This is it then, the all-new Ford Mustang, one of the most eagerly awaited car to go on sale in North America.
The Mustang has been in existence for 41 years now, and in all that time, there have been only three models that were actually any good, and all of those were not even Ford's own official products. To name them, there was the 1967 GT350 and GT500, and then there were the Saleen models, with the S281 Supercharged Roadster (which you read about a few weeks ago -- see link below) being the best of the lot.
 Big iron |
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Time now for a bit of change, and enter the new generation of this American icon. The 2005 Mustang is all-new, and it shows.
The body styling might be commemorating the Mustang's best era, its first, but that is the only thing about this car that resembles the old. The chassis is all new (finally), the interior is not only good looking, but functionally very user friendly too, the seats are comfortable (finally, thank goodness), but most of all, it is a blast to drive.
Yes Mustang fans, finally you don't have to make excuses to buy a Mustang, it's a good car, in all respects.
The reasons I always hated the outgoing model was (a) the seats were just awful, (b) the interior had all the build quality of a microwave box (correction there actually, microwave boxes were better quality than the plastics Ford used for the old Mustang), and it was a horrible car to take a corner in.
Due to the old car's awful chassis and suspension configuration, it felt like it was always on tip-toe. Most people blamed the live-beam rear axle for that, but I had driven the Mustang Cobra version as well, which since 2001 had the independent rear suspension, and while better, it still felt unstable, both at high speeds and at a handling course.
So, the live-beam rear shouldn't be blamed, and Saleen proved that with their cars which had a Saleen patented rear-end, and the Saleen could really handle.
Looks like Ford has been doing some poking around in Saleen cars, because despite the live-beam rear axle, the new Mustang feels remarkably like last years Saleen through the corners, and that is a very good thing. The new Mustang felt good in the first 50 feet I drove it, but what really made me smile was, that this new car can handle corners. OK, before people start questioning me about how well it handles compared to its price-based rivals, which include the Subaru Impreza WRX and the Mazda RX8, let me just say this, both the WRX and the RX8 do handle better. However, on a twisty road or a track, this new Mustang will be as fast as the others, because where it might lose out on cornering speed, it makes up the deficit when the road opens up a bit. Then it'll catch up and swallow the other two in a single move.
That power comes from a heavily reworked 4.6 litre V8, which now has three valves per cylinder, and produces 300bhp and 320lb-ft of torque. That is a gain of 40bhp over the old Mustang GT, and considerably a lot more than its rivals.
That engine is mated to a new 5-speed manual gearbox (5-speed auto also available of course) which is a delight to use, which really has to be a first in Mustang history. Even the clutch is a delight to use. So, now you can use a manual Mustang as a daily driver, and don't have to suffer
physically.
All this means that getting those perfect traffic light grand prix launches are a cinch. Hook it up properly (with the traction control off) and you'll go from 0-60 mph in 5.3 seconds. Keep the go pedal buried, and you'll hit 150 mph. That is seriously fast, and on one daring high speed run, it proved to be stable too, as long as you get it out of fourth gear well before hitting redline.
You see, if you try to redline in fourth gear, you'll be sending too much torque to the rear-end, making it feel a bit nervous. Shifting into fifth gear early lets you ride the torque curve more smoothly, and will see you into very indecent speeds with the sort of poise I never expected from a Mustang. Just leave enough distance to slow down, since the brakes are not exactly very good. They are fine at city speeds, but high speeds require lots of concentration, even prompting you to use engine braking as much as possible too.
But this is still mainly a cruising car, which means that it rumbles through town easily thanks to its light controls, and its wonderful, bellowing exhaust that ensures you have everyone's attention. The looks keep their attention, because people love the way this car looks.
You get as many thumbs up signs in this car as you'd get with any Ferrari. Get anyone in it, and they all love the retro-modern interior, and the changeable colours of the dials makes everyone go 'ohh' and 'ahh.'
This car already is a winner in many people's eyes, but what makes it even better is its price. At CAN$34,000 (just under £15,000) for a base GT, that is remarkable, since that makes it only a few hundred dollars more than the car it replaces. The test car I had was equipped with the optional interior accents package and a few other goodies, was still only CAN$35,800 (£15,750). That is simply good value for money.
So, there you go, if you can afford one, buy one, no need to make any excuses. The Mustang finally lives up to its name, and the image it always wanted to portray. Enjoy.
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