This little Pony went to the glue factory

[Blake Noble]

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="

http://www.youtube.com/embed/k9hEJHhw9hA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

The stupidity displayed in the video above leaves me with my palm on my face, snickering and almost speechless. Yes, that horrific clank of metal tearing through metal at the end of the video was a driveshaft jack-knifing it's way through the floorpan of a V6 2011 Mustang, effectively disemboweling the car. Yes, the driver was obviously exceeding the limits of his car and stupidly modified it to do so. Yes, the driver thinks that, just because his V6 Mustang packs three-hundred-and-some-odd horsepower, he drives an Autobahn-smashing speed demon.

What's that? Has hilarity not yet descended upon you? Okay then, I'll just go straight to the horse's mouth and get the "facts" of the story from the owner:

I had an opportunity to drive my Mustang on a closed road at high speeds and this is what happened. Apparently the standard tires are not the only reason for the car being limited to such a sub performance speed of 113MPH. (Even slower then Ford's Fiesta and Focus models = 118MPH) My stock driveshaft failed at about 135MPH, so if these cars are run flat out in the real world without the ridiculous speed governor to keep them together, the drivetrain is not actually designed to handle the power of the engine. Major damage caused by the broken shaft included a hole in the metal floorpan, major exhaust system and muffler damage, broken transmission shifter, broken parking brake, broken interior plastic trim parts, etc. My 1997 Mustang Cobra could run 152MPH for unlimited time periods and this new car only held together for about 15 seconds under full throttle!!! Give me a break!!! The drivetrain is a REALLY BAD place to cut costs for a net profit $, especially on a 305HP Mustang! I really hope that Ford makes a change to the V6 drivetrain for 2013. After all, many of these cars are driven regularly on the German Autobahn and a failure like this could be very dangerous! Solution = Ditch the governor and install a decent driveshaft! Even a 23K Honda Civic can go 137MPH without breaking!!! Come on!!! This is my 5'th Mustang and my 1'st major failure. This is totally unacceptable for a performance car!

Wowwwwwwww. Just ... holy $h!, Batman. My palm is right back on my face again, only this time I can't stop laughing. Ford (via Autoblog) even had to step in on this one to just let everyone know that the V6 Mustang was designed to be "the ultimate in fuel economy and performance" and that you should probably buy a Mustang GT if you wanna go, like, real fast.

Edited December 19, 2011 by black-knight

[67impss]

Next time get it balanced better than stock if your gonna remove the governor for a high speed run. Hot rod 101 for dummies

[Blake Noble]

Well, it seems the internet shamed the owner into yanking the video from YouTube. Thankfully someone re-uploaded it.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/LZXBjVIrR08" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[caddycruiser]

Light weight driveshaft optimized for weight/performance/fuel economy with a speed limit max...that's why the factory issues a top speed for a warning.

This has happened a few times with the Mustang, especially now that the V6 is a higher winding and hugely more powerful 3.7L, but top speed is there for a reason. If you're going to do more, and don't care about the 31mpg rating or how they achieved that, you need to upgrade more than just re-flashing your engine/trans software to get rid of the limiter.

Boom.

[Robert Hall]

What a moron.

[daves87rs]

Wow....

[FAPTurbo]

And I thought this thread was going to involve Bronies.

[Robert Hall]

And I thought this thread was going to involve Bronies.

Ford should do a MLP version of the Mustang...

[SAmadei]

Next time get it balanced better than stock if your gonna remove the governor for a high speed run. Hot rod 101 for dummies

The guy is right though... the governor has to do with the tire rating... its not there because Ford thinks the car will crap out at 114... though, it appears it does crap out at 135. And considering that there were no SEVERE vibrations leading up to failure, I'd say no amount of balancing would have prevented the destruction.

I imagine that the V6 and V8 get different diameter driveshafts and the V6 one is flexing so bad at 135 that it tore apart.

Honestly, its my opinion that Ford is at fault here... if you put 300hp in a V6, the driveshaft should be up to snuff. However, Ford will not own up to this because the governor was removed.

Its a enthusiasts' car, though, and governors are going to be removed.

Cars were sold for years without governors and I've never heard of a driveshaft blowing apart on the top end... the engines always ran out of steam first.

[chevelle454]

He should have bought a Camaro.

[Robert Hall]

It's a street car, not a race car..there was no legitimate reason for the idiot to disable the governor, and that probably voided his warranty.

[SAmadei]

It's a street car, not a race car..there was no legitimate reason for the idiot to disable the governor, and that probably voided his warranty.

Then governor all cars to 80 mph and start passing out the 1.0 3 cylinders.

Every car ever manufactured for street duty has had at least one example raced with nothing but sanctioned safety improvements.

Ford (and Chevy) is selling these V6 cars on that 300hp tag line, among other reasons. I'd bet that there is at least one racing SCCA already.

