Had a Probe GL for many years until ironically I was rear ended at a stoplight by a Mustang. Put the rear seats down and it was like a lil' El Camino with a liftback and could hold a ton of stuff (stuff that wasn't too tall, at least). Never got to drive a GT but I from memory a big issue was torque steer since it's FWD without the kind of fancy engineering in Civic Type R.
I had a 93 GT Iceberg Blue. Loved that car. I loved how low it sat to the ground and how the seat wrapped around you. Everything was in arms reach. It felt like a race car, it steered so amazingly well up the canyons and it was fast. The back compartment was huge too when you put down the seats. One day I'm going to have another one. God I miss that car
Mine was a hand me down ‘89 from my dad and after he gave me that one he immediately bought a second gen GT like yours but red. He loves his two doors. Definitely felt like an upgrade over the first gen.
FWIW Mustang guy had to be taken away in an ambulance with a collar on and because I was looking down at the radio at the time I wasn't tensed up so I didn't get hurt badly. Had no idea I was about to get smashed. He hit me so hard the rear wheel wells were punched in to the point the wheels couldn't turn anymore and I slid through the intersection like a pool ball and the Mustang was the cue ball that stayed put about where he hit me. It was a 35 mph road and I never heard his brakes so I think he hit me about that fast. Miraculously the liftback, glass and all, was totally fine despite everything underneath it getting smashed in.
I mean no, it's a different car doing a different thing. If you want V8 noises and power potential and RWD what is this doing for you? That's (almost) always been the point of the Mustang.
Meaning ford didn’t have the same sentiment when designing the probe to replace the mustang. V8s and rwd wouldn’t have been on the chopping block had it been a deal breaker.
Remember we’re talking about something that was being designed in a completely different era and mindset than today. The mustang was still pretty young when this was coming
The Mustang was 23 years old by time the Probe came out. And I'm still not sure what "the Probe could have replaced the Mustang" has to do with me pointing out that they are cars that serve completely different markets. Fords product decisions have literally nothing to do with that concept. Ford discontinuing the Mustang in favor of the Probe doesn't mean someone who wants a V8 and RWD would suddenly want a FWD coupe with an economy car engine. They'd just go to another brand's dealership.
It wasn’t originally intended to replace The Mustang, but to actually be the 4th generation Mustang. Not saying that you didn’t know this, just clarifying for people who may not know this.
You could make the argument that the Ecoboost Mustang could have just as easily been created as the Probe with some different styling and serve the same purpose in Ford's lineup.
If I remember correctly, the Probe was a Mazda MX6 under the skin. The MX6 was a great, but under appreciated car. Front drive Mustang would never have worked for marketing.
The mustang history was not as prevalent in the 80s when then probe was coming out especially with the oil embargo’s impact. It was barely drinking age
The mustang is great but don’t discount the probe. It was a great car and had it been designed and made in the 2000s it probably would’ve been as big of a hit as the ST hatch line ups
Maybe it became that but I think you could say that the original Mustang was just meant to be an inexpensive, stylish car with (optionally) a lot of power, which is pretty much true of the Probe. The fact that the original Mustang were rear wheel drive and used V8s for the high power engines were just an artifacts of the time.
The Ford Probe was originally intended to be the 4th generation Mustang. Mustang enthusiast rejected this so Ford went in a different direction and created a platform for the Mustang instead and the Ford Probe was born.
My first car was a 1990 Ford Probe GT. It was a great first car for me in 1999.
Owned the base MX6 with 2.2 and 5spd and the second gen Probe GT with 2.5 v6 and 5spd.
Mustangs were in a different league.
Performance wise at least.
Mainly straight line.
i had a 94 mx6 5spd with a KLZE swap, 2.5" header, high flow cat and 2.5" cat back, cold air intake, coilovers, 22mm rear sway bar, ACT clutch, lightened flywheel, short throw shifter. that was a fun car.
unfortunately it dropped a valve and blew the engine.
1989 Ford Mustang GT, 0-60 mph 6.1, Quarter mile 14.6
1989 Ford Probe GT, 0-60 mph 7.0, Quarter mile 15.4
While slower the Probe was pretty quick for it's day.
I think that moreso reflecting well on the Probe, mostly shows how mediocre the Mustang of that era was. They were quite different cars, but I think the Mustang took a bit too long to get out of the malaise era.
Yes, people don’t know how pathetic most Fox bodies in regular traffic were, with 88 horsepower 2.3L engines and a 3 speed automatic. Up to the year the Probe came out, the 5.0 in the Mustang didn’t make more than 200 horsepower (and it only got there with EFI a few years before). If anything, the cancellation of it in favor of the Probe is probably what pushed it out of the malaise era.
