Why, oh WHY, do I root for Ford? (long rant

Topic: Why, oh WHY, do I root for Ford? (long rant - Bird351 BEWARE!!!) (Read 9070 times) previous topic - next topic

Why, oh WHY, do I root for Ford? (long rant - Bird351 BEWARE!!!)

December 06, 2004, 11:47:26 PM

Ok, first a bit of a disclaimer: I am not a Ford fan. I like Thunderbirds and Cougars, but other than that Ford does nothing for me. If I was gonna buy a new car I can't think of a single Ford vehicle I would want, save the new Mustang.

Still, whenever I read a magazine comparison I find myself rooting for Ford. Even if it's something as plebian as a minivan comparo I will always hope that the Ford will come out on top, or if not on top, at least beat the other domestics in the comparo. Whenever Ford comes out with an "all new" vehicle or improves an existing one I hope it is enough to rel-light my fire. Lately, though, Ford has not given me much to root for. Virtually every new vehicle Ford has come up with in the past few years is substandard compared to the competition (except the Mustang and GT). Just look at these examples:

Freestar. Every other minivan on the market soundly trounces the Freestar in any comparison test. The Freestar is supposed to be a ground-up redesign, but it boasts almost no improvements over the Windstar. It still uses a coarse, underpowered engine, a substandard chassis, and an outdated style (that looks nearly identical to the model it replaced).

Ranger. Nissan has a new Frontier (~265 horses). Dodge has a new Dakota (with two optional V8's). Toyota has a new Tundra (~250 horses). Chevy has a new Colorado (~250 horses). Even Honda is coming up with a sort of mini truck. Every single vehicle in the compact/midsize pickup truck segment has been redesigned in the past year or two, and yet Ford is going to allow the Ranger, already 11 years old, to suffer for another 5 until it is redesigned in 2010. The ranger is currently the #1 selling compact pickup truck. Who wants to bet that Ford's market share in this segment drops dramatically over the next few years?

F-150. Nice truck. Very nice. Unfortunately, every road test I have read on the thing, including long term tests, point to one serious flaw: Horsepower. The Ford has a top offering of 300 horsepower. Chevy has 345, Dodge has 345, Nissan has 315, and Toyota's upcoming real attempt at a fullsize will almost certainly have enough oats to compete. Meanwhile Ford seems content to let the competition steal market share away by building more desirable trucks.

Five Hundred. Same problem as the truck. Excellent vehicle in need of a new engine. While Ford tries to compete with 240-260 horsepower competitors with its 200 horse V6 it is losing face. Eventually the Five Hundred will receive the powerplant it deserves, but will it come in time to make people take the car (and Ford) seriously? Meanwhile, customers are buying imports...

Focus. Just this past year, Ford unveiled a brand-new Focus. Too sophisticated for us colonists, though, we get stuck with the old one. Ford currenntly has no plans to update the Focus here.

Contour/Mystique/Mondeo. Cars that won accolades all over the world for their handling and sophistication sold like shiznit here because Ford dumbed them down for the North Americans. We didn't get the european handling, we got an expensive Tempo. Instead of learning from their mistakes Ford cancelled the program here and upgraded the European cars.

SVT. For years SVT had the "fastest production pickup" title locked up. Then the F150 was redesigned so SVT said "We'll be back!" - meanwhile Dodge drops jaws with its 500-horse SRT10 ram. "Don't worry," SVT said, "We're working on it". Now I just read in the latest Motor Trend that there will be no new Lightning. The F150 is too heavy, too bloated, to turn into a performance truck. They rolled over and died. Gloria Victis, Mopar! And the SVT Focus. Underpowered from the start, it still gained a following thanks to its excellent chassis. WRX's, EVO's SRT-4's, R32's - all of them would walk all over the SVT focus, but still Car and Driver magazine gave it a Top Ten spot several years in a row. Now, instead of upping the ante (or at least matching it), SVT rolled over and played dead again. High school kids all over North Amereica are all over the ST4, WRX, EVO, etc, and instead of giving 'em something to lust after Ford just gave up.

Lincoln. Caddillac is taking on the Germans, Lincoln is taking on Buick and Acura - at least it looks like it, though they're screwing that up as well. What the hell is wrong with these people? You don't answer a CTS-V with a Zephyr!!! Mercury is supposed to take on the entry level luxury cars. Lincoln is supposed to take on Caddillac! Alas, they have given up.

Ford has said thath 2005 will be the "year of the car" and they delivered an underpowered rental special (500), a nice but limited market pony car (Mustang), an only-in-your-wildest-dreams Ferarri fighter (GT) an old Focus wih a new grille, an ancient Crown Vic, and nothing else. There is NOTHING in the Ford lineup, save for the Mustang (or, while I'm dreaming, the GT), that I would want to own. FoMoCo really, REALLY needs to watch GM and Chrysler as they actually start to build desirable products that will lure people into showrooms. Instead, they just seem to have given up.

