GTP Cool Wall - Ford Mustang GT S197

[Northstar]

Perhaps it's a US vs UK opinion, then. As I said previously, it's rare to see a woman piloting a high powered car - it's usually men behind the wheel (how many stories have you heard about UK footballers totalling their Lambo/Porsche/*insert generic high powered car here*?)

Replace "UK Footballers" with actors or billionaire golfers and you described the US.

 

[LSX]

Cool. It's a V8 Mustang.



MX-5? PT Cruiser? MINI? Beetle?... Ford didn't get there first

How is the MX-5 a retro car? The PT Cruiser I can see, as well as the Bug and Mini.

All I'm getting at is it's probably outsold the retro cars before it, and pushed other manufacturers with cars in the same class to follow their lead. Now we have the overly retro Challenger, not as retro Camaro and the beautiful new '10 Mustang. They may not have done it first, I just think they produced a package that did it best. For the American market anyway, I doubt it would outsell Minis and Beetles in Europe. Of course I've never looked, I'm just going by what I see on the street, which is many more Mustangs than any other retro model.

 

[SRV2LOW4ME]

Replace "UK Footballers" with actors or billionaire golfers and you described the US.

Don't forget to add in socialite celebrities.

While on the topic, I'll post this video for a laugh.

 

[Stotty]

If you're ever in Weybridge you might see my wife posing round in a 911

Round here I see plenty of women drivers in 911 (mainly 997's), but although I also see a fair few Ferarri's, Lamb's and Astons, I have never seen one with a female driver (plenty of female passengers though - usually about 20 years younger than the male driver).

And IMO, there are an equal number of bad male drivers as women. My main gripe however, is with old drivers!

 

[Jetboy.]

How is the MX-5 a retro car? The PT Cruiser I can see, as well as the Bug and Mini.

The MX-5 basis idea follows along the lines of the Elan. Don't forget the Chrysler/Plymouth Prowler if you're going to count the PT.


As far as womanly concerns.. I can't honestly say too much in either direction, save what Jim Prower said about SUV's. Most of the women I see driving a "powerful machine" keep it in reign (Probably because most of these women grew up through the muscle age.) The only case I have against is a I know a woman who flipped her Mustang travelling too fast down a mountain road. The majority of the girls/women I know have four cylinder cars or the aforementioned SUV. The real stereotypical fail I see is Women+cell phones+driving. Can't count how many I passed on the interstate weaving and texting...




Cheers,
Jetboy

 

[Ardius]

That wouldn't be Alderley Edge by any chance?

You know, thinking about it, I've never seen a Cayenne moving. I've seen piggin' loads parked up, but never moving...

Well, I was actually referring to the Altrincham area in general (as referenced in Top Gear) but basically yes.

I used to live in Altrincham and went to seconday school there so I used to see plenty.
It used to be quite awesome in the 90s, pulling up outside the local newsagents only for Teddy Sheringham to come out and jump in his F355 👍

However, although that makes it sound like I've spent my life in the midst of rediculousness, I have not. I was actually referring to city centre Manchester when I said I don't think its rare to see women in fast cars as I spend a lot of time there thanks to university.

 

[homeforsummer]

How is the MX-5 a retro car?

As Jetboy mentioned, it's conceptually and visually pretty similar to the Elan. And it certainly has the retro look to it. Just compare it to other Mazdas of the time. If they'd made a modern looking roadster, would it have had round pop-up lights? Would it have been on minilite-style wheels? Etc.

Funnily enough, it could be argued that the current MX-5 retro, given that it's styled to look very similar to a car that's 20 years old...

This is the basis of UK car insurance - actuarial data says that women make fewer and cheaper claims than men simply because the typical accident of a female driver is a lower speed collision.

Prognosis: Women have very little spacial awareness, men have very little common sense.

As for women in quick cars up here, it generally tends to be BMWs, Mercs and Porsches. Lots of WAGs around here too, though they're Championship WAGs rather than Premiership ones

 

[Duke]

its also my personal opinion from experiences while driving and driving with others that the majority of female drivers have trouble handling/getting used to certain types of cars.

Then why do females have lower insurance rates, car for car, than males?

/discussion

 

[LSX]

Hah, never would have realized the MX-5 was a retro car, I still don't see it. I just thought pop up lights were the thing to have then, Trans-Ams, 240SX Nissans, some Hondas and plenty of other cars had pop ups during that time. Is the S2000 a retro car too? Aren't Elans Lotus cars? Or is it just a throwback because it's a small roadster? Sorry for being dense, I just can't see it, because I guess I've never before thought of it as a retro car.

 

[homeforsummer]

Aren't Elans Lotus cars?

Yup:

Or is it just a throwback because it's a small roadster?

Right again. The concept was to bring back the small, inexpensive roadster. The design team therefore looked to those who'd done them best in the past: The British. Apparently the Elan and the MGB were the biggest influences on many aspects, though looking at the curvy dimensions and smily face, I reckon the Sprite may have provided a little inspiration too. Whatever, it's basically a reincarnation of a bunch of them!

