[FoxFour]

The previous IRS that was put in the '99-'04 Cobras was just a carryover design from the MN-12 chassis Thunderbird/Cougar. Therefor not designed for the power potential of the Cobra. Higher durometer bushings and switching to heavier duty half shafts (If I remember correctly, and correct me if I'm wrong, the '99 model had half shafts that were designed for the Explorer 4X4 model) But it was still a heavy-ass assembly.
Just to get off track a little bit, the SN-95 platform/ Fox4 chassis did have shortcomings, but what would have happened if Ford did give John Coletti the serious cash infusion like they did with the S-197 program? I can tell you it would have been a very different animal than it is today. Most people here are familiar with Ford making the Mustang into a front-wheel drive, 4 cylinder car, that car later turned out to be sold as the Probe, and that idea was shelved by thousands of angry letters sent to Ford HQ.
Taken from Road and Track, Guide to the new 1994 Ford Mustang:
So in August 1989, Coletti was asked by Alex Trotman, then head of Ford's North AmericanAutomotive Operations, to form a '"skunk team'" to investigate the possibility of building a new Mustang "'We formed a team-it was made up of eight people-and we started meeting in my office every Thursday night at 4 o'clock, because this was in addition to our normal jobs.
Getting the Go Ahead:
" In May1990, I went to Mr. Trotman and said 'We'd like to continue from now until October with almost no cost to you. Just give us the green light to go to October, and in October we'll give you the full lowdown,"' says Coletti.
'"We made him a deal he couldn't refuse. And basically he went for it''
In September 1990, Ford senior management approved the idea of building a new Mustang around existing powertrain and chassis hardware, but as long as a tight schedule and even tighter budget could be met.
So basically the 1994 Mustang was designed inside an old Montgomery Ward warehouse south of Dearborn and brought the Mustang program to fruition in 35 months, previous new car programs ran at least 48 months.
Actually the engineers on that program wanted an SLA front end setup and IRS, but were just happy to keep the Mustang alive .
Even though my next car is leaning towards the 2010 G8 ST , I have heard rumblings of a 2010 Mustang SVO powered by a 300+ HP 4 cylinder EcoBoost engine. Since I have an affinity to that particular car, owning one for 12 plus years and driving that car in my early twenties, good memories, I just may have to keep an eye out on that particular car when it comes out.