This is not even a new phenomena. When GM was making 250 horsepower Grand Nationals Ford was selling 190 horsepower Thunderbirds. The Monte SS had a 180-horse 305, the T-Bird Sport had a 150-horse 302. An HO T-Bird would not have stolen any more sales from the Mustang than a 250-horse GN or 180-horse Monte Carlo stole from the Camaro. The worst part is that it probably cost Ford more money to offer two versions of the 5.0 instead of giving everybody the HO version in the first place. The 1994-2004 Mustang was a big disappointment when comared to the LT1/LS1 Camaro/Firebird (even though, for some reason, it sold better).

So tell me, why, oh WHY, do I root for Ford?????

Re: Why, oh WHY, do I root for Ford? (long rant - Bird351 BEWARE!!!)

Reply #1 – December 07, 2004, 12:03:22 AM

Why should I beware? You're talking about new cars. I really don't care much about new cars. They're nice to look at, and nice to talk about occasionally, but I doubt I'll be buying one any time this decade.

You root for Ford because that's your preference. The same reason I rooted for AMD over Intel back when I was buying K6-2s over Pentium IIs. Now they completely kick ass, and here I am still using an AthlonXP 2200+.

Besides.. I have no problem with other GM models, JUST Chevy.. and because of their average fans. I also respect Mopar products. Hell, I just posted a pic in the forum here today of my lone Mopar product, and I miss it. (wouldn't give up my Birds to have one again, but I liked it when I had it)

So what else should I beware of? The length of your rant? I could do better. :p

Re: Why, oh WHY, do I root for Ford? (long rant - Bird351 BEWARE!!!)

Reply #2 – December 07, 2004, 12:07:15 AM

'cuz I was badmouthing Ford. Given some of the "discussions" I've seen I thought you were a diehard Ford guy.

BTW, even though I have a laptop and desktop both featuring Intel chips I root for AMD too. I also root for ATI (being Canadian it's my patriotic duty

)

Re: Why, oh WHY, do I root for Ford? (long rant - Bird351 BEWARE!!!)

Reply #3 – December 07, 2004, 12:15:14 AM

With a 9700 Pro, 9600, and 9200 (all 128 meg), who do you think I pull for? :p

I'm a die-hard everything-but-Chevy guy. I'd even *consider* (not necessarily drive) a Yugo over a Chevy, just because I loathe the average Chevy fan so much. The type of person who thinks the 350 is the greatest engine ever built, and everything else is complete , and probably has a Camaro up on blocks in their front yard. I could say more, but it would probably start a riot. :p

Anyway, it just so happens that my top preference is Ford. However, I can appreciate "BOP"s, Mopars, even some imports. Maybe not all for the same reasons, but I can appreciate them. I can even appreciate two Chevys, although I don't think of one of them (the older Vettes) as Chevys. Early '60s Impalas get a pass from me.

BTW, to head off the second potential riot.. (looks at Oldraven) my main beef with Chevy is the obnoxious average fans. (I think he knows what I mean, since we covered this before) One of my first cars was a '62 Impala 4-door with a 327/250hp and a Powerglide. While that car was not in as good of condition as my '64 Galaxie, (2-door fastback, 390/300hp w/ "3 on the tree") I still look back fondly upon the car.. and it's the reason old Impalas get a pass from me. Just wanted to point that out before all hell broke loose over it again. :p

Re: Why, oh WHY, do I root for Ford? (long rant - Bird351 BEWARE!!!)

Reply #4 – December 07, 2004, 12:41:49 AM

I know I personally root for Ford because it is a family thing. My grandfather worked for Ford in the 1940's. He has never owned anything else. I guess the love for Ford cars is in my blood :). Serioudly, another reason I am PRO FORD is that Ford is one of the only companyies who hasn;t ever burned me.
For example, I drove about six different GMC C3500's / C2500's in my last job and hated them all. Loaded (well under capacity) the truck could not top 55mph. These truck were riddled with mechanical problems, and totally unreliable.

Nearly every import I've worked on (or that friends / family has owned) does not perform well in sever cold weather. The exception to this is Toyota, the only import I will give a thumbs up too. Take for example VW. Has anyone worked on one of the late eighties fuel injected Vw's. Its like what were they smokeing when they built that thing.

Alot of this and other anti non ford products statements I've made are partly out of ignorance because I have mostly worked on only fords my whole life. You do make a totally valid point about Ford comming short of competitors all the time in certain areas. They still do make reliable, modest, cheep vehicals the sell very well.

Re: Why, oh WHY, do I root for Ford? (long rant - Bird351 BEWARE!!!)

Reply #5 – December 07, 2004, 12:48:55 AM

Not to demean what you've said, but the family thing means only as much as you put into it.

Why do I say that? Because generations of my family worked for Harrison Radiator in the Buffalo area. Who does Harrison make radiators for..?

Re: Why, oh WHY, do I root for Ford? (long rant - Bird351 BEWARE!!!)

Reply #6 – December 07, 2004, 01:18:58 AM

I just meant, if you are raised with something it is likley to affect your whole life. Ex: I grew up around only Ford cars. I leared to fix ford cars from age six up. There fore I know most ford cars far better than any others. Because I was formerly employed fixing cars I prefered the fords because I knew more about them. This makes me think other cars are strange, especially VW. This reenfoarces my love of ford.