But yeah, if you look around it you can definitely spot the retro touches, even if it wasn't just a simple update of an older car like the Mustang/Challenger/Camaro/Beetle/MINI etc are.

Sorry for being dense, I just can't see it, because I guess I've never before thought of it as a retro car.

No worries, you'd be forgiven for missing it for the aforementioned reasons 👍

 

[LSX]

Well I better understand it now, thank you for clearing it up HFS. 👍

 

[Spec M]

cool

I think its the best Mustang since '72. They're quite common but what Ford isn't.

 

[Jetboy.]

They're quite common but what Ford isn't.

An RS200.

 

[Tornado]

All I'm getting at is it's probably outsold the retro cars before it, and pushed other manufacturers with cars in the same class to follow their lead.

The PT Cruiser, and to a lesser extent the New Beetle, sold hundreds of thousands of vehicles per year in America before the Mustang concept was even shown off. And keep in mind that after the New Beetle was first shown off in 1994, there was about a dozen retro-designs put into production before the Mustang was. If anything, the only thing that the Mustang has done is revive the Challenger and Camaro.

 

[Antti-san]

I like almost every generation of Mustang one way or another, but for some reason this particular generation has never really appealed to me. Uncool.

 

[niky]

The best retro thing to come from the Miata is the sound.

It's very hard to make a fuel injected four banger sound like anything. There's lots of rasping ones, buzzing ones, grinding ones... but a truly gurgly soulful one?

Mazda spared no expense tuning the exhaust of the first MX-5 to sound as close as possible to that classic carburated four sound. And they succeeded. One wonders why they didn't do this for the MX-5 NC.

Then why do females have lower insurance rates, car for car, than males?

/discussion

 

[SRV2LOW4ME]

Then why do females have lower insurance rates, car for car, than males?

/discussion

Re-open discussion

Because less women drive and so the numbers say they are less likely to be in an accident. The cost to insure a certain type of vehicle to which ever sex is based on many factors, the sex of the person is just one of them. The major difference comes from the fact that again, less female drivers equals less accidents. You can think of it this way, it was once more money to insure a red car than a blue car simply because there was more red cars on the road. Also, it was already stated that women are involved in more unclaimed smaller accidents than males, making them less likely to make a claim with their insurance with whatever type of car they drive.

My sister is actually an insurance underwrite, these questions and more were the first things I asked her when she started. She also knows that the majority of women are poor drivers, being the cause of more accidents than males, but in most cases the vehicles involved require little repair and are generally done without the police/insurance companies involvement.

/discussion

 

[niky]

Re-open discussion

Because less women drive and so the numbers say they are less likely to be in an accident. Also, it was already stated that women are involved in more unclaimed smaller accidents than males, making them less likely to make a claim with their insurance.

My sister is actually an insurance underwrite, these questions and more were the first things I asked her when she started. She also knows that the majority of women are poor drivers, being the cause of more accidents than males, but in most cases the vehicles involved require little repair and are generally done without the police/insurance companies involvement.

/discussion

Nobody's denying women get into small scrapes.

But small scrapes don't require big, powerful cars. They just require inattention.

A woman is just as likely to get into a 5 mph stoplight collision in a Mustang as she is in a minivan.

Statistics still put men (statistics already adjusted for the disparity of the number of male drivers versus female drivers and adjusted for number of miles driven) at greater risk of fatal accidents...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16698153/

Personally, as a young man, I have experienced no traffic fatalities, but that still doesn't change the fact that guys drive worse, word. We is just too hardcore for the road.

 

[Spencer]

That's because men are more likely to flip over a guardrail @ 101 as compared to women.

And have you heard a Miata in Spec Miata race trim? A bunch on them under full throttle sounds like a swarm of mosquitoes.

but from the inside they sound great.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPTP1YK6lhc

still doesn't compare to the V8 of Mustangs with or without a S/C though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n95-pZLSNhE

 

[SRV2LOW4ME]

Nobody's denying women get into small scrapes.

But small scrapes don't require big, powerful cars. They just require inattention.

A woman is just as likely to get into a 5 mph stoplight collision in a Mustang as she is in a minivan.

Statistics still put men (statistics already adjusted for the disparity of the number of male drivers versus female drivers and adjusted for number of miles driven) at greater risk of fatal accidents...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16698153/

Personally, as a young man, I have experienced no traffic fatalities, but that still doesn't change the fact that guys drive worse, word. We is just too hardcore for the road.

True, small scrapes don't require big, powerful cars. I wasn't saying that they kiss every pole and curb in town because of big engines and rwd, I was saying they're more likely to underestimate the power they have under their foot, and mated to the RWD layout, it makes it me that much more scared when I think about it.

I agree, they're just as likely to hit a vehicle at rest no matter what kind of vehicle they're in (my own girlfriend has run head on into a parked vehicle on a bike, WTF?!?! ). The statistics show males cause more fatal accidents, but it doesn't prove that females cause more accidents in general (backing into garage doors (my uncle replaced one door 3 times in 5 months because a woman could never remember to open the garage door before backing out), fender benders, etc.) due to not adjusting to the limits of the vehicle, or even the physical size of the car in general.

