A Mediocre Car Ruined By a Lazy Engine

So, I finally got to ride in the new generation, 2011 Ford Mustang. There has been a lot of hype about Ford's new-found solidity and build quality, especially in their new Mustang. Now this being their flagship model, I was quite excited when I first sat my tuchus into the deeply bolstered seat. It was not terribly comfortable at first, but once I got all of the settings adjusted just right, the seat was surprisingly comfortable and supportive.



The interior looked splendid; however, it also looked old-fashioned. The materials used for the dash were soft to the touch and the seats were made of a comfortable, seemingly durable fabric.

But unfortunately, that's where the good points sort of end. The seats felt cheap. And it wasn't only the actual seat, but the mechanism under the seat as well. Even in my example with less than 1000 miles on the odometer, the mechanical aspects of the seat were sticky, non-greased, and all-around difficult to move. On top of that, after feeling the dash's relatively soft-touch materials, I enthusiastically knocked my knuckle against the dash. Oh dear...hollow - not solid in the slightest. On top of this, the door handles felt cheap and breakable.


And I haven't even gotten to the worst part yet. The all new, "high-tech" 3.7L V6 in the sampled Mustang, which produces 305 HP, is supposed to be one of the smoothest, most responsive engines ever fitted to a Ford Mustang. So, needless to say, I was very excited to try it out. Well, all I can say is LAZY. They might as well have fitted the old 4.6L V8 under the hood. It felt exactly the same: lazy, tired, slow. Now I don't mean to say the car felt slow. There is plenty of "get up and go." But the engine lacks the responsiveness that makes a good car into a driver's car. Any venturing past 4000 RPM is punished with the seeming sound of breaking engine parts and the unrefined exhaust note of a muscle car. Even a modern Honda Accord V6 has a more responsive engine than the Mustang.

Tip to Ford: If the Mustang is intended as a sports car, give it a sports car engine.

Top 10 Beginner Driving Errors

Speeding

> Yes, going fast is fun. But doing so under   uncontrolled circumstances puts unforeseen stresses on the driver and the car. In fact, most tires are put under severe stress any time the car goes above 100mph or so. The stress in the tires can often result in unseen damage to the tread or sidewall that, in extreme cases, can result in a tire explosion. There is a time and a place and a type of tire to use if you want to go fast. The street on your way to work in your Toyota Corolla is not one of them. 

Not carrying speed through turns

> Also known as "grandma syndrome," this phenomenon is not as big of an issue for beginner drivers in terms of safety. It is merely inconvenient to be stuck behind somebody who turns at 5 mph. However, better this way than travelling sideways inadvertently.

Jerky wheel and throttle inputs

> This problem is most evident in the rain or snow, as grip is far lower in these conditions. Jerking the wheel and stabbing the throttle violently is an error usually seen in nervous teenagers who are just trying to get down the motions of driving. However, it is also seen in impulsive drivers. Just to forewarn anyone who might be curious about why jerky driving is a hazard, consider this: stunt drivers provoke slides and catastrophic roles by being jerky on the controls. The key fix for this is to just be very gentle and steady.

Cutting left turns(not going around double yellow lines)

> Once again, this is not as big of an issue as speeding or texting while driving, but it does deserve mention. Cutting the double yellow is a careless error that can be easily avoided by turning slightly wider. Cutting the turn, however, can cause a blind sideswipe that will leave the yellow-line-cutter paying for two cars worth of damage. 

Texting while driving

> This is probably the biggest problem with teenage drivers today. Texting while driving creates a state of inattentiveness on the road that inevitably leads to careless, avoidable accidents. This writer personally knows people on both sides of the inevitable accident. Luckily it has never happened to me. But let me say on my friends' behalf, being hit from behind is not fun...nor is paying medical bills for the person you just hit.

Sitting too far from the wheel

> This is more of a personal choice than a serious issue. However, racing drivers will all agree that the position of most control in the car is to have one's arms slightly bent (20 degrees from straight +/-) when at the 9 and 3 driving position. So, try moving your seat up a few notches...you may be surprised.

Applying power at the apex of a turn(only results in sliding)

> Once again, this problem is most noticeable in the rain and snow. However, in any condition, applying power at the apex of the turn (the highest-g-force part of the turn) is asking the car to slide. This is what professional racing drivers and stunt drivers do to get the car to slide. Don't be excessive with the throttle during turns. It really ends badly.