You said "Even the 5.0 at the time the early GTs had like 125 hp, they didn't make it to 225 until the 90s"
There were no Probes in 1979. 1986 is not the 90s .1988 is not the 90s. There were no Probes in 1979.
Not sure i really understand this comment. You say "only made 140hp, but The probe GT made 145hp all in.
5.0 made 225 in 1987, made 210 in 85 before the switch to efi. The SVO was a great car, but never made more than the 5.0
225 was kind of alot back then..... Corvette made 245, Camaro 235. 88hp for a run of the mill car was normal.
Basically, I’m agreeing with the article. The 1988 Mustang GT in stock form was barely quicker in a straight line than the Probe GT, and far less athletic in terms of turning and stopping. The 4 cylinder models were way behind the Mazdas which didn’t rely on Pinto technology. My point being that people look back on Fox bodies through rose colored glasses, but the reality is that most were LX models like my best friends mom drove that were horribly outdated and slow by late 80s standards.
The Mustang GT of the time was almost a second quicker in the quarter mile than the Probe GT. That is not "slightly faster". That is another league. Most Probes weren't GTs either, so the "rose colored glasses" remark goes both ways.
Car and Driver had them 0.2 seconds apart to 60, and 0.5 apart in the quarter. I’d call that slight for double the displacement and cylinders and an 80 horsepower advantage.
I’m sure the base models were much further apart in the Probe’s favor.
That was almost entirely from purposeful fuel restrictions to meet the gas crisis restrictions.
Any enthusiast of the era was putting on a new top-end to get it back to respectable muscle car numbers.
This is all true, but given a choice of a Probe with 110 horsepower from a modern Mazda 2.2L on a new and modern platform with independent suspension, and a Mustang on a recycled Fairmont platform with 88 groaning ponies from a Pinto engine, I don’t think it’s a stretch to say the Probe is a better car.
It gets a little blurrier with the 5.0 being slightly faster than the 2.2T in the GT, but I don’t think the premise of the article is wrong i do think people misremember what Mustangs were like back then.
Is… is this where the idea that “Mustangs are chick cars” come from?
In the 2010’s, my boomer telecom teacher in high school had us looking up cars to buy on Craigslist and I found a Mustang. He said they were chick cars, was the first time I’d ever heard that before. Thought it was odd.
Horsepower ratings were different in the 60’s though. Prior to 1972, gross horsepower was used, which was the horsepower without any of the accessories included (alternator, air cleaner, mufflers, etc). Starting in 1972, the ratings were changed to the much more accurate net method which was the ratings with all the accessories included.
Ye the the bulk of the hp drop was due to switching from gross to net. form 71 to 72 the stated HP went from 210 to 140, but the 302 didn't really change at all, and their 0-60 and 1/4 mile times are the same.
Sure. But the commenter I’m originally replying to is implying that the competition from the Probe magically made the Mustang gain 80 HP. When it’s clear it was just detuning from regulation.
I drive my brother in law’s probe from Michigan to NY. It was supposed to be a sports coupe to replace the mustang. In no way ever was the FWD Probe ever more fun to drive than a RWD mustang GT. Even a fox body.
The fox body was a shitbox. Yes it was light, raw, raw, “analog”, powerful and dangerous, and had an insane aftermarket. It was fun, but the Probe was a far better car in every other way. That being said being a raw shitbox was the Mustang’s entire personality and there was no way the probe was filling those shoes.
Big motor on a cheap frame with cheap parts and easy access to mods.
Not every car needs to be for the six figure crowd, sometimes it’s nice to have an enthusiast vehicle that can be built however you want really readily available to the average Joe. Are there some trade offs? Sure. Is it still great at what it was? Absolutely.
I don’t think any Fox or SN95/New Edge owner would disagree.
But they were cheap, which meant you could actually be a hobbies. That alone made them special.
The first car I remember riding in was my mother’s Ford Probe, she had it for a few years. Seemed to be a total piece of shit, but I’ve got weirdly fond memories of it.
My mother used to let me shift the gears from the passenger when she was dropping me off to kindergarden. She’d tell me “1st, 2nd… neutral… 1st…” until I got the hang of it. She’d operate the clutch, obviously.
It almost never had a radio cause we lived in Walls, Mississippi, which is basically a like rural suburb of Memphis in DeSoto county. Before that, my mom had put in an aftermarket CD player radio. Usually listens to *NSYNC or Brittany Spears, lol.
I remember opening the passenger door one day and the door pocket stayed right in place — as in, it remain closed. Funny shit.
> but the real version to have would have been the five-door 626 GT Touring with this very engine and even an available five-speed gearbox.
I owned one in the late 90’s and had it for several years. Eventually modified the shit out it and it was a ridiculous sleeper. Incredible car all around and one of the best cars I’ve ever owned.
