2024 Ford Mustang Drops AM Radio From Infotainment

[Kelly A]

A few are. I still like TV commercials but that's because I can skip the bad ones or repeated ones when recording.

I rest my case..

 

[wadio]

Funny thing is they seem to be less annoyed by commercials than chatty DJ's.

1. The commercials pay for the free programming and listeners may realize that.
2. The commercials don't talk over the music!

 

[Kelly A]

1. The commercials pay for the free programming and listeners may realize that.
2. The commercials don't talk over the music!

Uh, isn't that what I said?

 

[wadio]

Uh, isn't that what I said?

You didn't mention talking over the music, unless I missed it. Commercials run in the clear -- I have yet to hear one hit the post!

 

[vchimpanzee]

They have. The Taurus walked the plank four years ago. Ford no longer makes a sedan of any size. It's the Mustang, the Mustang Mach-E, SUVs, , F-Series pickups and Transit vans.

That shows I haven't been keeping up.

Chevy killed the Caprices you see on Magnum, P.I. back in 2017 and the Impala in 2020. Their lone remaining sedan, the Malibu, is smaller than the Dodge Charger and not offered in police spec.

I knew about the Caprice but not the Impala.

 

[Kelly A]

You didn't mention talking over the music, unless I missed it. Commercials run in the clear -- I have yet to hear one hit the post!

Talking over music is usually done by DJ's. Survey respondents under 45 don't want DJ's, period.

 

[wadio]

Talking over music is usually done by DJ's. Survey respondents under 45 don't want DJ's, period.

Apparently you didn't get the irony. Sorry.

 

[Don CT]

Chevy is about to drop AM from the Camaro.

And everything else in it as well.

 

[michael hagerty]

Chevy is about to drop AM from the Camaro.

And everything else in it as well.

Hang on. Someone here will suggest they discontinue the car but keep making the AM radio.

 

[cc333]

Chevy is about to drop AM from the Camaro.

And everything else in it as well.

So what is it going to be? Some sort of bland, basic car with only the bare minimum of functions, and no entertainment system of any kind, nor any sort of HVAC?

I really am not liking the direction the auto industry's going....

c

 

[michael hagerty]

So what is it going to be? Some sort of bland, basic car with only the bare minimum of functions, and no entertainment system of any kind, nor any sort of HVAC?

I really am not liking the direction the auto industry's going....

c

No car at all. After several years coming in third to Challenger and Mustang, Chevy is discontinuing the Camaro.

 

[cc333]

Ah, I see.

That's a significant part of muscle car history they're bringing to an end, I think (I must confess that I don't know too much about muscle cars).

c

 

[boombox4]

I'd argue against TV and especially the cinema (I see Keith and CT have already covered ham radio).

Point taken, but the phone isn't just used to watch on a small screen, the phone / cell connection is also used to access the programming over the internet and cell system, and it's piped to a larger screen using bluetooth or similar technology. I.e., good bye cable box, good bye OTA TV (eventually). Good bye cinema is already probably happening.

Phone theft is absolutely a thing, but it's not about what the device can or cannot do, or what you have inside. Assuming your phone is locked when not in use and everything is password, fingerprint or face-scan protected, that's all safe. Most smartphone thieves want the device itself to fence it at the earliest opportunity for quick cash. They'll likely do a factory reset without password, which wipes the device, and then it'll be sold to someone looking for a cheap new phone, no questions asked.

Once keeping all of your personal info and financial info and financial access becomes commonplace on phones (I've seen suggestions online for people to photograph key documents on their phones, and who knows just how far phone tech will expand in just 20 more years?), the info inside the phones will become even more important than it is now. I can see the day where there will be no debit or credit cards. It will be an app on your phone, and nothing else. Same with your passport, drivers license, and other important ID. That's the direction it's all heading.

 

[Kelly A]

Once keeping all of your personal info and financial info and financial ccess becomes commonplace on phones (I've seen suggestions online for people to photograph key documents on their phones, and who knows just how far phone tech will expand in just 20 more years?),

I've been doing this for years. When traveling overseas, I keep a photo of my passport on my phone just in case I lose, or my passport is confiscated by a potentially unfriendly government. Same with my vaccination records. On the heels of the pandemic, keeping photos of my Moderna vaccination record(s) came in real handy when trying to attend public events that required proof of vaccination.

 

[JJSPC]

Not the first time the Camaro has been discontinued.

 

[michael hagerty]

Ah, I see.

That's a significant part of muscle car history they're bringing to an end, I think (I must confess that I don't know too much about muscle cars).

c

They dropped it in 2002, then brought it back in 2010. There's speculation that it comes back as an electric sub-brand as soon as a couple of years from now.

Dodge Challenger's walking the plank after this year, too.

