Ah, to be fair, I didn't have the Suba-yota in mind when I said that about the Mustang. They are very different cars to me. The V6 Mustang's I've seen don't handle the track well. The V6 just runs out of oomph on top, and the brakes aren't up to multiple hard stops. The slalom results are interesting to me. I never would have guessed it would have posted those numbers. The only thing I can think of is that their course must be smooth. The Mustangs I have been in do not cope with mid corner bumps very well at all. The Subi-yota is an unknown at this point, but all things point to it being in the same league as the Miata on the track.
As for old school tech, yeah, when the Porsche guys point out the pushrods, I remind them that the car has leaf springs too.
Everything you mention about the V6 Mustang is what I've read as well. As Jason says, the brakes are what you'd expect on a 22k car. Yes, it runs out of oomph on the top end. Still, it has >100 ADDITIONAL hp versus the FR-S/BRZ and has similar handling capability.
As for the Mustangs needing smooth pavement. Yes. It IS a live rear axle and you WILL get axle tromp when going over bumps. Given all of that, the car does post M3 like lap times at less than half the price. Plus, it's attainable, functional and almost infinitely customizable. Honestly, the only downsides to the current gen Mustang is the live rear axle (which I think is more than compensated for by the glorious engine) and the fact that they are everywhere.
It seems a bit disingenuous to intentionally give the Mustang shit for the live rear axle and then be fine with the OHV and leaf springs in the Corvette.
But getting back to the Toyota thing and then the BRZ/FR-S thing that this thread has morphed into.....
The original MR2 was cool. The next gen was WAY cool and some of those damn things were FAST.
The Celica was a cool car and a legitimate competitor to the Datsun/Nissan Z cars.
The Supra was a para-supercar that virtually anyone could buy.
What the fuck happened? What did Toyota do? Did upper management call the design team into a meeting and say, "Fuck it. Anything interesting needs to go. We're going to build Camrys and this ugly little shit pile Prius that will make the do-gooder crowd jizz their pants. If you think of a car that has any interesting characteristics you're fired. Meeting adjourned. Get to work."
The final version of the MR2 was ugly and anemic. That thing was so slow it was dangerous. I think a Kia Rio was faster.
The Celica got seriously ugly, then it disappeared.
The Supra.....killed
Toyota starts a youth oriented brand with Scion and all their cars are powered by gerbils running in exercise wheels.
They partner with Subaru and come up with the FR-S/BRZ. They proceed to take a very attractive car and castrate it with regards to performance.
Toyota builds transportation appliances. I, for one, am seriously uninterested.
arty
