The car has nice styling, the polished dual exhaust mufflers a nice touch on the base V-6 model. The taillights are distinctively Mustang with cool sequential lighting pattern when a turn signal is activated.
One thing that has bothered me is the dark, rectangular body strip on the side of Mustang that has been prevalent for years. It seems like a styling shortcut, like a big mudflap.
Of course loading luggage was the first part and although having a high sill, the trunk space is pretty good, far better than the larger and heavier Camaro. The rear badge is enormous which as we learned later, is a recurring theme. A large center console has great storage yet oddly the large doors offer very little. Even though the rear seat cushions are high, the front seat recliner switch on the back of the front seat will hit or scratch you if you’re not careful.
After getting comfortable with seat adjustments, it’s immediately apparent the high hood line gives the car a “big car” feel and yet the windshield is very close to the driver. The hood immediately reminded me of the Hertz Shelby GT I had some seat time in back in 2007. The gauges are large and so are the needles for the speedometer and tachometer. In fact, the needle is so thick it’s about a 4mph guess on the speedo.
Driving the 305hp Pony Car revealed some interesting aspects. It’s very smooth around town, effortless for city driving although the transmission shifts with that seemingly old school audible “whew!”. But if the roads get rough at speed, it gets particularly choppy. The suspension conveys what feels like an extra or exaggerated movement when absorbing bumps, almost as if it shivers. Not sure if this is a function of the also old-school solid rear axle but it does bring to mind a past description used for recent Mustangs, “truck-like”. You would think any coupe making this kind of power is a “highway car.” This one is not. Now I know what my non-car brother was talking about, go figure.
So what is 305hp from the V-6 like? It’s definitely quick, a little hesitant from idle and seemingly long pedal travel. It roars, but sounds coarse and not unlike a vacuum cleaner. Downshifts are delayed but the transmission shifts smoothly, far too smoothly at wide open throttle though. The best description is extremely lazy. A factory adjustment is desperately needed.
More interior observations occur over time. The glove box is rather small underneath a massive front panel. Speaking of massive, the shifter, speaker grills, badges, etc. are very large. They look heavy and as Pretty Navigator observed as if Ford is trying to get guys to buy the V6 by making the base model seem more masculine. The legroom for front passengers is excellent but the driver’s headrest is an abomination. It can’t be tilted back so the driver gets “biffed” often.
The custom color scheme of the lighted door sills (a superb touch), foot wells and dashboard lights is a great feature to personalize the car. Oddly contrasting is the 1980’s style dot-matrix display of the radio and the narrow font of the characters. It does display a lot of information however. It can be controlled with the numerous steering wheel buttons; one was counter-intuitive having one function but only one side worked vs. the others with rocker functions.
Ford has done a nice job updating the Mustang with impressive power and outstanding mileage. At an MSRP of $27,690, it may not be the most refined or well-optioned but it does offer a patriotic and powerful rear-drive alternative to the cookie-cutter masses. The few updates and changes needed are not extensive either. If you think 305hp and 30mpg in a coupe sounds attractive, it is definitely worth a look, and in my opinion more so than the Camaro.
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