Beyond electrification, I think the retro-styled muscle car thing is past its peak---which is why Corvette and Mustang have moved on from it.

 

[Kelly A]

They dropped it in 2002, then brought it back in 2010. There's speculation that it comes back as an electric sub-brand as soon as a couple of years from now.

Dodge Challenger's walking the plank after this year, too.

Beyond electrification, I think the retro-styled muscle car thing is past its peak---which is why Corvette and Mustang have moved on from it.

This is all sort of a flashback to the 70's/early 80's, where new emission requirements saw V8 muscle get supplanted by emission-laden milk toast V6 power. Now you have V6's being replaced by dual scroll turbocharged four banger's.

 

[michael hagerty]

Point taken, but the phone isn't just used to watch on a small screen, the phone / cell connection is also used to access the programming over the internet and cell system, and it's piped to a larger screen using bluetooth or similar technology. I.e., good bye cable box, good bye OTA TV (eventually).

That's possible, but redundant. TVs that can do that also have their own built-in Bluetooth and Wi-fi and don't need a device to feed them.

About the only use for that I can see is "let me stream videos of the grandkids" or "our vacation" on someone else's TV, and you know how popular that'll make you.

Once keeping all of your personal info and financial info and financial access becomes commonplace on phones (I've seen suggestions online for people to photograph key documents on their phones, and who knows just how far phone tech will expand in just 20 more years?), the info inside the phones will become even more important than it is now.

The information doesn't exist on the phone. It's in my bank's servers. It's accessed on the device through apps that are password, fingerprint or facial recognition-protected.

I can see the day where there will be no debit or credit cards. It will be an app on your phone, and nothing else. Same with your passport, drivers license, and other important ID. That's the direction it's all heading.

Some of what you're describing sort of exists now, but not the way you seem to think.

The payment apps link to a credit or debit card. Anyone with sense is going to keep the physical card in their wallet in case their phone battery dies, the store they walk into doesn't use ApplePay, the reader is broken, they left their phone at home, and like that.

States are beginning to adopt digital driver licenses, but they are a supplement to your physical license, not a replacement. Need to show photo ID? Don't go fishing through your purse or wallet. Open an app on your phone. Pulled over by the cops? You absolutely need to have your physical driver license on your person, as you always have had to.

There's not a single country I can find that is even considering smartphone-based passports. Again, for photo ID purposes, it's okay to have a photo of it on your phone (I don't, but after reading Kelly's comments, I may start), but if you're going out of the country, you need that physical passport.

 

[kevtronics]

This is all sort of a flashback to the 70's/early 80's, where new emission requirements saw V8 muscle get supplanted by emission-laden milk toast V6 power. Now you have V6's being replaced by dual scroll turbocharged four banger's.

Turns out there is a replacement for displacement. Turbocharged 4-cylinders with performance equal to V6s and even many V8s have been around since the 1980s, but buyers rejected them because they were rough and noisy and had turbo lag. But now that turbo 4-cylinders are smooth, quiet, and lag-free, buyers are rejecting V6s, and V8s have all but disappeared from new cars.

In fact, the engines in modern cars are so smooth and quiet that in "performance" models, many automakers are using the stereo system to play fake engine/exhaust noise through the speakers, and a transducer under the driver's seat to create simulated engine vibrations! Now some are even talking about adding a make-believe shifter and clutch pedal to electric vehicles to make them feel like driving a gas-engine sports car.

 

[michael hagerty]

Turns out there is a replacement for displacement. Turbocharged 4-cylinders with performance equal to V6s and even many V8s have been around since the 1980s, but buyers rejected them because they were rough and noisy and had turbo lag. But now that turbo 4-cylinders are smooth, quiet, and lag-free, buyers are rejecting V6s, and V8s have all but disappeared from new cars.

The biggest problem with 70s and 80s turbos was reliability. Ignore the cool-down period and you'd destroy them in about 30,000 miles (ask my ex-wife).

Turbo lag isn't entirely gone---but most turbo fours are absolutely better than they were.

I wouldn't say that buyers are rejecting sixes so much as manufacturers, under the gun to meet mileage and emissions targets, aren't giving them the choice, ditching the sixes in favor of two-liter turbo fours.

In fact, the engines in modern cars are so smooth and quiet that in "performance" models, many automakers are using the stereo system to play fake engine/exhaust noise through the speakers, and a transducer under the driver's seat to create simulated engine vibrations! Now some are even talking about adding a make-believe shifter and clutch pedal to electric vehicles to make them feel like driving a gas-engine sports car.

Which, in my opinion, is juvenile. If the car makes noise on its own, fine. I get that there are a lot of guys who need the whole "big car go vroom!" thing, but to me, a car that is incredibly fast and silent is its own type of cool.