I've come across a few traffic fatalities in my time and its never a pretty picture. Nothing ruins your day more than seeing them pull a Prelude out from under a transport truck only to find the driver still sitting in his seat, but his head looking out the back window. 👎

 

[JCE]

CAN WE STOP TALKING ABOUT FEMALE DRIVERS AND TALK ABOUT THE BLOODY POLL ABOUT THE FORD MUSTANG.

THX

Seriously, can we please get back on topic.

 

[niky]

Well... if people are voting it uncool because it's a secretary's car, it's relevant, right?

True, small scrapes don't require big, powerful cars. I wasn't saying that they kiss every pole and curb in town because of big engines and rwd, I was saying they're more likely to underestimate the power they have under their foot, and mated to the RWD layout, it makes it me that much more scared when I think about it.

The whole point is... it usually doesn't matter whether or not they underestimate the amount of power they have because they will seldom ever use it.

A Mustang doesn't make 300 hp from the moment you tickle the pedal till you floor it. It'll only be making 300 hp after three seconds of planting your foot to the floor.

This is the only reason any driver can actually handle a 300, 400... or heck, even a 200 horsepower car. The fact that just off idle, they only make about 30-60 hp.

While I've been irritated by my fair share of "women drivers", and there is the odd high profile case of women causing accidents in parking lots or flipping over trucks coming out of them (I still can't figure out how that happened), those are isolated cases. The vast majority of female drivers who aren't glued to their tamagotchi/cellphone/sunvisor-mirror-putting-on-makeup while driving (and men are just as guilty of driving on the phone...) have absolutely no problem handling high powered cars.

 

[SRV2LOW4ME]

The whole point is... it usually doesn't matter whether or not they underestimate the amount of power they have because they will seldom ever use it.

EXACTLY! They underestimate the power because they don't use it, and when they do (ie. pulling out in heavy traffic, cutting across lanes to make a turn, etc) is when the problem starts. I'm going to go and say that most women also started driving Civics, Sunfires and other FWD cars, then when they get older and they want a "sporty" car they end up in a Mustang or in my Aunts case, a Corvette, and don't realize the problems that can surface if their driving technique doesn't change to accommodate the car.

I'm not saying that men don't have the same problem, many do, I'm just saying that its my opinion that men generally have a better and quicker ability at adapting than women.

 

[niky]

EXACTLY! They underestimate the power because they don't use it, and when they do (ie. pulling out in heavy traffic, cutting across lanes to make a turn, etc) is when the problem starts.

An opinion, again, that is not borne out by facts. Yes, there are some ditzes out there who can't handle power, but the only way Lindsay Lohan was ever going to wreck her Merc was to get raging drunk, high and pissed off at her ex all at the same time.

I wonder... does lesbian rage count towards "bad women drivers", or does it merely prove that too much testosterone is bad?

Like I've said, and I won't repeat... a Mustang, or any other sub-supercar... will not magically make full power at just 2000 rpm. Once the car gets moving, foot comes off the gas... simple. There's no temptation for them to romp on the pedal simply to cross an intersection, as there is with young men.

If we're talking about, say, a Porsche Carrera GT or a Ferrari... maybe they would have trouble controlling the power, since they're not used to it... but then... a lot of men get into the very same trouble... very quickly.

I'm going to go and say that most women also started driving Civics, Sunfires and other FWD cars,

You've just described 99.9% of the drivers on the road who didn't grow up in Finland. Male or female. Hell, anyone born in the last twenty years wouldn't know a "tricky" rear wheel drive car if it bit them in the behind... not like those of us who grew up driving things with twenty turns lock to lock and the ability to slide sideways on a perfectly dry street at just 10 miles an hour.

then when they get older and they want a "sporty" car they end up in a Mustang or in my Aunts case, a Corvette, and don't realize the problems that can surface if their driving technique doesn't change to accommodate the car.

And you just described half of the new sports car drivers on the road. Hey, Aunt with a Viper... again... in the snow. Another with a Porsche. Another with a brand new Q7... graduating from an S4. No accidents yet.

Well... the aunt with a Q7 flipped one of her cars ages ago... but that was a turbocharged Lancer... and she was drag-racing... and she probably has more testosterone than either of us.

I mean, the girls she's dated... mrrrow... hot.

I'm not saying that men don't have the same problem, many do, I'm just saying that its my opinion that men generally have a better and quicker ability at adapting than women.

Ability =/= Safety. I've met many drivers who are less able than me who are much safer behind the wheel. Except, of course, if we need to run from terrorists. But how often does that happen?

 

[JCE]

I vote for a permanent topic lock. This is so far derailed that it can and won't get back on track.

I'm interested in reading about people's opinions and insight into the topic but not about a ridiculous subject such as what's being discussed. The topic isn't about women drivers but about whether or not you think the S197 Mustang GT is cool.

 

[SRV2LOW4ME]

I agree. We'll just agree to disagree and move on with our lives.