      Taking turns too fast in rain

> This goes back to applying too much power at the apex of a turn. Especially when it's raining, a tire's grip is substantially reduced, and so are the warning signs that the tire is about to lose all grip whatsoever. Going too fast into a turn will cause understeer, or still travelling straight despite turning. Planting the throttle during the corner will cause oversteer, or the back of the car spinning around. In the rain, just be smooth and gentle.

Turning without looking

> Don't be stupid. Look both directions before you turn. It isn't that hard.

                                                                                      Carrying crap in the car

> Every teenager has a million things they need all the time, or at least they think they do. Carrying extra weight in the car is dangerous in two ways. First, excess weight dramatically reduces fuel economy. Second, and most important to safety, carrying a ton of weight in the trunk and back seat (most storage in a car) will upset the handling dynamics of the car. In fact, stunt drivers will often add weight in the trunk to induce huge, magnificent slides. This should not occur on the road.

Modifications: Generally Worse

The seemingly inevitable end to a teenage boy's car is a crash. OK, maybe not all the time, but it's a fair assessment that teenage males get into some pretty gnarly accidents.

And while a fair number of cars do end up bifurcated by a White Birch, a larger portion of them, I reckon, are ruined far before their demise.

Yes, I'm talking about modifications. High schools are riddled with stupidly lifted off-road trucks, ridiculously lowered econo-cars, and 60's junk with 24 inch chromers. And more often than not, one can hear these cars coming before they actually arrive.

I'm not saying that every modification to a car is bad. In fact, I am a wholehearted supporter of altering stock cars to take to the track - performance modifications. Things like less restrictive exhausts, headers, and intakes, as well as lightening the car, upgrading brakes, and fitting stiff, lowered suspension are all fine by me. My biggest support goes to performance tires, a modification that everybody should do to his/her car...it's just safer.

When a car starts to become worse at being a car, though, is when problems occur. For example, lowering a car an inch, even two inches from stock height can be beneficial to the handling. But slamming the car serves no purpose whatsoever. A car's suspension needs a small amount of travel to absorb impacts from the road. While  less important in a race, the need to avoid unsettling the car is even greater. Riding in a slammed car tells the story. If you've never ridden in a seriously lowered car, you probably have never felt serious back pain.

Next is huge wheels. Maybe a 20 inch wheel can improve performance and ride quality over a 16 inch wheel. But, to be frank, there is a reason Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche, and all the other great car companies fit 20 inch wheels max. Most of them spec no larger than a 19 inch wheel. This is for a very simple reason; when rotating mass is transferred farther away from the center of rotation, it's inertia increases. This slows acceleration and severely degrades braking performance.

Alright...on to exhausts. This is a sore subject as I nearly ruined my first car with a ridiculously loud exhaust. Yes, a less restrictive exhaust system can free up a few horsepower; and yes the car will be louder than stock. But the reasons escape me why somebody would use a cutoff exhaust pipe instead of a muffler. Racing is one thing, but if a car is on the street...Noise is bad, a sonorous engine is good.

Porsche 991: Why the new steering?

I just read a Car and Driver review of the new Porsche 991 Cabrio. Apparently, Porsche has ditched their fool-proof hydraulic steering for a newer electrically-assisted type.

I have had the privilege to drive the Porsche Carrera 4S 997 model. I can say that the steering was near perfect. I'm not lying, I could feel the different types of pavement on my hands. I knew exactly how much lock to put in during the windy bits, and I always felt like I was in control.

So if Porsche's steering from the 997 is so flawless, why did they change it? Well apparently the all-new system runs off of the alternator. But -and this is the key point- the power steering servo is not drawing power from the alternator all the time. In fact, energy is only used when the wheel is being turned.

Theoretically, this is great. Most people with huge wallets and hands of butter will probably never use all 350bhp or 400bhp exiting a corner. It's not as though trying to break-away 305-width tires from the road is safely possible on the street anyway. But for the track drivers who enjoy the visceral experience of a Porsche 911, the new steering won't cut it - not when these same drivers are used to using telepathy to steer.

Porsche, you make great cars. Don't spoil it.

The Origin

So I've made this blog in the hopes that people will value my opinions. I would love nothing more than to be an automotive journalist, so please give me any feedback you have!