kingrukus

I have a 2000 GT that is in great condition with the usual bolt-ons (shorty headers, full exhaust, 3.73 gears, struts/springs, intake plenum, throttle body, SFCs, canned tune), but the car feels sluggish around town, isn't good on gas, is very rough over uneven pavement, and just overall I am getting tired of it. It needs about $6k to get it to where I want (panhard bar, rear LCAs, used centrifugal supercharger & tune, good seats, cobra body pieces painted/installed). I am thinking that at the end of the day the 6k is a waste to drop onto something that will still not feel as nice as the 2011+ GT.

Is moving to a 2011+ GT the cure to all my problems? Is it that much better? Has anyone here owned both? What are some notes you can make on the comparison. I still have yet to drive a new 5.0L mustang, but I figure test driving will ultimately make up my mind.

sbradle4

I think only if you want a newer car. Because if you get a 2011, you're still going to want to mod it, lol. And could put more than 6k in performance parts alone on it.

DeltaV

Well, I just came from an 03 to a 13 and I believe it is definitely worth it. The interior, exterior, and motor are all better. Yes, you can mod it if you want to but it is just as fast stock as my 03 with cams. It handles better and is a much smoother ride. I don't know your current financial situation but if you can afford it, get one. Just my two cents.

sweger

I had an 04 GT Premium that I got rid of in 2010 after my first son was born, we sold it to pay off bills and get out of debt (minus our other vehicle payment) before he was born. I bought that car as a gift to myself after my second deployment, and put a lot of time/money into getting it how I wanted it (wheels/tires, x-pipe, cat back, intake, plenum, throttle body, shifter, tune, and some exterior upgrades...hadn't gotten to tackle the suspension when I had sold it). I owned it almost two years, with 10 months of that being overseas. I LOVED that car, absolute favorite car I have ever owned. That being said...

I recently got into a 2011 GT Premium. Since we sold my '04, we have had another kid and been through two "family" cars ('10 F150 supercrew and '13 Mazda CX5), which we weren't happy with in one way or another, and I had been through a couple sporty cars as my DD (99 Grand Prix GTP and 03 Focus SVT) which I enjoyed in their own way. We got a ****ty trade in on our CX5, but a phenomenal deal on the '11 GT (although cosmetically, it isn't close to 100% like my '04 was). I have only had the '11 for two months now, and 5 weeks of that it wasn't driven because I was in the field. All I've done is an axle-back exhaust. I love this car...it handles so much better than my '04 did, it rides better, and generally is more badass (and much faster, of course). It is as comfortable as my '04 was, and gets only slightly better mileage (I'm getting around 14-15mpg in town with mostly short drives at under 2 miles, and got 26mpg on the highway so far; my '04 got around 13-14 around town driven the same way and 24-25 on the highway).

Given the chance, I'd take MY 2004 back over this car any day, or would pick a very clean and unmolested 2004 Mach 1 or Cobra over it as well (or a Boss, but that's an entirely different story). I personally preferred the interior of my 04 over this one, I liked the transmission a lot more (a lot less shifting around town, I like 5-speeds over 6-speeds any day), the exhaust sounded better (the 2 valves just have the best sounding exhaust IMHO) and the sound system in my '04 was better sounding TO ME (stock Shaker system was in it). My verdict? If I could have my 2004 with the handling/braking characteristics and engine of my 2011, with the Tremec 3650 and 3.73's, I'd have the perfect car. Story of my life...

sweger

Oh, and two car seats fit fine in the my 2011, but I think they'd fit better in my 2004 since the back seat isn't as dished out as the newer 'Stangs...probably not an issue for you but worth noting.

kingrukus

Interesting. I actually posted this thread on a few mustang forums, and you are the first to write that you actually would prefer the older car. The interior for my 2000 GT is actually a huge letdown, however I knew what I was getting into when I bought the car. It is just cheap and the plastics / design seem like they are from a fisher-price toy and view the 2010+ cars as a huge improvement in terms of interior.

The exterior design is a toss up - I personally find the SN197 cars to be a little too big, and with the right mods (i.e. 03/04 cobra pieces) the 99-04 cars can look very nice.

My biggest peeve with my car is the feel/handling. Over bumps the rear end feels very uneasy (I know rear LCAs and panhard would help that), and generally it is just very harsh/bone-jarring which is something I hear the 2011 cars really improve on.

BleedinBlue

I started in a 2002 GT (Auto), traded up to a 2006 GT (Manual), and just traded up to a 2011 GT/CS (Auto).

I loved my '02, it was my intro into project "hobby" cars. Had 4.10's, o/r pipe and a killer tune. It was a very fun car. The 2006 out of the box was faster and had a more comfortable feel. Aesthetically, I think I liked the '02 better between the two. The 2011 feels MUCH more comfortable and feels of better quality than the '06.

Each trade up gave me a better all around car. The 2011 is night and day faster than the 06, and the 06 (When stock) was a little faster than the '02.

I think you should just go drive a coyote. You should know pretty easily whether or not it is worth it to you to trade.

DocSnickers

Rear end of the 2011+ still bounces around a lot when you hit bumps. That's something that has not improved much. But aftermarket suspension takes care of that problem. If you go the manual route you will want to get rid of the stock shiftier it will lock you out of gears due to the plate flexing when its under load. A nice MGW shiftier will take care of that problem. Other than that they are very solid cars. Speed is not an issue and the cars have no problem putting would be challengers in their place when push comes to shove on the interstate.

sweger

OP - I will agree that the materials of the 99-04's interior isn't the best quality, but I don't think it was any worse than anything else I've owned...pretty much on par. I was speaking more of the design. I don't know what it is exactly, it just worked better for me.

I'll go with you on the exterior for sure...both are good looking in stock form (in my opinion, the '10+ looking better than the '05-09), and can be made to look extremely sweet (or horrible...I've seen my share, but to each his own). I'm indifferent to the exterior overall, I suppose.

Handling is better, but it does still get jumpy on bumps around corners like my '04 did. This is something to be expected from a live axle in stock form, but can easily be fixed (and probably should've come "fixed" from the factory) with some good research and aftermarket shopping.

I'm definitely very happy with my car with no complaints other than the shifter (skip shift is freaking stupid, and the shifter is very notchy...hoping a Barton double post bracket will help/fix that issue, if not I'll add on their shifter later on).