[A Horse With No Name]

A bunch of SCCA guys want to autocross and track the V6 Mustang....this should be interesting to follow.

[67impss]

I did the same thing with my Roadmaster with the governor but the wagon was ltd to 108 whereas the sedans were aerodynamically governed aprox at 154mph. I did it on mistake the computer that was sold to me from a wagon but in fact came from a sedan. I did some reading and found that wagons go 4-5 fewer mph than sedans but don't have a safe place to find out. Also the drive train is the same on all cars excepting the rear axle ratios.

[Camino LS6]

Next time get it balanced better than stock if your gonna remove the governor for a high speed run. Hot rod 101 for dummies

The guy is right though... the governor has to do with the tire rating... its not there because Ford thinks the car will crap out at 114... though, it appears it does crap out at 135. And considering that there were no SEVERE vibrations leading up to failure, I'd say no amount of balancing would have prevented the destruction.

I imagine that the V6 and V8 get different diameter driveshafts and the V6 one is flexing so bad at 135 that it tore apart.

Honestly, its my opinion that Ford is at fault here... if you put 300hp in a V6, the driveshaft should be up to snuff. However, Ford will not own up to this because the governor was removed.

Its a enthusiasts' car, though, and governors are going to be removed.

Cars were sold for years without governors and I've never heard of a driveshaft blowing apart on the top end... the engines always ran out of steam first.

Have to agree, the driveshaft should not have failed.

[SAmadei]

I did the same thing with my Roadmaster with the governor but the wagon was ltd to 108 whereas the sedans were aerodynamically governed aprox at 154mph. I did it on mistake the computer that was sold to me from a wagon but in fact came from a sedan. I did some reading and found that wagons go 4-5 fewer mph than sedans but don't have a safe place to find out. Also the drive train is the same on all cars excepting the rear axle ratios.

Oh really? Me thinks my wagon is missing the governor. I thought all the B-bods were ungov'd. Is your's OBD1 or OBD2?

[FAPTurbo]

And considering that there were no SEVERE vibrations leading up to failure, I'd say no amount of balancing would have prevented the destruction.

The terrible sound emnating from the car almost eight seconds before failure wasn't severe enough?

[SAmadei]

And considering that there were no SEVERE vibrations leading up to failure, I'd say no amount of balancing would have prevented the destruction.

The terrible sound emnating from the car almost eight seconds before failure wasn't severe enough?

You mean the sound he picked up by moving the camera and mike closer to the speedo (and A-pillar)? That's not the sound of the drivetrain vibrating. I would guess it was wind noise, or the wiper blades flapping on the windshield. Edit: Also, the vent is right there... at high speeds more air will be forcing its way into the HVAC system... lots of stuff in there could have created a minor vibration only picked up by the camera's mike.

When driving a car at 120-140 you pick up a lot of stray noises... that wasn't that terrible... I'm pretty sure it was only picked up by moving the mike. Vibrating driveshaft would have been deafening at 135, the picture would be shaking all over the place and he wouldn't have been able to drive with one hand without needing new shorts.

Edited December 22, 2011 by SAmadei

[67impss]

I did the same thing with my Roadmaster with the governor but the wagon was ltd to 108 whereas the sedans were aerodynamically governed aprox at 154mph. I did it on mistake the computer that was sold to me from a wagon but in fact came from a sedan. I did some reading and found that wagons go 4-5 fewer mph than sedans but don't have a safe place to find out. Also the drive train is the same on all cars excepting the rear axle ratios.

Oh really? Me thinks my wagon is missing the governor. I thought all the B-bods were ungov'd. Is your's OBD1 or OBD2?

All wagons were 108mph governed by the ecm

Mine is a 94 OBDI and you can't hardly find a scan tool for it less than say $600 maybe

Best Bbody forum I've found http://www.impalassforum.com/vBulletin/index.php

[SAmadei]

All wagons were 108mph governed by the ecm

I don't doubt you... but I never heard it, probably because most B-bod fans are sedan owners... I thought my ECM was untouched. I have no governor.

Mine is a 94 OBDI and you can't hardly find a scan tool for it less than say $600 maybe

Yes, but you can use a wire jumper. Its my understanding that the ELM OBD1 would work... but finding cheap software is problematic. Mine is a '95... it is OBD1.5... the wire jumper doesn't work, neither does OBD2.

Best Bbody forum I've found http://www.impalassf...letin/index.php

Not bad, but lots of big egos, IIRC. I stopped hanging there back in 2006 or so. I preferred 9c1.net, but that vanished. My wagon is in pieces in the garage anyway, so I dropped off the B-bod world except for the 91/96 B-bod wagon email list. IIRC, nobody there ever mentioned the governor, either.

[67impss]

I never could get the jumper to work many on that board said the same thing not sure on the jumper at all.