2nd Jan 2011, 19:25

The biggest factor with the 2010-2011 Mustang is not the engine. It is the horrible styling. Ford had a beautiful, truly retro design with the 2005-2009 model, then threw it all away with the gee-whiz Buck Rogers mess they made of it with the 2010 model. Even my die-hard Mustang owning friend went with the Dodge Challenger when he traded his 2006 Mustang. Ford even screwed up the beautiful retro-designed dash. The new one would be just as at home in a Focus as in a Mustang. We like Fords, but we'll look at the Challenger and Camaro when it's time to trade.

3rd Jan 2011, 11:08

Technically if you had a Foxbody Mustang 5.0 and you moved into a 2011 V6, you would be moving up... a lot. You'd go from 225 HP to 305, and the 0-60 time would drop from 6.2 to 5.4. This is hardly moving backwards. I agree in that if you owned a GT made in the past 5 years or so, it wouldn't make much sense to downgrade to the V6, although the newer Mustang looks better than the previous version, so that alone may be worth the switch. The new V6 would be pretty much on par with the older 300 HP V8. You'd have only a 3/10th second advantage in the older GT. It is similar to going from a Foxbody Mustang to the 4.0 V6 newer cars, only in that case the Foxbody has the 3/10's advantage to 60, as the best you'll get out of the 4.0 is a 6.5 0-60 with the manual tranny.

Also, some of the faster cars GM produced in the 80's were V6's. The GN you mentioned was one of them, along with the more potent GNX and the Turbo Pace car TA of 1989, which ended up being the quickest TA ever.

3rd Jan 2011, 12:00

Insurance, here's my secret. Drive an older classic big block whatever you want, and go with classic insurance. Keep points off and have a new daily driver insured separately. I kept my premium under 300 a year garaged. When you hit 50, you buy new or keep your old too. I have 2 cars, and my premium total is just over a grand a year. My Vette does not have a mileage cap, and is insured to drive anytime. I rarely drive my old muscle car more than 2500 miles a year, so I antiqued it and went with classic insurance. Another option is drive your new Ford 6 as your daily driver, and pull your big block great car on weekends, cruises and shows. The catch on classic insurance is you need a late model daily driver, and also have a garage and mileage restriction limits. I could care less on restrictions, as where could you drive a car with over 400 hp and a convertible for peanuts? Also, antique in my state and no inspections ever again under my owner name. Great deal.

3rd Jan 2011, 12:06

I consider moving up V8 to a more potent V8. You can put a bottle on a car and shoot some nitrous too on your 4 banger or a 6, but I will pass.

3rd Jan 2011, 12:57

My opinion is exactly the opposite. The newer Mustang is much more updated, and the retro isn't so overwhelming. Retro is cool, but it is kind of getting overdone these days. The Challenger is a nice car, but it is so much the 1970. I like a little more originality, and the new Mustang has more of it than the previous gen.

Also, what are you talking about with the inside? The new interior to me is hard to tell from the older one. The only thing I really remember about the older style was the phone book seat they had in them. I am 6'3" and I couldn't adjust the seat so I wasn't hitting the roof, unless I was way back like in a recliner. It was ridiculous. The new seats are worlds better and much more comfortable and adjustable. The interior also received a much higher quality selection of materials and has a better overall feel. I guess cheap and rattly would remind you of the 60's though?

3rd Jan 2011, 16:38

In 2010 Ford did change the Mustang dash design. Instead of the straight line design with round gauges, they went to the same sort of curvy, spacey dash you'd find in a Corolla or Aveo. It really isn't very sporty.

4th Jan 2011, 11:27

The Mustang dash from '05-'09 was the biggest disappointment I had within the new design. The newer 2010 and up design is more sporty, and feels more like it belongs in the Mustang. In reality, they are very similar, but they tweaked the newer design so it looks more like a sports car and less like a 46 year old car. Retro is good when it is done right, but some things should be left in the past! The new Camaro dash is absolutely the ugliest thing to come out of GM in some time! Why they insist on bringing back these weak design details of old cars and sticking them in new ones is beyond me!

4th Jan 2011, 18:44

"but they tweaked the newer design so it looks more like a sports car and less like a 46 year old car"

Uhhhh... looking old is what "retro" means.

5th Jan 2011, 14:36

Uhhhhh, yeah, no kidding, but some details of old cars should have stayed in the 60's, like the ugly dashboards they used to have!

6th Jan 2011, 07:10

You can replace your old dash cluster with a sharp Covan classic new dash gauge cluster. Beautiful dash for your older muscle car. I have my original dash cluster packed away on mine. I save all my original parts on my cars for the next owner. I like classic look with modern retro upgrades.

15th Aug 2013, 01:54

The 4.6 was introduced in the 1994 Lincoln Mark VII series in dual overhead cam form, almost identical to the engine in the 1996 Cobra.

Development of this bulletproof Ford design probably started 4-5 years earlier, and included such tests as 1 week at maximum RPM, before it was deemed good enough to be put under the hood of a Mustang.

12th Mar 2020, 03:01

Some people (like myself) actually WOULD prefer the GT over the V6 but... insurance for the GT is more than double that of the V6. If you could afford to get a 2011-ish with the 305 hp V6, then that to me would make a great platform to mod from; it would be nice to stomp some GT's into the ground LOL. But I do agree modding a 4.0 V6 is not worth the minimal gains in hp (unless you get a turbo or super charger). But the 05 to 09 arguably have the best looking body style of any modern stang!!! And V6 or V8, they can still look sharp with the right styling mods.