[m6-lt1]

Originally Posted by N Camarolina

I don't know if anybody has been noticing, but I think Ford is trying to make up for an inferior Mustang chassis (first in the Mach1 and now the DH) by adding more aggressive rubber.

Compared to the SS 1LE at 285F/305R tire widths, the Mach1 handling package used 305F/315R Cup2s (treadwear rating also a bit lower than the SS 1LEs SC3 220 tires), while the DH uses the same widths again but a tire that has a treadwear rating of only 60. If track drivers don't feel like purchasing replacment OEMs for price or low durability, they'll then have a traction and stabilty system that is no longer optimized for their tires.

Because of this, I think stock straight off the showroom floor the dark horse will beat the ss 1le around a track. While being a worse value due to how much more it costs I do believe it will be faster. We never got a direct comparison of the SS 1le vs Mach 1 (the Randy Pobst one doesn’t count because the brake pads were clearly different than stock on that used 1le he drove) but I’m pretty sure the Mach 1 would also beat the 1le in straight off the showroom floor form due to what you mentioned.

One thing I wish Chevy did that Ford has always done is give their handling priority cars a bit more power than the base v8 model. For example when Ford came out with the Boss 302, Gt350, and Mach 1, Mustangs with handling as a priority, Ford also gave them more power than the GT (and in the boss and 350’s case, there own special engine). I wish Chevy would have done that with the SS 1le and Grand Sport models. An SS 1le with a slightly hot rodded LT1 or an LT2 would have been a dream car of mine. We can hate on Ford all we want, but this is one thing I wish Chevy would have copied from Ford. No one can say they wouldn’t like another 35-75 horsepower in their SS 1le since the chassis can easily handle that.

[Gunkk]

Originally Posted by crysalis_01

Makes one wonder, if Ford had gone "all in" with an actually new chassis, and made the same choices/compromises as were made when Alpha was developed for the sake of performance, how it would affect sales moving forward.

Sales? not a bit when there's zero competition.

Profits? oh hell yeah. Retooling and revalidating the passenger cage would be big capex $$$.

"Why should we spend money when we don't have to? Besides, we're dropping billions on electrics that we can't get batteries for, so no you can't retool your pony car when there's no competition!" - John Lawler, paraphrased most certainly.

[Bosse'sBoss]

Originally Posted by m6-lt1

Because of this, I think stock straight off the showroom floor the dark horse will beat the ss 1le around a track. While being a worse value due to how much more it costs I do believe it will be faster. We never got a direct comparison of the SS 1le vs Mach 1 (the Randy Pobst one doesn’t count because the brake pads were clearly different than stock on that used 1le he drove) but I’m pretty sure the Mach 1 would also beat the 1le in straight off the showroom floor form due to what you mentioned. One thing I wish Chevy did that Ford has always done is give their handling priority cars a bit more power than the base v8 model. For example when Ford came out with the Boss 302, Gt350, and Mach 1, Mustangs with handling as a priority, Ford also gave them more power than the GT (and in the boss and 350’s case, there own special engine). I wish Chevy would have done that with the SS 1le and Grand Sport models. An SS 1le with a slightly hot rodded LT1 or an LT2 would have been a dream car of mine. We can hate on Ford all we want, but this is one thing I wish Chevy would have copied from Ford. No one can say they wouldn’t like another 35-75 horsepower in their SS 1le since the chassis can easily handle that.

Another 100 HP NA on the SS1LE and C7 Grand Sport will be excellent for those great handling chassis.