mdaniel

The guy in the T-Bird is sitting at a light when a sports car with a guy and a girl pulls up and starts reving his engine. The girl gets out as if to give the signal to race. But instead she gets in the T-Bird when the other guy takes off. As the T-Bird gets ready to go, there's a shot of the shifter. An automatic! Not even a sportshift! From the rest of the ad, it looks like it should compete with the S2000 or Z3. But it has a slushbox. Sad.

AztecRol

iTrader: (2)

I saw it like a week ago. It is really funny!!! I think the car that wanted to race was a Lambo. I would have done the same thing in my CL-S
that the guy in the T-Bird did

Type S

yah i saw it personally and sit on its seats while i went to the seattle international auto show last week..

aeon

The whole point of the ad is that there is more out there than just performance, poking fun at the immature response of the guy in the Lambo. Peeling tires and blazingly fast is great in highschool, but as you grow up, your tastes are supposed to grow with you. The new T-Bird is not intended to compete with anything performance-wise I wouldn't think. It is a novelty car, similar to the PT Cruiser.

mdaniel

Great. Another all show, no go car from the big 3.

Zapata

the car looks bad. huge engine, no power, bad gas mileage, no stick

aeon

Yep, I imagine it's becomming harder and harder for our automotive industry to justify high performance cars. They haven't put enough time or money into learning how to pull large numbers from small displacements, and the EPA is nailing their asses to the wall as it is, and the emission standards are just going to get tighter from here on.

I just don't think they can cut it with style either, that thing's ugly...

aeon

Is it a huge engine? I don't know, don't know anything about the mechanics of it...

Red Rider

I believe it has the 3.9 that's also in the Lincoln LS. From what i've read it's not too bad, 0-60 in 7.1 i believe.

patsmere

I think I read somewhere that it is the same engine that is used in the Lincoln LS V8:
3.8 litre
252 hp WTF (come on Ford we have 8 more ponies and a smaller engine)
??? torque

Zapata

fucking domestics......think if any of the japaneese car makers would come out with a true muscle car.....forget it, american car makers would have nothing.

2002 3.2 CL

Come on it's an american car. what do you exspect when all an american car company thinks that bigger, gas guzzling v8's with low hp and high torque make it go faster. Japanize cars use technology to make a car go fast and not just more gas and huge engines. A Cl-S has the same 260 a mustange GT has, GT has more torque but it's a v8. The automatic gt is the same speed as the Type S. Just think when acura releases the 6 speed manual and the v8 for the RL and NSX. Honda will have all other companys

Zapata

oh i don't expect anything innovative in the engine design from the big 3. But a true japanese muscle car would be sick. I can't wait for that ivtec v8 in the NSX

Pull_T

14.0-14.2 bone stock for auto GTs...14.6-14.9 bone stock for CL-S. (Track times I have seen, no magazine times here)

As for the Thunderbird, it looks like a POS to me. A nostalgia piece for old fuckers who will go out and spend money for a trendy car a la the PT Cruiser.

Basically an American muscle car without the muscle which leaves it's strong points few and far between.

Ashburner

I thought the black car in the commercial was a Lotus Espree V8 TT.

I could be wrong though, but usually I'm not

-Ash

Pull_T

I agree, Lotus Esprit.

AztecRol

iTrader: (2)

You are absolutely correct ASH!! I saw the commercial again the other day and I have been meaning to correct my error. It is a Lotus Esprit!! Cant tell if its the V8 or the TT. This time you are lucky ASH

KavexTrax

I'm surprised no ones mentioned the old school Supra TT
as a muscle car yet? Toyota will want a piece of the action no doubt for their new Supra

KCPreki11

Their also pulling the No sale contract-Ferrari BS.

FutureCL-S

Just about every Esprit made is a twin turbo V8...super low production numbers and high cost have kept it almost hidden from us here in America...the design hasn't changed much over the past 20 some years of production

AztecRol

iTrader: (2)

I thought the first ones, like the one in Pretty Woman, were 2.o Liter 4 bangers that were TT. As a matter of fact, the V8 didn't come out till 95. The 94 Esprit was the 2.2 L TT. The V8 is NOT a TT as far as I know. Here is a quote from European Car magazine:

The Numbers
Base price (1994) $69,000
Engine Dohc turbo'd 16-valve inline 4
Displacement 2174cc
Horsepower @ rpm 264 @ 6500
Torque (lb-ft) @ rpm 261 @ 3900
Fuel injection Delco electronic port-type
Transmission Five-speed manual
Wheelbase 96.0 in.
Track, f/r 60.0/60.5 in.
Length/width/height 170.5/73.2/45.3 in.
Curb weight 2,865 lb
Fuel tank 18.5 gal.
Suspension, f/r Upper & lower A-arms,
coil springs, tube shocks, anti-roll
bar/trailing arms, upper & lower
lateral links, coil springs, tube shocks
Steering Rack & pinion, power assist
Wheels, f/r Cast alloy, 17x7.0 / 17x8.5 in.
Tires, f/r 215/40ZR17 / 245/25ZR17
Brakes, f/r Disc/disc, ABS
0-60 mph 5.1 sec.
Standing 1/4 mile 13.6 sec. @ 104.0 mph
Maximum speed- 163 mph
Fuel economy, EPA city/hwy 17/27 mpg

AztecRol

iTrader: (2)

I stand corrected. The Esprit V8 GT is TT:

Twin turbochargers and a V8 engine, 355PS (260kW) and 175mph (274km/h) – the Esprit V8 & V8-GT and have all the right supercar credentials and then some. Low, wide, and sleek, the Esprit is the absolute epitome of the mid-engined supercar.

‘In short it feels as a Lotus should: precise, progressive, benign and massively quick. A bend approaches; brake, blip and downshift in one easy movement, point the nose precisely and feed in the power as the exit opens up. This is a mighty quick car, 175mph and 0-60mph in 4.8 seconds, but even in the rain that soaked the latter part of our test it proved hugely grippy and almost laughably controllable. If the back end steps out under an excess of power, a flick of the quick steering and it’s straight back in. Lovely.’