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Things aren't looking so good for the Ford GT

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Old 03-02-05, 05:58 PM
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jet864
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Default Things aren't looking so good for the Ford GT

After numerous recalls from Ford, including one that told drivers "to not drive the car under any circumstances", Ford GT owners should be a little bit scared.

Autoweek just released this gem of an article, and honestly I think the hurried production of this car is really showing its true colors.

CRANKSHAFT PROBLEMS: http://www.autoweek.com/news.cms?newsId=101899

James
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Old 03-02-05, 06:20 PM
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gs400998
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Ford is no longer running 'Quality is job 1' commercial lately.
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Old 03-02-05, 07:03 PM
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Originally Posted by gs400998
Quality
Does Ford know what that word means?
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Old 03-03-05, 05:00 AM
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I'm surprised that Ford has not also gone to a higher-viscosity oil for these cars to help address the leak. Thicker oil does not leak through small gaps as readily as thin oil....and at the very high RPM, heat, and stress conditions that these engines will often be running under, it probably makes more sense than thin oil. Thin oil is more useful during cold starts and warm-up because it flows freer at cold temperatures, but can break down and lose effectiveness under high heat.
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Old 03-03-05, 10:42 AM
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I kind of expect high performance cars to break down more, since they are so high strung and if taken to the track, can take a beating. But this is recall how much for this car?

I don't think its much of an issue, b/c if you got 150k for a Ford GT, you probably have multiple cars, probably another sports car.

Still, I wish Ford had concentrated more on the 500/Freestyle and their cars for the masses, instead of developing something so few can buy.

It bewilders me they sell so many Focus varients in Europe which are loved but we get the b.s. versions. Why not follow Mitsu/Suburu and bring us the high -performance versions? And the Mondeo has been a wonderful car for years, but they refuse to bring it here.
 
Old 03-03-05, 12:49 PM
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Ford Mondeo is one awesome car!!!
Especially after the facelift, you could get the bigger displacement gas powered versions with crazy mesh bodykit an 18' rims standard.

Top engine choice is 3.0 V6 with 225hp - 6speed/man.
On top of that you get:
Automatic HIDs
Touchscreen Nav that plays MP3
Recaro Sport fully ventilated front seats
Individualy heated rear seats w/ sperate audio console and controls
Multimeda rear entertainment screens at back of the headrests
Rainsensing wipers
Foldable sideview mirrors (a la GS)
Bluetooth
...

That's what I have seen so far on the streets of Europe

This car should have been 500 in US and not that .. "boat" they put in dealerships





Here is the performance diesel Mondeo



The price for the fully loaded top model is around 35K Euros which is pricey but for that money you can only get stripped down 330i
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Old 03-03-05, 12:55 PM
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There is NO reason we should not have that. That is one hot car inside and out.THanks Vladi for the info and pics.
 
Old 03-03-05, 04:16 PM
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Hey, let's cut Ford some slack. They built a 200 mph car for under $150K...it was bound to have some bugs in it. At least Ford is in the game....fighting. I say keep pushing Ford....keep pushing.
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Old 03-03-05, 07:31 PM
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I drove (thrashed ) a Mondeo in England a year or so ago, and that was one incredibly NOISY car. Interior wasn't bad, but the lack of sound proofing was pretty annoying. Stereo was beyond awful as well.

The Ford 500 is an impressive car, although the exterior trim (like the grill) will need a revision to make it less bland and dull and the engine is probably too underpowered for American tastes. But I like the higher "command view" seating position (good for American lard butts too) and the interior is really decent and roomy.

The Freestyle looks like a dud though.
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Old 03-04-05, 10:49 AM
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someone sell me one cheap!
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Old 03-04-05, 03:22 PM
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isnt the mondeo off the volvo frame and engineering???, and as ar at the GT it was bound to happen its a FORD!!!
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Old 03-04-05, 05:17 PM
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Originally Posted by reggiek
Hey, let's cut Ford some slack. They built a 200 mph car for under $150K...it was bound to have some bugs in it. At least Ford is in the game....fighting. I say keep pushing Ford....keep pushing.
Vipers can each those speeds for a little over half that price.......but the Viper is a car with notorious quality bugs.....even now.
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Old 03-04-05, 06:07 PM
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Originally Posted by reggiek
Hey, let's cut Ford some slack. They built a 200 mph car for under $150K...it was bound to have some bugs in it. At least Ford is in the game....fighting. I say keep pushing Ford....keep pushing.
They deserve some slack. Trying a new casting technique and having it backfire... bummer but I cut them slack. However this just seems like sloppy engineering. That I won't cut them slack for.

Hopefully this will be the last of the issues and when their owners get them on the road all is forgiven. It's if things break again and again when the trouble starts.
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Old 03-04-05, 07:06 PM
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Well why didn't Ford just take some time. It took them something like 18 months to take the GT from concept to production. Way too fast in almost any situation, especially a performance vehicle making over 550 actual hp. Rather than rushing to market with something over $100k, why couldn't they spend time doing some more arduous testing of their new casting process? Maybe if they had some direct competition it could be somewhat justified, trying to beat them to the public, but still...a company like Toyota (and I'm sure many others) would never do something like that.

James
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Old 03-04-05, 07:44 PM
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Originally Posted by jet864
Well why didn't Ford just take some time. It took them something like 18 months to take the GT from concept to production. Way too fast in almost any situation, especially a performance vehicle making over 550 actual hp. Rather than rushing to market with something over $100k, why couldn't they spend time doing some more arduous testing of their new casting process? Maybe if they had some direct competition it could be somewhat justified, trying to beat them to the public, but still...a company like Toyota (and I'm sure many others) would never do something like that.

James
They probably didn't take time because a) some people had bonuses tied to rushing it to market, and b) they thought it would make the project 'cheap' to pull off and give an image boost.

There's a saying in software development "good, fast, cheap - pick two."
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