At this level, the Ford Mustang is the final V8-powered muscle automobile left in the marketplace — becoming given it was the unique muscle automobile. The Chevrolet Camaro exited manufacturing a number of months in the past, and the brand new Dodge Charger has both straight-six or EV energy. So except you spend massive cash on one thing British or German, the Mustang is the one option to go for two-door, V8 energy.
Full Disclosure: Ford lastly let me get my palms on the brand new Mustang, dropping one off at my home with a full tank of gasoline. Every week of launches and canyon carving satisfied me that even with some flaws, it’s nonetheless one of the best Mustang but.
This new seventh-generation Mustang, codenamed S650, is a heavy replace of the S550 that debuted in 2013. Its design is evolutionary, and the carryover engines have been reworked. EcoBoost Mustangs are nonetheless powered by a turbocharged 2.3-liter inline-4, now making 315 horsepower and 350 pound-feet of torque, however the one you need is the V8-powered GT like what I examined.
Ford’s 5.0-liter Coyote V8 now makes 486 hp and 418 lb-ft of torque, a rise of 36 hp and eight pound-feet of torque over the S550 Mustang. It’s probably the most energy the Mustang GT has ever had — if you happen to want greater than that, the brand new Darkish Horse is your ‘Stang. Each engines get mated to both a six-speed handbook or a 10-speed automated, the latter of which my take a look at automobile was outfitted with.
The draw back to all of that is the value. The 2024 Mustang GT begins at $43,555, solely a pair grand greater than earlier than, however that rises rapidly. With choices like $1,000 for the Yellow Splash Metallic paint, $1,595 for the 10-speed automated, the $5,000 Efficiency Bundle and a $2,900 Excessive Gear Group package deal, this GT price a Darkish Horse–like $65,270.
To some, it could be price it. Getting to listen to the most effective sounding inventory exhausts ever on startup is a deal with. Don’t fear, it’s not all bark and no chew, both — there’s legit efficiency right here. Utilizing the on-board timer and launch management mode, I slammed the throttle and was in a position to hit 60 mph in slightly below 4 seconds.
Each new Mustang GT is fast, however including the Efficiency Bundle enhances all the pieces else. It contains 19-inch wheels with summer time tires, heavy responsibility entrance springs, a Ok-brace and strut tower brace, a bigger rear sway bar, a 3.55 axle ratio, a taller rear spoiler, and distinctive tuning for the chassis, stability management and ABS programs.
The chassis tuning is great too. The Mustang stays planted when thrown right into a nook, and its Magnaride suspension does a great job of adjusting based mostly on inputs and driving mode. Little touches like an precise mechanical e-brake with a deal with and the lively valve exhaust make the driving expertise even higher. Sadly, the Mustang is let down by steering really feel that’s so lifeless it could as effectively be a steer-by-wire system. There’s no communication in any respect between the wheel and what the entrance tires are doing. Even altering drive modes doesn’t assist; Ford’s engineers appear to assume that heavy equals sporty, as a result of the steering weighting is all that adjustments once you change between Sport, Sport+ and Observe modes.
One other main draw back to the Mustang is the inside. Visually it seems to be fashionable sufficient, but it surely’s not the inside of a $65,000 automobile. Whereas sprint supplies in some locations are comfortable to the contact in comparison with the earlier gen, nowhere does the inside match the value tag. Give us actual metallic or carbon fiber or one thing, Ford!
The centerpiece of the brand new inside, and the most important change over the S550 Mustang, is the large 13.5-inch touchscreen that dominates the middle sprint on each trim; higher trims have a unit of the identical measurement paired with a digital gauge cluster. It runs Ford’s newest Sync 4 working system, which has nice graphics and is decently fast when it’s not sputtering out. The system routinely hiccuped once I was utilizing it to do easy duties like altering the A/C fan pace or making an attempt to modify to Apple CarPlay. It’s made worse by the truth that almost all controls are buried on this system, as there are hardly any bodily buttons for issues just like the local weather management and radio. It’s additionally annoyingly sluggish in addition up. On a number of begin ups, after the automobile had been sitting for not less than an hour or extra, I sat with a timer and located it took almost two minutes for the entire infotainment system to totally activate. Hopefully an over-the-air replace cures this.
Whereas the Mustang stays a two-door coupe (you possibly can go get a Mach-E in order for you a crossover), and its backseat continues to be principally only a throwaway space, its 13.5-cubic-foot trunk is definitely decently sized, as I found after shopping for a bunch of pizzas for a college occasion. I used to be in a position to match 27 massive pizzas within the trunk. That needs to be spectacular sufficient for a J.D. Energy award or one thing.
Even with downsides like the value, an over-reliance on touchscreen controls and lifeless steering, the Ford Mustang continues to be rattling good. It’s up towards some robust competitors, each new and used, and it’s an endangered species in its section total and due to its V8 energy. For its newfound rarity and wonderful V8 alone, the Mustang is greater than price it.
