Info On S197 - Ford Mustang Forums

rjtyler13 · #1 (**permalink**) 11-27-2006, 10:58 AM

Hey Ya'll,

Im lookin at new stangs and was wondering if yall had info for them that might not be common knowledge. The brochures didnt help much and i havent seen much good or bad about them otherwise...except for those who love muscle cars and especially mustangs saying how they look and all. I drove one (GT Premi) and loved the feel of it, i should after driving my jeep for so long (lifted TJ...). My problem is I cant seem to find all the information I want about them other than specs and what the dealer says, any info on major problems and such would be helpful so i have an idea as to what im getting into...dont worry about aftermarket i am fairly well versed in such matters there.

Thanx everyone

Oh6Torch · #2 (**permalink**) 11-29-2006, 02:46 PM

Not exactly sure what you're looking for but here's my list of complaints and props...

Props-
The car is LIGHT YEARS away from both the Fox and SN95. Night and day. The car hauls without so much as a whisper. Feels like the car might pull all the way past 6100 if the RL let it. Very little frame flex.

The car handles bada$$! I've had a couple of instances where I had to take the car into a hard steering wheel jerk and it was no problem maintaining control. I imagine it wouldn't take much for this car to handle like it's on rails. Better tires, comp springs, and a strut tower brace would do a lot. Doesn't even need subframes unless you're taking it to the track, IMO.

As you may have guessed, the mods are limitless! The Stang aftermarket industry took 2 years to offer everything on the S197 platform that it took 10 years on the Fox!

Complaints-
The stock shifter setup blows. Feels very disconnected from the tranny, b/c it is. The throttle lag is a real nuisance (sp) for people like us. Makes power shifting all but impossible. A tune would cure that...

The car could use some weight reduction. The weight of the driveshaft is a pretty good indicator of how heavy the car was built. Makes you wonder what Ford was thinking.

Overall, I'm very happy with my S197 purchase.
Good luck,

Gerardo

rjtyler13 · #3 (**permalink**) 11-29-2006, 04:13 PM

thats alot of what im lookin for also anything anyone has heard from the Ford... i test drove one and loved it, granted like i said i drive a jeep daily so its a world of difference right there. the big thing im lookin for is if i am going to have any major problems that i should get taken care of prior to taking one home when i purchase, of course there will be other chance of recall and such but thats neither here nor there right now...

#4 (**permalink**) 11-29-2006, 05:43 PM

I have an 05GT. Only problem I had was when I first got it I couldn't fill it up with gas. I had a kink in my gas line. Other than that I have had np at all. Love the car, fun to drive. Gets a ton of looks and compliments. And yes the mods on this car are endless. I will say I have the shaker 500, because I had a friend who would do an after market a lot cheaper than what the shaker 1000 cost. But people who have the shaker 1000 love it and say its worth it.

rjtyler13 · #5 (**permalink**) 11-30-2006, 06:09 AM

sounds good so far, i figured since i havent been able to dig up major problems on forums and such that there wasnt to many, i figured something with the heritage of the mustang and with a major redesign that ford would want to take care of it all as much as possible...especially with chevy and dodge on their tails years late again...history repeats itself im told...anyway im prolly gonna get either a grabber orange or a black mustang gt after the new year...i get a fam discount so i get invoice plus 100 so it should be nice...not sure what i want other than lsd on it in reality...

Black99V6 · #6 (**permalink**) 11-30-2006, 09:39 AM

http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/tsb/.

You can use this site to look up Technical Bulletins for any vehicle.

rjtyler13 · #7 (**permalink**) 11-30-2006, 10:51 AM

thanx, thats what i was lookin for among opinions and experience and such...seems there are alot of complaints about filling the gas tank...anyone having these problems, if so have u received a solution and what was it. That seems to be my biggest issue right now bc the other problem that is dominant seems to be with autos and ill get a manual

#8 (**permalink**) 11-30-2006, 11:27 AM

Well like I said. That was the only problem I had. They replaced it over a year ago and I haven't had a problem since.

GTS197 · #9 (**permalink**) 11-30-2006, 12:31 PM

I've had mine for a little over 7 months and I love it. I've only had one "manufacturer" problem, which was a moaning sound coming from the limited slip axle, which is covered in TSB 06-12-11. Took her back to the dealership and had it remedied, only to have the axle seal damaged during the repair. I noticed gear oil coming from under the rotor a couple days later. She went back in and got a new axle seal. This wasn't the manufacturer's fault, but the fault of the tech that did the slip axle work. Other than that, no issues.

Oh6Torch · #10 (**permalink**) 11-30-2006, 01:14 PM

Definitely go with the stick. Not dogging anyone with an auto here. Just a personal preference. I test drove the auto and it felt more like a luxury car than a muscle car. The car is already quite and rides real smooth. You'll fall asleep at the wheel!

As I stated above, the standard suffers from the shifter "disconnect" from the tranny and an occasional sloppiness in the shifts. An aftermaket shifter would cure that but some people are saying the shifting requires more effort with said shifters.

I think I'm just going to change out the rubber bushings for urethane to get a little more "firmness" in each shift. Kits are only 15 bucks.

Gerardo