[gonzo]

I went to two stores to check them out up close yesterday before the World Cup.

Base GT. The steering wheel and dash were so plain that it looked really cheap. Right at 30 with one option.

Cal Special. Nice seats and such. Bolted on crap/side vents/spoiler and a somewhat cheesy tube grill.

Best looking IMO. GT with the seats that had the stripe going down. Silver car with a med/dark red leather. Brick Red? No chintzy crap slapped on. 35 and change.

The seats do look slippery which while not a huge deal for some would be a distraction for myself. I don't have a wide arse to fill that rascal up and save myself from sliding around.

A bit OT. The seats and overall interior in the new Cayenne TT have to be the BEST fitting seat I have ever come across. Perfect!!! Now about those tail lights...

[Freakazoid]

I got about a 30 mile test drive out here....
General impressions on the car.... (in no real order)


1. It's much more of a confined space than the 135. Much more 'muscle car feeling'. The back seat was completely and totally useless with me sitting in the car.... in actuality, when I get one I'm going to have to put a towel or something back there... as my seat rubs against the back seat. It does feel alot larger too.. (which it is). Feels smaller inside, but larger outside. Not a big fan of that as it' completely the opposite of the 135
2. It's not torquey.... at all... a 135 with a tune feels much more torquey. (this is even with a 3.73 gear ratio.
3. Go with a 3.73 or 3.55 gear ratio... cruising speeds it wasn't that high of a RPM band, quite tolerable (I think it was 2k RPM at 65 mph)
4. It handles well, but nothing compared to my 135 with my 245/285 setup... I'm sure the tires play a lot into this... but I actually got the tires to squeal around a turn on the test drive... I have yet to pull this off with my 135. (without the specific purpose of this).
5. It's a car that can be driven to it's max.... easily. The 135 I rarely drive to its max, the 5.0 I hit that point several times.
6. Interior quality 'felt' nice, but there were ALREADY rattles in the car (big peeve of mine)
7. The SYNC is awesome, but it's not *fully* compatible with a LOT of phones... don't go in with too high of expectations, it's a little of a let down if you do.
8. Bang for the buck it's unbeatable... it offers similar performance to a tuned N54, and cheap as hell.
9. I will be getting one as the replacement for the 135...there's no doubt.


Think that's the lump sum

[BForbes]

I went with a buddy to test drive one last week. Man oh man it was fun from the passenger seat. They only had one with an automatic and it was plenty quick. The salesman was really young and told us to have at it. I can't believe how fast those cars are. My buddy made a u-turn and really opened it up to about 100mph like an idiot. I honestly had to close my eyes. The speed limit was 55 so he hit the brakes quite hard. When these get down to the mid 20's and they will I'd think of picking one up.

On a side now I dont get the complaining about the back seat. I sat back there for a little bit and was fine. I can see it being uncomfy after an hour. FWIW, I weigh about 160 and I'm 5'9.

[Freakazoid]

Originally Posted by BForbes

I went with a buddy to test drive one last week. Man oh man it was fun from the passenger seat. They only had one with an automatic and it was plenty quick. The salesman was really young and told us to have at it. I can't believe how fast those cars are. My buddy made a u-turn and really opened it up to about 100mph like an idiot. I honestly had to close my eyes. The speed limit was 55 so he hit the brakes quite hard. When these get down to the mid 20's and they will I'd think of picking one up.

On a side now I dont get the complaining about the back seat. I sat back there for a little bit and was fine. I can see it being uncomfy after an hour. FWIW, I weigh about 160 and I'm 5'9.

read my review... all depends on who's in the front. In my case, when I was driving the front seat was *literally* touching the back seat... I'd say that's a decent reason to complain

[john08135i]

Yes.. and i was very impressed. Drove the one that had the brembos package.

I am really considering one myself.

[Ubermensch]

Motor Trend ran one against a E92 M3 and for acceleration, 1/4, skidpad, and slalom they ran almost identical numbers. High 12s in the 1/4 for low 30s is pretty insane if you are looking at new cars. If I was in a different car I'd probably be out at a dealer buying one right now...

[Freakazoid]

Originally Posted by Ubermensch

Motor Trend ran one against a E92 M3 and for acceleration, 1/4, skidpad, and slalom they ran almost identical numbers. High 12s in the 1/4 for low 30s is pretty insane if you are looking at new cars. If I was in a different car I'd probably be out at a dealer buying one right now...

hell not even low 30s.... you can get a brand new with a few small options for UNDER 30k.

damn ford, you got your shit together

[Ubermensch]

Originally Posted by Freakazoid

hell not even low 30s.... you can get a brand new with a few small options for UNDER 30k.

damn ford, you got your shit together

Well I was including the Brembo package and 3.73s, can't have one without those options

[Freakazoid]

Originally Posted by Ubermensch

Well I was including the Brembo package and 3.73s, can't have one without those options

true true, i'm thinking about getting a base model with JUST those options. If you get a dealer that will play ball, you could probably get it for just a hair over 30k... that's not bad at freaking all

[ragingclue]

Originally Posted by Freakazoid

true true, i'm thinking about getting a base model with JUST those options. If you get a dealer that will play ball, you could probably get it for just a hair over 30k... that's not bad at freaking all

Ever since doing the HID Euro ellipsoid swap on my E30 and E36, I can't live without HID's. I hated not being able to see. I know today's halogens are better than they were decades ago (wow I feel old as shit saying that), but with all the road trips and driving I do in deer-infested country, I would not for a quadrillion dollars ever go back to halogens. I'm tired of dodging deer at night, and it's nice that I'm more aware of them and have more time to react now. Fkn stupid ahole deer.

...and with that option, you're pitching in $920.

