[bill2129]

I'm gonna be buying a stang soon as I sell my 98 z28. So when it comes to being the better performer which would you guys take? I know the 05+ Ones come with 300hp but the 99-04 GT's are lighter. I like the look of the 05+ GT's better. Only mods I would do until I pay it off would be just exhaust air intake and a SCT Tune. We used to have a 06 GT here and a 2001. Both seemed pretty equal to me in power. Which is better from a dig etc.

[TheUNZippee!]

More potential with the 3V in the 05+ compared to the 2V in the 99-04... if you're going to get heavily into modifying things, performance doesn't really matter... you can make either one quick that way. So for me, if I'm only adding a tune and an intake... I'd be basing my decision on which one I like better looks wise.

Stock for stock, given equal driving skills, the 05+ is going to edge out the 99-04 in a drag race.

The 99-04 (New Edge platform) is lighter, by about 150-200 lbs.
The 05+ (S197 platform) has a stiffer chassis to work with.
The New Edge has a 2 valve 4.6, the S197 a 3 valve with much better flowing heads.

This is personal taste, but I think the 05+ has a nicer interior. It feels like a more solid car to drive. And without getting into tearing the engines apart in either platform, and as I said getting really wild with power adders, with a stock bottom end the 3V in the S197 is going to respond better to mods. Guys run around with 500 rwhp from 10-12 psi on their 3Vs and a stock bottom end all day long. Not going to see that from the 2V in the New Edge. With every bolt on slapped on a 3V, head work, long tubes, cams, you can see 380-400 naturally aspirated to the wheels. With a New Edge, you're going to see 380-400 at the wheels with forced induction.

But, you can spend some time and take a couple hundred pounds off a New Edge if you like, and give it the advantage that way.

The other alternative is if you fall in love with the look of a New Edge, you can look for a four valve car, such as a Mach 1 or Terminator car. The Mach 1 has a cool shaker hood, 305 hp & 320 ft-lb of torque, a forged crank in the manual cars, tighter suspension, and better brakes than a standard New Edge.

The Terminator, which is an 03-04 SVT Cobra edition of the Mustang, came with a supercharged 4V 4.6 rated at 390 hp & 390 ft-lb of torque, although these engines were famously underrated and often put 390-420 hp out at the wheels. Stronger internals in the engine, a Tremec 6 speed transmission, independent rear suspension, and Brembo brakes. A simple pulley change on these cars turns them into very fierce competitors.

Of course, there are similarly special editions of the S197 Mustangs, too many of them to list in their entirety here. Steeda cars, Roush, factory Bullitts, a Shelby GT, the GT500, a Parnelli Jones edition, to name a few. Just have to do your googling, research, and asking whenever you have questions.

Like I said, my personal taste is to go for a car that makes me drool when I look at it, and then make that individual car perform how you like. Either the New Edge or S197 can be made to perform very well.


Hope some of that helps in your decision.

[bill2129]

Thanks very good info. I also like the interior of the 05+ GT's it just looks newer to me. I'm pretty sure I will go with a 05+ GT

[Silverrider]

i like em!

[jerryk85]

I was in your shoes a few months ago and I ended up going with a 2001 GT.

Here's my logic... I knew that either way I wouldn't have a warranty on the car because of the age and because I knew I was going to mod which ever car I got. By acknowleging that a warranty was out of the question, I allowed myself to look at older cars that I would normally pass up. (10+ years or older). I started looking for mustangs which had < 100,000 miles, manual trans, & leather seats for under 15 grand. This gave me a very small list of 05-07 mustangs and a good size list of 94-04 mustangs.

When I started looking at SN-97's I found that I'd have to spend more than I wanted to in order to find the car that I wanted and I realized that major mods like blowers would cost significantly more than it would cost to mod a sn-95.

I then started looking at new edge mustangs and I test drove, mach 1's, cobras & GT's and in the end I settled on a 2001 mustang GT with 68k fully loaded. Why did I go with the GT? I settled on the GT because the car was in great shape, it drove excelently and it only costs $7,500. This left me with a fair bit of cash to mod my car.

Within a month of ownership, I dropped $2,000 in the car to perform various mods ranging from suspension, trans components, driveline modds and various misc repairs the car needed. After all was said and done, I feel that I was left with a car that is on-par or better than a stock SN-97 in terms of driving characteristics. With the extra money I saved, I plan on supercharging the GT and having a pretty sick daily driver. Had I purchased an SN-97, I would have had to settled on a stock car.

Long story short, buy a car that fits your budget and fits your goal.

[Durr4456]

I almost got a 2004 gt. But then it sold and I picked up this s197 3 days later. I'm completely satisfied.

[bill2129]

Im definitely going with the 05+ Style.

[Durr4456]

Post up some link of possible buys. We will help ya out!

[Silverrider]

where you from, i love looking for mustangs for sale!

[Durr4456]

Originally Posted by Silverrider where you from, i love looking for mustangs for sale!

Me too I have a blast doing it.

[Wh1t3F1sh]

I'm still wondering why you're selling your z28... Thing is going to be faster than a stock New Edge by FAR, and faster than a stock s197. I get smoked by LS1s alllll freakin day...

[grubiaco]

I went with a new edge because of body style. If you like the 05+ style go with them. You can mod both to your liking.