[BreakItBob]

I posted this in the 11-14 forum, as well, but I'm caught in between two good cars for similar money.

I could get into this 2015 Eco - $23k OTD:
2015 Ford Mustang EcoBoost Tampa FL 9004284

Or I could get into a 2012 GT. The one I want was taken off the dealer's website, since it's on hold for me. But this one is the same color, packages, etc... The one I want is $22k OTD.
2012 Ford Mustang Tampa FL 9067001


This is tough for me, because the 5.0 is obviously the ruler of the roost in power, but the 2015's handle like a dream and the interior build quality is miles ahead of the 2012 GT. Yet I've read that a Bama tune + Air Raid CAI will make the Ecoboost pretty damned respectable. Getting the benefits of both (2015 GT) is out of my budget. So I must choose.

Also, if I did go Eco, is it better to go auto or manaul? In the GT, manual is the way to go, but I see lower 0-60 times in the Eco automatic...

Thoughts? Thanks!

 

[Fripp64]

WOW...Decisions...decisions...
The questions you have to answer are...
Is this going to be a daily driver and do I need the warranty?
Do I need the power of the 5.0 and will I use it very often?
(My answer was yes, we take ours for track day)
Will I be putting a lot of miles on the car? Maybe the 2012 is better.
How long will I own this car? If it's just a few years...maybe the 2012 is better because someone else has already taken the depreciation.
Do I need to have the latest styling and do I want to see what I can mod the new eco-boost into?




I'm thinking the 2015 eco for the following reasons:
Under warranty
Getting the latest styling cues
Much better interior (I have an s197 and s550)
I love my Guard Metallic GT....great color!


Good luck...hope this helped a little


J.

 

[BreakItBob]

WOW...Decisions...decisions...
The questions you have to answer are...
Is this going to be a daily driver and do I need the warranty?
Do I need the power of the 5.0 and will I use it very often?
(My answer was yes, we take ours for track day)
Will I be putting a lot of miles on the car? Maybe the 2012 is better.
How long will I own this car? If it's just a few years...maybe the 2012 is better because someone else has already taken the depreciation.
Do I need to have the latest styling and do I want to see what I can mod the new eco-boost into?
J.

To answer those questions (good questions, thanks!):

It'll be a daily driver. I put about 20k miles a year on my cars. I want this to be a car I hold onto for 4 or 5 years, at least. I am not a track guy, per se... but it's likely I might occasionally have a little fun with at a track. Just not very often.

I don't need the latest styling. Actually, I have a fondness for the 11 - 14 exterior look. But the new look isn't bad. It's the interior look, comfort and quality that is way better on the newer 'stangs.

Do I need the 5.0 power? No. I'm not drag racing it. Do I like it? Yup. Even if the power borders on frightening, sometimes.

As for modding, I'd probably be just doing a few bolt-ons, plus tune. I do hear that a Bama tune + CAI gets some monster returns on torque for the Eco.

 

[BreakItBob]

All right. I went 2015 Eco. The dealer tossed me an extra $1000 off when I explained that I was hesitant and didn't know whether to go with his car or the other one. That took me off the fence. I pick it up tomorrow at 10AM!

In order to get that power, though, I'm going to pick up the Bama tune and the Air Raid CAI right away. I want that low-down torque they keep talking about!

 

[dakobster8]

Congrats on the new purchase! Let us know how long it takes before you wish you got the V8 jk jk enjoy! the BAMA tune will wake it up a bit! but as a heads up you are risking losing your warranty.

 

[Watchdogg]

I had a 2012 gt and now a 2015ecoboost, no regret here! Enjoy your new car!

 

[BreakItBob]

And here she is at the dealer when I was picking her up (I wound up going with Deep Impact Blue):

 

[Budman93]

And here she is at the dealer when I was picking her up (I wound up going with Deep Impact Blue):

It seems like there should be some kind of badge to differentiate between the V6 and the Ecoboost.

 

[dakobster8]

The rear decklid pony is different...on the v6, it has the three bar design behind the mustang pony...on the ecoboost, there is no three bar behind the pony.

It seems like there should be some kind of badge to differentiate between the v6 and the ecoboost.

 

[BreakItBob]

The rear decklid pony is different...on the v6, it has the three bar design behind the mustang pony...on the ecoboost, there is no three bar behind the pony.

I'll be damned. I didn't even notice that until you mentioned it. Still, it would be cool to have a badge or something more immediately recognizable.

 

[BreakItBob]

On my commute this morning... I'm liking this ecoboost motor more and more. The front end is so light in this car, I can toss it between traffic like nobody's business. It's quick, maneuverable, nimble, and a blast to drive.

It's a near perfect balance. It doesn't have the massive power surplus the V8 gives you, but response (especially in the mid RPM range) is quick and never lacks. It's a very torquey motor. This is not a track car (get the V8 for that), but as a daily driver I actually prefer it over the older GTs. Its road manners are excellent. Also, because the motor doesn't have the V8 roar, you sometimes have no idea that you're going as fast as you are until you look at the speedo. That could be both good and bad. This car could be a ticket factory if you aren't careful.

They say that the new Mustangs are intended to compete against the Germans, and I can say that they have succeeded if that was their goal. I owned a C-class (also a turbo 4) sometime ago, and honestly... the Mustang handles better than it ever did, and it could blow the C-class's doors off in a line with no trouble at all.

 

[daustin]

That color is amazing. Congrats on your new car!

 

[Dork Vader]

Beautiful car. I think you're going too be happier you bought the Ecoboost as a daily driver. Better MPG then the 12 5.0.

I'm driving a 2015 GT Premium getting 18MPG and burning up about 27-28 gallons a week. > really missing the 27MPG I could get in my old car.

