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Home  JST's Cornered Test Drives Drove an '05 Mustang GT
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Written by JST
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Saturday, 06 November 2004 |
Some more thoughts:
Mustang:
The interior was quite plain, but the car we were in did not have the
flashy "interior upgrade package," which gives you AL trim and various
baubles here and there. Grain on the plastic is still not Volkswagen
level, but it's a lot closer to the inside of a Golf than any other
Ford-badged product I've driven. Ergonomics are generally good; the
driving position is very good, though the wheel does not telescope and
(as with all recent Mustangs) you sit low behind a big hood--kind of
like the car's namesake, a P-51.
The rear seats are cramped and hard to get into compared to the similarly sized E46.
The automatic is damn smooth. The old Mustang automatic was a travesty,
always in the wrong gear, surly about kickdowns, and with brutal
shifts. This new one is very creamy, shifts quickly and smoothly, and
seems much better about finding an appropriate gear.
The engine has a nice sound. Clyde's right, it doesn't have the neck
snapping grunt right off the line that you might want, but it does have
a nice, fat power curve. After the drive, the M3 felt a bit reedy down
low.
The handling and ride is very good. I could feel the unsprung weight of
the axle moving around, but it was subtle. In steady-state cornering,
understeer is the order of the day, but its mild and if the dealer
weren't with us it would probably be easy to correct with the throttle.
Compared to the M3, which I took on the same loop, the Mustang felt a
little more sluggish, but then again it was on much less aggressive
tires. With shocks and a front bar, my prediction is that this car will
dominate in F stock.
GTO:
Oh, man. I keep trying to like this car, but I just can't. Compared to
the Mustang, it feels thunderously heavy. Even the door feels like it
weighs 300 lbs. The ergonomics and interior materials are leagues
better than anything else GM has done, but there are still some
miscues--why is there a 500 watt "MPH" light in the dash? The clutch is
huge, but there's no dead pedal. Heel and toeing might be possible for
Krusty or Shaq, but not for me.
There's a lot more space in the back seat than in the Mustang, but the
trunk is much smaller, thanks to the gas tank. *I* could have done a
better job making the gas tank enclosure look like it was supposed to
be there. Getting into the seats is just as big a PITA as the Mustang,
though, because of a stupid electric slider on the front seat.
In a straight line, the GTO isn't so bad. The LS1 has a good amount of
grunt, and the shifter feels less agricultural than I remember it. It
moves along pretty well, though it's clear that (even with the auto)
the 300 hp Mustang is every bit as fast as the 350 hp GTO.
EDIT: 400 hp will make the GTO a faster car, but it won't make it a better car.
On the handling loop, the GTO starts to get a bit nervous. The damping
is too soft, as are the springs, and the result is an uncomfortable
floatiness over long-period bumps. 3800 lbs doesn't help, but both the
E39 M5 and the CTS-V weigh as much or more and handle a whole lot
better.
Coming into the skidpad, I got my first opportunity to sample the
pedal-mounted-in-mashed-potato braking feel. Disconcerting. These are
maybe the worst brakes I've used in a performance car recently--really
mushy, with no feel at all. Not confidence inspiring.
In the skidpad, the GTO's nose wanders off looking for a straight line
to go in. Understeer is *heavy.* Tthe car lurches uneasily onto its
outer tire, which, being too narrow and tall, surrenders faster than
the French army. A whole lot of additional steering angle is needing.
Unfun.
Steering feel is better than the Mustang, marginally, though the Mustang tracks better and is more linear.
Verdict:
Ignore the technosnobs who scoff at a live rear axle. The Mustang is a
much, much better car to drive than the GTO. It is far more nimble, is
better balanced, has better brakes, rides more gracefully, and is just
as fast. It's usefully cheaper than the GTO, too. The back seats are
smaller, but you don't buy either of these cars if you are going to
carry back seat passengers more than once in a while, and at least in
the Mustang you can put something more than your briefcase in the trunk.
The new Mustang isn't just a great Mustang--it's a very good car,
period. And it's so *cheap.* Sticker on the car we drove was
comfortably less than half what my M3 cost new.
Mark my words--the SVT Mustang is going to be a world-beater.
Originally posted on carmudgeons.com.
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