At this level, the Ford Mustang is the final V8-powered muscle automobile left available on the market — becoming given it was the unique muscle automobile. The Chevrolet Camaro exited manufacturing a couple of months in the past, and the brand new Dodge Charger has both straight-six or EV energy. So until you spend large cash on one thing British or German, the Mustang is the one method to go for two-door, V8 energy.
Full Disclosure: Ford lastly let me get my arms on the brand new Mustang, dropping one off at my home with a full tank of fuel. 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 essentially the most energy the Mustang GT has ever had — should you want greater than that, the brand new Darkish Horse is your ‘Stang. Each engines get mated to both a six-speed guide or a 10-speed computerized, the latter of which my take a look at automobile was outfitted with.
The draw back to all of that is the worth. The 2024 Mustang GT begins at $43,555, solely a pair grand greater than earlier than, however that rises shortly. With choices like $1,000 for the Yellow Splash Metallic paint, $1,595 for the 10-speed computerized, the $5,000 Efficiency Package deal and a $2,900 Excessive Tools Group package deal, this GT price a Darkish Horse–like $65,270.
To some, it could be price it. Getting to listen to probably the greatest sounding inventory exhausts ever on startup is a deal with. Don’t fear, it’s not all bark and no chunk, both — there’s legit efficiency right here. Utilizing the on-board timer and launch management mode, I slammed the throttle and was capable of hit 60 mph in slightly below 4 seconds.
Each new Mustang GT is fast, however including the Efficiency Package deal enhances every part else. It contains 19-inch wheels with summer season 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 methods.
The chassis tuning is superb too. The Mustang stays planted when thrown right into a nook, and its Magnaride suspension does 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 properly be a steer-by-wire system. There’s no communication by any means between the wheel and what the entrance tires are doing. Even altering drive modes doesn’t assist; Ford’s engineers appear to suppose that heavy equals sporty, as a result of the steering weighting is all that modifications while you change between Sport, Sport+ and Monitor modes.
One other main draw back to the Mustang is the inside. Visually it seems to be fashionable sufficient, however it’s not the inside of a $65,000 automobile. Whereas sprint supplies in some locations are smooth to the contact in comparison with the earlier gen, nowhere does the inside match the worth tag. Give us actual steel or carbon fiber or one thing, Ford!
The centerpiece of the brand new inside, and the largest change over the S550 Mustang, is the huge 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 velocity or making an attempt to change to Apple CarPlay. It’s made worse by the truth that practically 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 besides up. On a number of begin ups, after the automobile had been sitting for at the very least an hour or extra, I sat with a timer and located it took practically two minutes for the entire infotainment system to completely activate. Hopefully an over-the-air replace treatments this.
Whereas the Mustang stays a two-door coupe (you may 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 capable of match 27 giant pizzas within the trunk. That needs to be spectacular sufficient for a J.D. Energy award or one thing.
Even with downsides like the worth, 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.