Re: Why, oh WHY, do I root for Ford? (long rant - Bird351 BEWARE!!!)

Reply #7 – December 07, 2004, 01:22:29 AM

You do realize Harrison Radiator is a GM company, right..?

(my Impala had a Harrison in it, probably built by my grandfather)

Like I said.. nothing against your personal experiences. However, I always thought of myself as the counterpart to the "it's in my blood" argument.. since, if it were in my blood, I'd be a huge GM man. :p

Re: Why, oh WHY, do I root for Ford? (long rant - Bird351 BEWARE!!!)

Reply #8 – December 07, 2004, 03:24:22 AM

I always have been, always will be a ford guy. My first automotive memory was sitting on the fender of my dads 1982 F-150 4X4 'helping' him change the sparkplugs when I was 5. I like chevys too but its the chevy guys I cannot handle.

Sunday night criusing back from the bar in my buddies blazer (his 19th b-day) it was screwing around, caliper sticking and pulling it around, I made a comment like "typical chevy" (I'm a ford guy hes a chevy guy we always rip on each other:p) and his brother who was one of the three people in the back seat of the blazer *Snapped* and started freaking out about chevy being the "greatest company in the world" and "nothing comparing to chevy vehicles" and he actually had to be removed from the vehicle and calmed down before we could proceed

luckily I was sober enough to keep my big mouth shut!

But one thing I can't argue about is fords shiznit offering of vehicles :disappoin theres just nothing to get excited about. If I were in the market for a new vehicle I would probabally end up with a dodge before a ford as far as cars go :shakehead

But eventually ford has got to wake up.... Right?.....

Re: Why, oh WHY, do I root for Ford? (long rant - Bird351 BEWARE!!!)

Reply #9 – December 07, 2004, 10:04:06 AM

Ford of North American has had their head firmly implanted in their ass for years now. When it comes to domestics I am a Ford guy..but there is nothing new from them that I would buy. My g/f likes the new Mustang...myself I could take it or leave it. Yes I own 6 Ford vehicles..but none are newer than '88.

Ford of Austrailia has is down. The Aussies love their cars....as much if not more than we Americans. I'd take a Aussie Falcon XR6 turbo over ANY new US manufactured car....period. Anyone ever watch Austrailian Supercars racing? Now THAT is "stock car racing".

I have no problem with foriegn cars either. I dismiss most asian makes though and tend towards the european marks. Personally I have only owned VWs and Fords. Personally I wouldn't mind getting my hands on another early H2O-cooled VW for fun sake. I cut my teeth doing my own repair work with them and they were decent little cars for the time. VW had it's problems in the late 80's-early 90's. I'd take a 1975 Scirocco over a 2004 Focus any day.

Anyway, yes Ford-US is out of touch..with alot of things..but I'm not in the market for a new car, so it really doesn't matter to me what they do.

Re: Why, oh WHY, do I root for Ford? (long rant - Bird351 BEWARE!!!)

Reply #10 – December 07, 2004, 10:42:31 AM

I'm sure some of you have seen some of the cars that Ford Australia makes, right? They beat the piss out of the North American watered-down cookie cutter pieces of poo. The low-end engine in thier "Family Sedan" the Falcon has a 244 hp I-6 with dual overhead cam and VVT. The list goes all the way up to the XR8 with a 350 horsepower quad-cam V8. In a FAMILY SEDAN!

PS - On the Chevy issue... I can't say I'm brand-loyal. I drove a beater '90 Cavalier that cost me $200 for a while. I also have a big infatuation with the second generation Cavalier Z24's.

Re: Why, oh WHY, do I root for Ford? (long rant - Bird351 BEWARE!!!)

Reply #11 – December 07, 2004, 11:29:31 AM

They need all that power to outrun the dingos in the Outback.....

Re: Why, oh WHY, do I root for Ford? (long rant - Bird351 BEWARE!!!)

Reply #12 – December 07, 2004, 11:44:38 AM

, why can't we have dingos!

Re: Why, oh WHY, do I root for Ford? (long rant - Bird351 BEWARE!!!)

Reply #13 – December 07, 2004, 12:16:54 PM

We did (or at least we had wolves).....they all got killed off along with almost everything else "native" to this continent :p

Anyway...don't wish to hijack...sorry....

Re: Why, oh WHY, do I root for Ford? (long rant - Bird351 BEWARE!!!)

Reply #14 – December 07, 2004, 12:29:23 PM

GM of Australia has some pretty ed cool cars too. Even the middle east still gets a very cool Caprice (nothing like the boats we had here, they are unibody, RWD, and LS1 powered). I will never understand why North American automakers completely neglect the North American market. At least GM is trying, though - they're making Cadillacs that can actually be compared to BMW's and Benzes. They're making a 200+ horse supercharged Cobalt. They brough the Monaro over from Australia. Ford, on the other hand, is doing nothing to make their north american product line more appealing.