Test drove a 5.0 Today
 

Well ladies and gents, you heard it right, I went and test drove a new Mustang GT 5.0 today after my Jiu jitsu class. I basically wanted to go and find out for myself just what all the hype was about. So here are a few thoughts:

Looks wise, its a Mustang, nothing different there. I was a little bit mad because they had one there yesterday that I was supposed to test drive w/ the brembo brakes, so I didnt really get a good feel of its braking ability today.

Power, it has it. But its extremely deceptive in the way it comes on (this one in particular had 3.73 gears), I didnt get to power through any turns with it, it was all highway for me today, but the power was definitely noticeable, although I must say, as far as "feel" is concerned, it didnt feel as fast as I thought it would.

Interior, not half as bad as people make it out to be, I actually kind of enjoyed it. Now keep in mind, the one I test drove was all decked out in leather, so it probably looked a bit better than the base model. Oh, and the back seat might as well not even be there :icon17:

Overall, the car itself is fun, but its not Z fun, and I wont be trading mine in for one. One major disappointment I found was that the exhaust note is ridiculously tame, at WOT, it was more quiet than my Stillen CBE/HFC setup, and coming from a V8, thats not acceptable. Now an aftermarket exhaust, particularly the magnaflow one I looked at, will make it sound great, but all stock, definitely not impressed with the sound. The car itself is fun, and if you're coming from a 4.6, or anything else that isnt a Z, the car would definitely be one to check out! Here are a few pics I took today.

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/g...t6/p_00798.jpg

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/g...t6/p_00800.jpg

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/g...t6/p_00801.jpg

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/g...t6/p_00799.jpg

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/g...t6/p_00805.jpg

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/g...t6/p_00806.jpg

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/g...t6/p_00803.jpg

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/g...t6/p_00802.jpg

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/g...t6/p_00804.jpg

Thanks for the Write up, Good to hear the power wasnt there :)




DAN

no prob, haha, I never said the power wasnt there, it was, I could tell by watching how fast it got up to 80, but I guess being a larger car than my Z, it didnt feel like I was going as fast as I was.

Either way Z= Win :)


Mustangs are not bad, They are just like a belly button everyone has one.

Belly Button=A$$ Hole


DAN

so basically it's fast and powerful, but not enjoyable or fun to drive. a muscle car and not a driver oriented and nimble sports car.

by the way, what level in bjj are you at?

In a nutshell, couldnt have said it better. And I'm a purple belt :tup:

oh, one more thing I'd like to add: The shifter was AMAZING. Some of the shortest throws i've ever felt on a factory car, simply awesome.

And one other thing that really put me off.. The length of the clutch pedal travel, it felt 2-3 inches longer than my Z's, how can you have such an amazing shifter, but such a terrible clutch pedal?

so the z still wins :tup:
damn, purple belt! all i got is 2 stripes on my white belt :shakes head:

is it me or is that center console plain retarded? look at how the speedometer and tachometer are displaced sideways. instead, right in front of the driver, we get the fuel gauge, coolant temp gauge, oil temp gauge, and battery voltage! how often would you check your fuel level or battery voltage compared to how often you check the tach or speedo? why are the minor gauges front and centre, while the major gauges are thrown sideways in the peripheral vision and probably blocked off by the steering wheel? i guess it's at least better than the camaro where you can't even see the minor gauges unless you take your eyes completely off the road and get down to the centre console, leaving the car to pilot itself during those few seconds. it's such subtleties that american cars always get wrong again and again.

GM and Ford just can't get interiors right. At least in the USA. I'm currently in the UK, and cars from both companies over here are so much nicer (been that way for decades).

haha yeah, i've been doing bjj for 5 years now, which seems to be the average for advancement to purple. Now going from purple to brown is what takes the longest, brown to black can be as little as a year.

lol @ the antenna sticking up. How 80s.

I am currently facing a dilemma over which to choose between a 40th and a 5.0. The only thing that is better imo in the Mustang is the rear seats since the Z doesn't have one.

I love the Mustang but it is very civil compared to the Z. Even if the Z is slower it still feels more exciting in certain respects because you feel more involved.

I'm sure the new BOSS 302 will be a COMPLETELY different animal and probably put the Z to shame, but even though we lack almost 100hp to the GT the Z is still awesome in it's own right.

The GT doesn't match the feel of the Z in any respect... it's not a sports car, plain and simple. If you want the sports car feel... Z all the way. If you want muscle with lots of room to improve... GT for sure.

My problem is I want them both and at this time I can't have them both... and as diehard a Ford guy I am I don't know if I'm willing to part with the Z so I can get into the GT.

But damn I hate the VQ... I want more power. :mad:

The Mustang is a far more practical car between the two.