plate with mods for the 3.7L, from tuners to intakes to centrifugal superchargers and turbo kits!
Anyways, to answer OP's question about waiting on a V-6PP: I say at least give one a test-drive, because even if you end up with a regular V-6 model, you'll have an idea of where you can go chassis-wise with it. I have made some suspension tweaks to my car (dampers, springs, camber plates, Watt's Link), mainly because I found the stock suspension too floaty. On the other hand, there are many more parts that go into a V-6PP than just GT shocks and springs, and I don't plan on changing some of them out for a while, so I don't see springing for the suspension package as money wasted. If you're planning to do a total suspension overhaul right away, then a used V-6 base model might work better for you.
One other tweak some V-6 owners do is to skip the 3.31 gears and get 3.73 instead, which makes the car accelerate even faster. I have no idea how this affects mileage. I am getting 24-25mpg in my Mustang with about 70% highway/30% city driving.
I've had mine for just over a year now, a 13 base v6 manual in red. I've put 16500 miles on it in that time, almost all city driving as I'm a salesman and use it to get to my accounts. Averaging in the low 20s mpg, but can easily see 30+ on the highway. Its a great driving car, especially since it was the same money as a loaded focus. Not a hard choice to make lol.
I'd like a slightly more taunt suspension (easy to fix), maybe add a programmer, intake, exhaust, and wheels for summer to make it right. Now if only we had a track here in Fairbanks closer than Palmer dragway 400 miles away... keeps me from going off the deep end with it at least. That and winter. Speaking of, it runs really well at -60*f and even warms up to full temp after an hour or so. Drives great on snow and ice here thanks to traction control, blizzaks, and good natural balance and handling.
RollinM
New Reader
9/7/13 6:40 a.m.
Thanks for all of the feedback. It would definitely be a manual as the wife also drives a stick. I'm actually leaning toward a new one as it looks like there are some pretty good deals out there. i included a link below from Autotrader.com just as an example. It actually doesn't appear to have the perf. pack but just upgraded wheels. I also used to think I would never consider a v6 Mustang, but I think the combination of the improvements over the older ones and the price difference to the GT has swayed my opinion.
http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?endYear=2014&zip=33020&listingType=new&listingTypes=new&transmissionCode=MAN&maxPrice=24000&transmissionCodes=MAN&mmt=[FORD[MUST[]][]]&modelCode1=MUST&makeCode1=FORD&startYear=2011&showcaseOwnerId=614110&searchRadius=500&listingId=348941844&listingIndex=8&Log=0
If it makes you feel better, mild modifications are bringing the 6 cylinder cars to the 300whp and high 12, low 13 second 1/4 miles.
Vigo
UberDork
9/8/13 1:56 a.m.
I also used to think I would never consider a v6 Mustang, but I think the combination of the improvements over the older ones and the price difference to the GT has swayed my opinion.
When i first got into cars, v6 mustangs were darn near the scum of the earth. V6 Mustangs have probably improved more over the last 15 years than 99% of other car models over the same period.
Like, the difference between a 1998 v6 mustang and a 2013, is probably bigger than the difference between a 1998 and 2013 kia or hyundai. Think about that.