Living with the Ford Mustang GT
Review by Jacob Lerklint.
Two years ago Ford had been producing the Mustang for fifty five years, quite the achievement; and to celebrate Ford decided to launch a special edition version named the Mustang55. And for the last week I have been driving it. The Mustang55 is available only in Europe for some reason. So what makes the Mustang55 so special?
Well it is mostly the aesthetics that has been changed, including new black 19 inch wheels, a new black grille, an optional rear spoiler, distinctive black badging, a black painted roof and bonnet and side stripe decals. The interior also features as standard, heated and cooled front seats, a 12 speaker bang & olufsen sound system. There’s also a carbon fiber effect dashboard insert and a carbon fiber gearknob if you go for the manual. Mechanically the Mustang55 doesn’t differ from the regular Mustang GT, you still get the 5.0 liter coyote V8 with the horsepower staying the same at 450 and 515nm of torque. With this being my first time behind the wheel of a modern Mustang I didn’t know what to expect. Having driven some of the best front engined V8’s from the European and Asian brands, can this American mass produced sports car be a match to those and better yet, for a lower price?
First thing you’ll notice when you are behind the wheel of the Ford Mustang is the lovely rumble and noise that the 5.0 liter coyote V8 engine produces. Instant smile on your face, no superchargers or turbochargers, just a big old V8 that encourages you to rev all the way up to 7500rpms. I didn’t expect the regular Mustang GT to handle quite this good, yes it is heavy, weighing around 1700kg but the turn in and overall stability impressed me very much. I wouldn’t call it a nimble sports car but I would say it handles better than an F type V8. As the case with F type the Ford Mustang doesn’t have much of a steering feel. The press car was fitted with the optional magnaride adaptive dampers which makes wonder to the regular day to day comfort. With newer Mustangs' you get a “my mode” setting which allows you to save your preferable driving mode but it has it limitations, you can only change the steering and exhaust. The throttle response (ie. Normal/Sport+/Track) and the suspension are unavailable to Individually change while in MyMode, so you're stuck with whatever you get - no mix-and-match choices allowed.
It is such a joy that Ford still gives you a choice and lets you specify a manual gearbox in the Mustang, but the Getrag MT82 leaves you wanting more. You do get a very short throw and if you are using the rev match function the downshifts is very satisfying. But for regular use and for upshifts it gets very jerky and unpleasant. The Tremec manual gearbox in the GT350 is supposedly way better but unfortunately not available in the regular Mustang GT. The Ford Mustang GT is surprisingly a very decent daily driver, it is very quiet inside if you set the exhaust to quiet mode that is. You don’t get much road noise and with the adaptive cruise control the daily use gets a lot easier. You do get rear seats and if you are not taller than 180cm’s you’ll sit comfortable in the back for a few hours. There is Apple CarPlay and Android auto integrated in the Sync 3 infotainment system and the B&O deliveries a very decent sound.
The overall interior quality is pretty good, of course there’s some hard plastics but for what you are paying you shouldn’t complain at all. Boot space is not class leading but 408 liters will do just fine. With a big heavy naturally aspirated V8 you would be forgiven to think that it would consume fuel like nothing else, well if you are on it like most would be in a car like this you would be right. But when cruising on the motorway at a steady 110kmh I got the average consumption to drop under 7.9L/100km which is mighty impressive.
After some time with the Ford Mustang V8 55 anniversary edition I really struggled to find any major flaws with it, except maybe the manual gearbox which was a slight disappointment, you’d be better of with the 10-speed automatic. For 570 000 SEK the Mustang is an absolute bargain as most of the competitors are twice the money. Get one while you can!