front wheel drive

did they ever make a front wheel drive mustang?

Reply to
Punch
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It's called the 1989 Ford Probe.

Reply to
Brent P

Reply to
Merc

Well I'll explain it to you Mr. Topposter.

Back in 1987-88 mustang fans learned that ford was going to release the new generation mustang for the 1989 model year based on the mazda 626/MX6 platform. The car was to be built at the joint ford/mazda plant in flat rock MI. It offered a naturally asperated 4 cylinder base, and turbo GT model. It was to be a FWD car.

Mustang folks wouldn't stand for it. Ford renamed that car 'Probe' and sold it along side the mustang which continued on with only typical year-to-year changes. That is the answer to the trivia question, was there ever a FWD mustang? It's called the 1989 Ford Probe, which was a mustang before the public learned of it.

Reply to
Brent P

Have one. GT. Fun lil car, though not nearly a Mustang by any stretch of the imagination. It doesn't even remind me of a Ford. The only things Ford about it are the few emblems (the valve cover Ford nameplate has two screws so you can remove it and put the Mazda one on it) and the fact that if you open up the door from the inside even if locked, it'll still open. Beyond that, it's Mazda through and through.

I gotta admit though... it runs. At 110,000 miles I was missing the mid-pipe, after the catalytic converter, and the car was literally every bit as quick off the line and up top as a 1997 Mustang GT 5-speed. Now with

122,000 miles, it still retains the original drivetrain (down to the clutch) and suspension (down to the factory-issued 1989 electrical shocks + struts) and still runs very well. Handles better than my '97 Cobra did before I swapped wheels and tires to something more serious.

Through it all, it lacks the torquey kick of a V8 RWD car. Without the mid-pipe, it's as fast as a '97 GT, but trying to make it go straight through the torque steer is a bit of a challenge. Great car, but not a Mustang. Ford made the right choice and ended up selling both anyway.

JS

Reply to
JS

But the wheel hop and torque steer is monsterous. My dad had/has a '89 MX6-GT and the torque steer was down right scary when got on it. It wanted rip the steering wheel from my hands. It now sits needing rings. I've got things unbolted, just need to pull them apart.

Guess I should have read further. Yep, it's no mustang. And I much prefer my mustang over the MX6 in it's prime. But if I ressurect the MX6 it would make a decent auto-X car.

Reply to
Brent P

Ya know, remove the mid-pipe and the turbo spools up so much faster without the exhaust restriction. Think the torque steer and wheel hop was bad before? It's amazing what the same amount of boost will do when it comes on like a heart attack. An unsuspecting friend wanted to pass someone on a

4-lane residential road as he took my car home one evening (I needed to borrow his truck), and he stomped the gas to get some speed up. Not only did he pass him, the car put him in the left lane all by itself.

After you get used to the torque steer you can compensate some for it, but I agree, it's just not the same.

Oh, I'd take my Cobra over it any day, but it's better than my '85 Mustang GT in just about every way. Faster, handles better, rides better, more comfortable, etc. It could be an autocrossing car with a good set of rubber and a couple more pounds of boost. It would even be fun as it sits.

Good luck putting it all back together. At what point (mileage) did your MX6 need rings?

JS

Reply to
JS

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