Thread: Mustangs and their Bad Handling

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Why is about the new cars that makes them have such superior handling to the vintage cars? My vintage mustang has horrible handling, but in external appearance, it does not seem much different from the new cars. Can anyone explain what it is about the new cars that makes them so much more able to take corners. Would a simple suspension upgrade or wider tires on the old car do the trick?

Biggest reason for old cars not handling as well is because of the weight of the old cars. Cars now are much lighter than before so of course it will handle better. Other than that on the Mustangs I am not sure why.

Oh well nevermind... I don't know a damn about Mustangs but I meant like cars in general not just Mustangs. I thought they would be lighter now. I will just keep up with this thread and maybe someone has the answer to why they don't handle good.

Ok, FMX, the older cars were designed to work with old bias ply tires, the suspensions were designed to give the owner a certain ride feel, and American engineers were trying to make older people happy with their suspension ride quality and not handling.
That about sums it up.

Actually, kind of a culmination of things. Suspensions and shocks have had a lot of refinement over the last 30 years. As such, you can expect better handling from a new car than an old one. Jack up the front end of a newer car next to an older one sometime. Youll find different angles on shocks, springs, trailing arms and the ever-important stabilizer bar. If you update the springs and shocks on an older car though, often you can get a better ride. Or, retro-fit an IFS from a newer car and just Say its stock!

Hey Bill !!! I thought the hanling in my old '66 Galaxie was fun !!! Note I said fun, not good.... It had stiffer coils and shocks, and a big sway bar on the front. All you had to do was gas it, hang the back end way out, and keep the power on !!! Motor was a 428 CJ with a toploader behind it, enough power to keep the back end sliding was never a problem !!!!

Originally posted by mrmustang
Oldf100fordman & techinspector1,

Yes, and no at the same time....In particular, the Mustang was developed as a "performance oriented" automobile, and was hailed as "one of the best handling cars of the year" (R&T 11/64)......Back then, the technology for suspension set up and design was what it was. With 30+ years of redesign and development (where did I say that before), different layout and geometry, you have vast improvements in the handling of any car. Now, if you guys were talking about a 65 Galaxy, then I would say your absolutely correct.....However, when discussing the Mustang line, your both way off base.....

Yours in Racing Fords,

Bill S.

Bill,

While the Mustang was developed as a performance oriented automobile, it was still based on the Ford Falcon and shared most of the chassis components of that little econo grocery getter. So from that perspective I gotta agree with those that have mentioned the comfortable ride as one of the priorities. I also agree with you that it can be fixed and Carol Shelby proved it. With his relatively few mods the Mustangs would run with and often out run the Corvettes in SCCA competition.

Pat

I just bought new shocks for the car -- "Sensatrac" shocks with outer springs. I am hoping this will help. For some reason, my Mustang has leaf suspension -- which is strange because I thought only trucks have it. Over time the springs have flattened and hopefully the new shocks will help.
However, will the lack of 'springiness' in the flat leaf springs put too much pressure on the new shocks? Also, out of curiosity -- why do the old fords have lead suspension?

The stock rear springs are to soft for any kind of high performance driving. I added an extra leaf on each side and it stiffened things up. I used a main leaf from an old pickup with the ends cut off. I don't recall what kind of truck. It was thicker than the stock leafs but the same width. The car handled much better than a stock Mustang. I gave them to a friend when I had the car apart. Now I might have to make up another set. I'm going to try coil over rear shocks first and see if that helps. Is that what those Sensatrac shocks are? Let us know if they help.

I got an export brace to stiffen up the front. Sub frame connectors are another option to consider.

Originally posted by mrmustang
Oldf100fordman & techinspector1,

Yes, and no at the same time....In particular, the Mustang was developed as a "performance oriented" automobile, and was hailed as "one of the best handling cars of the year" (R&T 11/64)......
Yours in Racing Fords,

Bill S.

All things considered----Enjoyed the way Steve McQueen drove his ride in "Bullett."
To this Geezer, not --a faded memory. Humor me!