I too briefly considered the Mustang GT. My ex girlfriend had one (think it was an 07) and for the first year I thought it was a pretty nice car. I still like the styling, but after a year there were numerous rattles in the car, and the interior paint on the stereo was already peeling off. The overall quality was just a little low. Plus, while it was fast stoplight to stoplight, on the highway (80mph+) it was slower than my Mazda.
The interior of the Z seemed to be a much higher quality, and the handling was much better. While I could take turns quickly in the Mustang it always FELT like it was at 9/10ths - about to start sliding. At the same speeds the Z feels like it's at 6/10ths. It's just much more confidence inspiring while you're driving on twisty roads. I will admit tires prob had a lot to do with this feeling since she had all seasons on the Mustang.
Space wise - we could only use the backseat of the mustang for the dog or small storage. Not really enough room for people back there comfortably, and the big hump in between the back seats prevented us from putting anything big back there without the seats flat. Also the trunk opening was small too so it was difficult to get big things in even with the rear seats flat. It will still hold more than the Z, but it will never be your first choice to haul anything around.
And the little things on the Mustang were tough. Like changing the lightbulb... should be a 5 minute job but it's so impossibly tight in there that it became a 45 minute job requiring careful manuvering needle nose pliers. While I haven't tried it on the Nissan yet, my experience with mazda and an old 300ZX tells me the Japanese just put a bit more thought into every aspect of the car.
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