Troponin

I have been looking at several cars over the last few months trying to decide what I want. I have test driven several cars, including the GT mustang, CTS-V, STi and the BMW 135i.

I am leaning towards the GT at this point for a few reasons, one is, my wife HATES the STi because she thinks it's a teenager's car (Can't really say I blame her), the CTS-V was INSANE, however, price was a bit much to swallow for a 5 year old car with 50,000 miles on it ($41,000) etc.

I am not finding a lot of info on the 2014 Mustang, and I am curious how they are performing. I hate taking the word of the reviews we read online, because, let's face it, with a pro driver behind the wheel, and potential bias, it's hard to know what to believe. The other thing is, I know sometimes a 0-60 or quarter mile time the manufacturer comes out with can be WAY off.

I am going to be honest here. I hate buying a car only to find out it can't keep up with something that was SUPPOSED to be slower. I am an acceleration nut. Dont care about top speed, just good trap speeds and 0-60 etc.

So, my question is, how are they actually performing in the real world? Are they capable of being tuned with any decent results?

Sorry, my post is long, but I have an opportunity to get a 2014 for $26.5k (I want a base model, because I will be changing everything anyway). Not sure if I should let this one pass or go for it before I miss the chance!

Thanks for reading. I feel like this is one of the few places I can get straight answers. I know all about the "Well, you have to like the car". I do, but just don't want to start running numbers with it and realizing it falls short from the hype.

redCORTEX

Welcome!

I'm fairly new myself and haven't had my GT to the track yet but from what I read - I expect a mid to high 12 sec 1/4mi as stock based on driver skill.. probably pull a 13.8 myself but that's neither her nor there.

I think the big issue is you're comparing apples to oranges.. $27k v $41k? You going to drop that extra $14k into the GT? If so.. or even $6k-$8k, you surely won't be disappointed.

I'm personally planning a full suspension, full exhaust, tune and expect to pick up some speed and driveability. That will suffice for a while.. until I procharge it.

I say go with the GT - mainly because you just made a bunch of new friends here and should want to stick around with us.

Troponin

I plan on wheels, tires, exhaust and tune. Probably going to leave the rest alone. I would love a suspension, but man, I just have trouble choking up the money on something that doesn't make me go faster in a straight line (Well, maybe slightly on launch).

I am looking around and it looks like guys are getting about 40-50hp from exhaust and tune. That's pretty impressive for an N/A.

Thanks for the reply. I think my issue is, several years ago I was trying to decide between the Audi S4 and the BMW 335i. The numbers looked the same, and I ended up with the Audi. A month later, I found out that BMW was immensely conservative on the numbers, and the 335i would run the S4 stock, and with a tune, it made the S4 look silly. The Audi was a cooler car, handled amazingly, but I want acceleration. Just don't want to fall in to that trap again. It looks like the GT is beating the SRT8 Challenger and SS Camaro though, so that makes me happy with siding with the GT. lol

moosehead89

I just picked up a 13 Boss after waiting to see what the 15's looked like (not all that impressed) and I love the car. TrueCarScore.com (which is down right now) scored the Mustang very well. It's impartial and basically takes all reviews and throws them into one score.

redCORTEX

No problem! A couple thoughts I have:

1) GT > any other american muscle car in the same price range.
2) AWD > GT if we look only at acceleration.
3) AT > MT if we look at only acceleration.

I can't express how fun this car is to drive. If you're not going to mess with suspension, think about the track pack or Brembo Brake Package. Some decent upgrades over stock.

Troponin

Yes, the Boss is a great car. The numbers on those are very impressive. Dang close to breaking in to the 3 second range of 0-60s. I am back to the budget on this though. The 2012 and 2013 are holding their value, preventing me from finding one with extremely low mileage. I have a max of about 30k to spend.

That looks about right. The only thing I would ask is, do you have the auto vs MT correct? For some cars, I know the autos are out performing the MTs, but I thought the mustang MT was still ahead of the auto.

Regardless, even if they were similar, I would prefer the MT. I want a driving experience. I have a 2011 Tuned and deleted Duramax (500hp/1100ft lbs tq) as a daily driver, so if I don't feel like shifting but still want something intersting to drive, I can find it there.

Troponin

So I just realized I am looking at another Premium and it says it has a 3.55 rear, but it's saying the base model I am looking at has a 3.73 rear. Is that a potential typo or can you seriously get two different rears? Clearly the 3.73 would be quicker.

I need to go in and actually look at these stickers. I thikn the dealer's website is messed up

Troponin

NVM answered my own question. Looked it up and it appears you can get two different rears. Clearly the 3.73 would be my preference. Glad I found that!

redCORTEX

You can get different gears from the factory. The "Track Pack" comes with 3.73 only but has some other nice upgrades (If you're not going to replace stock). My Brembo Brake Package came with 3.31 stock but I had 3.55 installed from the factory instead.

When I say AT > MT I'm talking 60', not through the traps.

Hamidar05

Mustang will be the best bang for the buck period.

Especially if acceleration is what you want, worry about the gearing, if you get a track pack with 3.73, you are probably good, but if the price is better on something else, just get the rear gears changed to 4.10s on the order of <$750. After that work on keeping it hooked up with tires, and anti-hop pieces. Later on go forced induction and lay CTS-Vs to waste.