I think the final word on this will come from Mustang customers, some of which voted two to one in favour of an IRS system as
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| Being that SVT will be attempting to court road race buyers as well as straight line racers, both IRS and live axles could become available. (Photo: Ford Motor Company of Canada) |
standard or optional equipment in the new GT as well as the upcoming SVT Cobra in a recent poll put forward by Stang.net to settle the matter among its readers. Other polls and forums show a large number of IRS proponents among Mustang faithful, despite the higher cost and slightly greater weight of the more technologically advanced setup. Those wanting to stick with the live axle rear suspension cited lower cost, reliability of components, and lighter weight as their predominant reasoning, with a small but very loud faction of entrants demanding a solid rear axle for drag racing purposes. It will be interesting to hear what these same Mustang fans have to say about the Shelby Cobra GT500, some of which are stating in their forum responses that an IRS system will undoubtedly be offered in the next-generation SVT Cobra. These loyalists are not privy to the information I received from Ford prior to the car's New York auto show launch, and therefore have not been able to comment on it yet.
Now there's one other possibility not yet mentioned. Potentially, a re-engineered, heavy duty IRS may become an option
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| The new GT500 features an impressive set of binders, fourteen-inch cross-drilled Brembos up front and thirteen-inch discs in the rear. (Photo: Ford Motor Company of Canada) |
with the modified three-link, panhard bar live axle setup as standard equipment. Being that SVT will be attempting to court road race buyers as well as straight line racers, both axles could become available. If this proves true, I will be happy to eat my last few paragraphs and promptly march down to my local Ford dealer to place an order - in Tungsten Silver if available.
No matter what gets offered under the floorboards, the new GT500 does feature an impressive set of binders, fourteen-inch cross-drilled Brembos up front and thirteen-inch discs in the rear. These are framed by an especially attractive set of 10-spoke 19-inch alloy wheels covered in high-performance rubber.