2nd Gen Probe wasn't all that bad looking. But my old experience with one was always picking my (mechanic) buddy up when it would inevitably break down on the highway.
I had a Probe GT and thought it was a miserable car. It's the only front wheel drive car I ever owned with a tail happy rear end. It's tough to counter a rear slide with front wheel drive. The rear spoiler would get torn off in car washes. I had such high hopes for it too. I had been driving Dodge Daytona's for quite a few years and it seemed like an upgrade. Fit and finish was ok. Power was adequate. Handling was unresponsive. Suspension wasn't terrible. But I never owned a Mustang so I can't compare
My parents bought a 1991 Probe GL brand new when I was 10 years old. I remember going to the Ford dealership with them wishing they would buy the emerald green Mustang GT on the showroom floor instead.
The Probe became my car years later when I was a teen driver, and although it was reliable, it was a pretty crap driving experience. Way too much body roll, didn't feel happy at 70mph on the freeway, 110hp sucked, and the engine would stall out and die when taking medium quick lefthand 90-degree turns.
From a styling standpoint, it was pretty sleek looking for the time and did occasionally get compliments even in the late-90s when it was an older vehicle.
Yeah, pretty much. After my parents grew out of the '91 Probe, they bought a minty fresh used 1993 Lincoln Mark VIII. Totally different animal, and that thing handled quite well for its size and weight, and felt solid as a rock deep into the triple digits. It was the first car I'd driven that felt at home at high speeds.
Yeah, this works where you have enough room to compensate for stupidity
Source: Crashed my 93 Probe GT sideways into curb after being an idiot 16 year old and going in hot to a corner. Smoked the tires trying to counter it. Didn’t work.
First new car I ever bought was a 93 Probe GT, mostly because a Mustang GT was out of my price range. It was a fun car for the price. First dealer I went to tried to sell me a ‘92 they had still on the lot which was the previous generation. I told him “no thanks, I want the new V6 motor”. He then claimed the ‘92 had the same engine. I had to point out that the car had “Turbo I4” emblazoned above the rocker in huge letters and tell him he was full of shit. I went to a different dealer and bought the car.
'96 Probe GT was my first car. I remember car shopping in general. I'd read all the car magazines, so I knew a lot about the cars I was shopping. Many times car salesmen would just say what they thought I wanted to hear about things like horsepower compared to competitor cars, etc. So much lying.
My first car was a 93 Probe. I did not love it, mostly bc it was 1998 and I just remembered it was NOPI days and all my friendships had Honda's and Acura's and I had a Ford Probe. Put the Shogun body kit on (no judging) and drove it until I turned 18. Then got a Mustang GT and have worked my way through a 5.0, 03 Cobra, California Special, Roush stage 3, and now I drive a GT500. But it all started in a Ford Probe! 😂🤣😅
They were actually very reliable and *not* garbage, because they were a Mazda under the skin. My parents bought one brand new, which later became my car as a teen driver. I didn't care for the handling, but they were always mechanically very good. Some people just stigmatized them due to having been initially planned as a Mustang successor which was sacrilege.
That Yamaha V6 was absolutely no joke however the car was lacking in pretty much all other regards. The driving dynamics were weird, it could never adequately put down its power (like most fast FWDs before modern traction control), the interior and exterior were terrible and getting parts was difficult even while the cars were being produced.
Cool cars but no fucking way was it better than any Mustang except maybe Mustang 2 (yes I know the story).
Even the 2.5 and 3.0nsound quite good. There's a KL powered NA Miata running around with one of the larger Vs and ITBs and it makes a VR6 sound like a farting elephant.
In the mid 1990s I owned a 1990 probe Gt 2.2T and a 1987 Mustang GT 5.0. Both manual transmission hatchbacks.
Both had good and bad points. I much preferred the Probe at the time.
I remember wanting one of these in college. Local indy dealer had one so I figured it couldn’t hurt to look at it. The mileage was low but it was in surprisingly rough shape. Passed on it and moved on. A few months later the owner got arrested for fraud. Turns out he was rolling back the odometers of all the cars he took in. The pre CarFax days were wild, kids.
wat
I’ll always remember I think my dads coworker talked about how insanely fast his Probe was and it would do 180mph and would waste his C4 LT1 M6 Corvette etc lol
Fairly cool cars though, just too bad about the 90s FWD
my college roommate had an 89 probe gt, the one with the turbo (v6 every year after that) and a manual. was pretty fun despite being like 12 years old at the time
Ford was toying with the idea of discontinuing the Mustang and replacing it with the Probe (and calling what we know as the Probe the new Mustang). I was part of a customer survey back in the day and they asked us about it. I voiced my strong opposition and I guess others did as well. Totally different cars. I don't know what they were thinking.
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