I think the real reason is that if they put IRS on the Mustang it
would cheapen the other DEW platform cars, the Lincoln LS and the
Jaguar S-type.

180 Out

It's not really bean counters. I think that's the wrong term. It's the
mentality of MBAs and such that run US corporations. They simply think
they can cheat on things like the suspension and nobody will notice. And
for the most part, the moron majority that buys cars in the USA won't.
That's why we get crap in this market compared to what Ford sells
overseas. Nobody can tell me that the Ford 500 is a better car than the
Falcon sold down under. Ford tried to sell the Taurus head to head with
the Falcon and the Taurus was clearly the hunk of crap it is when
compared with a real car.

Ford made a best-they-could IRS for the SN95, a platform that was evolved
from one that never had IRS as a consideration. So that IRS had some
issues for drag racers. Now Ford is going to use that as their excuse to
cheapen the cobra. If the likes of drag racers is really such a big deal,
there's this thing called an option sheet to deal with that. Make one
standard and the other an option. Make the IRS standard and the solid a
no-cost option, charge an extra $500 for the IRS, something. This isn't
rocket science.

I want a car that handles. I don't want to have to buy an aftermarket
rear suspension. I've never gotten around to redoing the rear suspension
on my '97 GT. I want to buy it out of the box, at least to some decent
degree. Between their cheapening of the products and their instant
collectable marketing Ford is sending me a message that they don't want
my business. I'd love it if the new cobra met my standards for my next
new car, but it's just doesn't seem likely that it will. I'll just have
to pony up extra money for a used 911 or a BMW or something. I am not
opposed to 6 cylinders if I can get the performance I want out of the
car. I actually like inline 6s. The cobra is going to boil down to it's
V8, the rest of the car being more-or-less run-of-the-mill mustang the
way things are shaping up.

LOL!  If Ford doesn't know how to design a decent IRS, maybe they
should copy the Corvette's.  GM's works pretty damn well.

Actually, this just might be true.  The '05 GT's rear is simply
wonderful for what it is.

Joe
Calypso Green '93 5.0 LX AOD hatch with a few goodies
Black '03 Dakota 5.9 R/T CC

Bah. unless we're talking 2000 hp or something here...

Basis for this statement? I assume you mean an '05, because the SN95
certainly doesn't in stock form.