Pony Car Issue

I can't say that I've ever seen so many Mustangs in one magazine before. You guys get bit by a 'Murican bug?

It all seemed to tie together once we got the Mustang Challenge debut at the Mitty, and J.G. racing one of the cars... you know how things snowball as you read/learn/see more.

I'm just afraid this one will snowball into Tim trying to talk me into buying one.

Margie

By the way, I REALLY like this issue. Pretty impressive article on the group of 3s

I don't have the issue yet :(

But I dropped my MM&FF subscription due to Mustang over-load. They just don't look that good to me.

P71 wrote: I don't have the issue yet :( But I dropped my MM&FF subscription due to Mustang over-load. They just don't look that good to me.

i dropped mine back in '04 or so.

too much repetition in articles, read like an advertisement with no tech. just didnt have that fun spark anymore.

Got the issue today. I really don't want to be critical of GRM because I love it so much, but this issue bored me to tears. I finally just skipped all 7 Mustang articles and went for the affordable-tire comparo and the Saab and Miata updates.

PLEASE no more Ford-sponsored Mustang-only issues! If I want to read about just Mustang's I'll buy an issue of MM&FF, or 5.0, or Ford Builder, or Modified Mustang, or Mustangs and Fords, or Legendary Ford, etc, etc, etc...

Agreed. Especially with the BMW comparison. This is all stuff I can get from mainstream mags. I was wondering where the "Grassroots" stuff was.

John Brown wrote: By the way, I REALLY like this issue. Pretty impressive article on the group of 3s

Interesting that in an issue with 79 pictures of Mustangs, it was the Bimmer article that captured your attention.

jstein77 wrote:

John Brown wrote: By the way, I REALLY like this issue. Pretty impressive article on the group of 3s

Interesting that in an issue with 79 pictures of Mustangs, it was the Bimmer article that captured your attention.

You counted?!

Back in the day, Jerry, you probably remember that we ALWAYS made the summer issue an "American Muscle" special. No plans to go back to that, but it had been years since we'd done one, and this seemed like the time with the new series and all. It's not a major new direction for the magazine or anything, so no need to grow concerned. Every once in a while, we just like to mix it up. Not guy-in-a-dress levels, more of a look around for everybody.

Margie

Not guy-in-a-dress levels

Please... not that again.

I'm excited to see the new issue. I'll see if I can pick one up at the local Magazine store today.

I didn't mind the Mustang focus in this issue. It balances out the Miata focus in some others, or the Challenge coverage that goes almost year-round.

I, too, thought there was kind of a Mustang overload. I skimmed a lot of those articles.

Ditto that. Not really a Mustang fan but a good issue none the less.

gjz30075 wrote: Agreed. Especially with the BMW comparison. This is all stuff I can get from mainstream mags. I was wondering where the "Grassroots" stuff was.

Depends on your definition of "grassroots."

If it's finding the best bang-for-the-buck tire, it was in there.

If it's building a cool car with your own two hands, it was in there.

If it's making your car faster by lightening it, it was in there.

If it's building a cool old-school rally car, it was in there.

If it's learning tips on making your front-wheel-drive car rotate, it was in there.

If it's deciding which cool BMW is the best performance value, it was in there.

And if it's getting a chance to race in a pro series without having to tie up your life savings in a rig and car, it was in there.

See, all grassroots, all the time.

Ahh the balancing act... It's the toughest game we play, but I think we somehow manage to do a pretty good job when it all shakes out. Like you, we're very conscious of the content of the issues. Maybe even more so. The "shape" of each issue is a constant source of hand wringing from the time the first story gets copy edited until posts start showing up on the board.

One thing we always try to do is to make the stories relevant to more folks than just the ones that own the subject cars. When I was writing the cover story, I wasn't trying to tell a story about Mustangs, but more of a story about a cool new spec series and what it was like to be behind the wheel.

And the editorial was "Ford Sponsored" only insomuch as we called them after we realized there would be a bunch of Mustangs featured and told them it might be a good idea to buy an ad.

If it wasn't your cup of tea... well, sorry. We have a lot of folks to make happy and we try to push a lot of buttons with each issue. For you folks who didn't dig too deep into those sections, I invite you to take another look. I think you might find insight into more than simply Mustangs (which are pretty darn cool, so it's not like we're coming out of left field or anything).

jg

American Muscle Special would have been nice. GTO prices are a bargain right now, the G8 just came out, and the previous-gen Mustang Cobra SC and Mach 1 prices (03-04) have finally come into something affordable. All would have been welcome. But 7 articles on the 05+ Mustang? I don't think you guys have ever even gotten away with 7 Miata articles in one issue!

Don't fret, GRMers, I wasn't criticizing - just making an observation. The one thing that I learned early in the racing game is that you can't always please everybody. (Especially true when designing autocross courses.) We will all continue to love GRM even if one issue doesn't happen to match our taste in cars.

I enjoyed the new issue. I like the new mustangs. If the funds were available, I would actually consider buying one, so it was nic e to have everything 'important' laid out in front of me.

This issue also felt thicker, so I look at it as getting a normal issue, with some extra mustang info.

The article on getting a front wheel drive car to rotate was a highlight for me. I have a GTI as a DD/Auto-X car, and I was thinking about changing up pressures at the next event. It rotates great with insanely high pressures in the rear, however, curiosity makes me wonder what it will do under pressured in the rear.

Keep up the good work.

You have to admit that coming out with an issue filled with Mustangs, a '68 Camaro and an M3 with a V8 (didn't the first M3 have a 4?) on the same month that gas prices hit $4 a gallon for the first time is bad timing.

Isn't the rest of the world going in the other direction?

grassroots, I always like the motor swaps, and the lemon-lot auto Xer's. the 2XXX challenge cars are wickedsuperkickass cool.

If you didn't like this month, I'm sure GRM will be back to the regularly-scheduled Miata/Neon/Trabant challenge car build next month.

I liked the issue, although I haven't finished it yet.

Snowdoggie wrote: You have to admit that coming out with an issue filled with Mustangs, a '68 Camaro and an M3 with a V8 (didn't the first M3 have a 4?) on the same month that gas prices hit $4 a gallon for the first time is bad timing. Isn't the rest of the world going in the other direction?

Yes, and they're unloading their V8s for cheap so that we can use them as track/auto-x day monsters.

I always look forward to the new issue and enjoy it regardless of contents. I tend to be a gather of information, useful or not. If it has an engine I am interested.

Yeah, once in a while sensory overload is ok, but I also felt this one was a bit heavy on the 'stang. It was good having a killer Camero in there to offset all the blue oval stuff.

Overall though, you guys know you are the best game in town, right? Keep it up!

Jack