 

[Sharad]

Congrats on the new car!

 

[TigerSN95guy]

Sprite, car looks gorgeous! good choice!

I'm not biased toward the '15s cuz i now own one, but just simply because IMO it's not worth getting a GT without the track pack!!

Although, guys, tell me there is something wrong with me cuz i REALLY didn't like the ecoboost when i tried it. I feel like it rides similar to my GT, but it felt like i had to be around 4500rpm for the car to wake up!! where is the fuel savings in that??

maybe i'm just broken haha

 

[3AlarmStang]

All right. I went 2015 Eco. The dealer tossed me an extra $1000 off when I explained that I was hesitant and didn't know whether to go with his car or the other one. That took me off the fence. I pick it up tomorrow at 10AM!

In order to get that power, though, I'm going to pick up the Bama tune and the Air Raid CAI right away. I want that low-down torque they keep talking about!

I picked up the Bama Tuner and installed it yesterday. The Race tune was too much for a daily driver IMO (with the wife driving it as well). But, the performance tune is perfect. As for warranty, I had a tune on my 10' and took it to the dealer a few times... I just flashed it back. They would have to have proof that the tune caused damage to whatever issue you are having. Ford is coming out with their own programmer as well but no release date and it goes for 200 more than the SCT from Bama. Congrats!!

 

[dakobster8]

IMO it's not worth getting a GT without the track pack!!

why is that?

gears are a cheap easy change, the suspension is replaceable and better from the aftermarket, and 9.5 wheels in the back isn't enough. not knocking the track pack at all, I think it's great, but I' don't agree with your comment.

 

[TigerSN95guy]

why is that?

gears are a cheap easy change, the suspension is replaceable and better from the aftermarket, and 9.5 wheels in the back isn't enough. not knocking the track pack at all, I think it's great, but I' don't agree with your comment.

Gears ARE a cheap and easy change (for me, and sounds like you too). But for the cost of the Torsen Diff, the gears, all the gaskets and such if not provided with the gear swap kit, the cool strut tower brace, the larger radiator, and MOST importantly, the Brembos!:grin:

All of what comes in the track pack, even if you were to buy all that stuff after the fact and put it in, it would cost you just about the same price....

When you buy the car with the track pack, you can just simply go back to the dealer if you have an issue with your gears/radiator/etc. when you start changing stuff, they tend to put the blame on you.

 

[dakobster8]

Gears ARE a cheap and easy change (for me, and sounds like you too). But for the cost of the Torsen Diff, the gears, all the gaskets and such if not provided with the gear swap kit, the cool strut tower brace, the larger radiator, and MOST importantly, the Brembos!:grin:

All of what comes in the track pack, even if you were to buy all that stuff after the fact and put it in, it would cost you just about the same price....

When you buy the car with the track pack, you can just simply go back to the dealer if you have an issue with your gears/radiator/etc. when you start changing stuff, they tend to put the blame on you.

hmm...yeah I guess I can see your point, I wouldn't go as far as saying w/o track pack is not worth getting, but hey, I'd go for a PP version, so what's that say haha.

 

[BreakItBob]

Although, guys, tell me there is something wrong with me cuz i REALLY didn't like the ecoboost when i tried it. I feel like it rides similar to my GT, but it felt like i had to be around 4500rpm for the car to wake up!! where is the fuel savings in that??

maybe i'm just broken haha

It's a weird motor. After close to a month, my opinions are a little different than at first and I thought I'd come back and report on them. For one, short-shift this car. The powerband is bizarre. You get nice grunt down low, good torque (comparable to a V8 in my opinion), around 3000-5500 RPM you get boatloads of power. It builds up and, if it kept going, it would rival 5.0.

But here's the key: it DOESN'T keep going. Past 5800RPM or so, it just has nothing left to give. The 5.0s I test drove had a nice steady buildup to monster power. This has the same... until 5800RPM, then it's done. I use the paddle shifters all the time to keep it in the power band.

I applied a Bama tune, and that helps a bit. It pushes the drop off point to 6000-6100RPM and adjusts the shift points on the automatic to better reflect the power band. It also added MEGA torque to the low end. Before it felt close to a V8 in torquey-ness. Now it feels like it actually exceeds many V8s in that. My butt dyno says this is easily pushing north of 350 torque to the rear wheels.

But even with the tune, 6100 is the limit. You have a redline at 6800, and a limiter at 7300, but there's no point in going that high, ever.

Don't get me wrong. I still like this car. For saving almost $10,000 off a new GT, there has to be a catch SOMEWHERE, and I found it. Handling-wise, *all* the 15s are better than the previous gen, and that makes it great as my daily driver. 0-60 it actually hangs pretty well with 5.0 GTs, but drops off north of that (the 5.0 rules the freeways - don't embarrass yourself by challenging one). Tuned, it easily stomps the 4.6L and 3.7L cars I test drove. But if folks are looking for a 5.0 replacement, even tuned, this 4 banger ain't it.

The Ecoboost is its own animal and, if anything, actually reminds me of high-displacement, low-horsepower, big block V8 torque monsters of the past (which is a compliment for a little 2.3L 4 banger). Certainly, it doesn't feel like the smooth, powerful, consistent grunt of the 5.0 motor.

If anyone else here is going through the same decision process I did -- the best buy in the low-to-mid $20k range... here's my advice:

If you want a good handling daily driver, go '15 Ecoboost. It's respectable and feels like an older V8, even if it doesn't sound like one. In every other way except power it's a superior buy.

On the other hand, if it's power or bust, go used GT and don't think twice. This motor is NOT a replacement for a 5.0.

And if you have $35k or so, stop reading and buy '15 GT. Full stop.