Then the electronics package (opt), which IMO is better than the IDrive on our cars (even new gen), and that's what? Another $2300?

Even then, you're barely hitting $40k. 3.73 LSD, Brembo BBK, 376ish RWHP, M3 performace, American V8 sound and feel.... I'd do it, and take the massive amounts of cash and put it towards mods galore. Hell, if I was looking M3 money anyway, I'd just up and get that damn '11 GT500 that is whooping ass out there atm. And then it probably would be a rare one that I would keep for a long time to tinker with after warranty's long gone.... I don't think I'd ever do that with the car I have now. In the LS1 days, I was a huge GM fan. The tide has competely turned. I couldn't be more proud of what Ford has done, as a person who has watched the Motor City die. At least that company spared some dignity and pride, and actually did shit to improve their standing and product.

[PandaBear]

nothing to say, its an american car...p.o.s

[benton0311]

I went online and built one the way I would want it and it came to about $36k on the Ford website. The obvious must haves: 3.73 rear end, brembos, xenons, special paint, maybe some small stuff in there too.

I'm definitely gonna have to test drive one. I definitely don't expect BMW refinement but I'm really curious to see how close they've gotten.

I bought a well optioned 335i ZSP for $42k in 2008. Last M3s I looked at at the dealer were around $70k+ with a few options. For the cost of an M3 I could have my 335i AND a 2011 Mustang GT.

As for simply saying "It's an American car...p.o.s." is really kind of a counter productive post. Having owned several American cars I can say that that was definitely true in the past and I've since purchased cars accordingly. And I would never consider a GM or Mopar for both overall quality and raping the American taxpayer.

Looking at the quality control issues facing BMW right now I couldn't really say that the Mustang is ultimately built any worse from an overall quality standpoint than a BMW. Sure BMW has a much nicer interior and incredible levels of refinement but if it breaks all the time AND the dealer gives you a hard time about it then all that refinement is kind of a moot point.

My stepfather is a mechanic who has been working on German cars for years. He has made very good money off of their quality control problems once they come out of warranty. I remember what he said to me the day I bought my 335i: "Oh no, you went bought a B-M-Trouble you. Don't say I didn't warn you."

[herbz]

Originally Posted by Cdnrockies

I spent three days this week flogging the new '11 GT 5.0 Convertible.

First, I will say it is surely a winner in the performance "bang for the buck" category.

After that it get's much more gray for myself. Yes, the interior has been improved. But still not anywhere near the Tier 1 competitors. The leather (pleather?) was nice with the white stitching. The gauges looked retro, but looked like a 5 year old had painted them onto the plastic. There was no telescopic steering wheel as mentioned and the seats were a complete joke. You could literally feel yourself sliding around when pushing the car (and I didn't really get to work it that hard).

The automatic transmission was another issue. I would expect that the manual would be a much more entertaining drive, because the auto was flat out lame. Yes it was respectably smooth, but if you're driving a performance automobile it would sure be nice to be able to put it into the rpm range you were looking for....ie. paddles or at least a stick that you can move in and out a la the BMW system.

The exhaust sound was much more tame than I would expect out of an American muscle car. The performance was ok. Didn't feel as fast as my F, it almost felt like turbo lag trying to move it. When pushed into a corner at higher speed (ie. 170 km/h) it had nowhere near the stability of my F, so I would assume far less than an M3. I'm curious as to what the stock tires are. This one had Pirelli PZero Nero's which are A/S and not true performance tires. It was decent in a straight line.

Power top was quick and efficient. Trunk space was very good for a convertible. Stereo was decent.

Overall, like I said earlier, a good "bang for the buck" car, but still not a true competitor to the M3/C63/IS F if luxury is any consideration.

Nice review, but I don't think the Mustang's target market are people who are interested in M3's. Comparisons may be drawn solely because of the fact that the GT can outperform cars like the M3 at half the price (not just in a straight line). Other than that, the Mustang has nothing in common with an M3. The GTR has the job of embarassing cars like the M3, C63 and ISF.

The first thing you say is that it has great "performance bang for the buck", which is interesting because you test drove the automatic convertible version (by far the slowest, heaviest, and most expensive choice).

You go on to complain about the interior (legit, but who buys a Mustang for the interior), then rag on the performance when comparing it to cars twice the price. Your handling concerns may be legitimate, but I'll reserve judgement until I actually drive one. Although, see the following quote:

Originally Posted by Ubermensch

Motor Trend ran one against a E92 M3 and for acceleration, 1/4, skidpad, and slalom they ran almost identical numbers. High 12s in the 1/4 for low 30s is pretty insane if you are looking at new cars. If I was in a different car I'd probably be out at a dealer buying one right now...

Mmmkay?

You complain about not having paddle shifters in an automatic (drive a standard like anyone else..)

But what I really disagree with is your quote that the car is just "decent" in straight line. I'm at liberty to say that these cars are built to go fast in a straight line. Solid rear axle and all. In fact, a stock GT will keep up with our beat all 3 of your "tier 1" cars, and with very inexpensive mods that just about anyone who owns a Mustang does, there won't even be a discussion about performance in a straight line.

All I have to say about the so-called "tier 1" cars is good luck trying to milk any more than 420HP out of the M3's 4.0L V8 without spending 10 to 20 grand on some eurotrash tuner shop. Not to mention the M3's complete lack of torque (not even 300lb/ft at a high RPM, you're gonna be making great use of those "paddle" shifters lol) and heavy weight for a performance car of its so-called caliber. And tell me the difference between an M3 interior and a 128i interior besides the ricer ///M symbol. If I'm spending $60k on "luxury/sport" car I'd certainly want my interior to look better than a base 1 series.

So, while you compare a Mustang to "tier 1" cars, I'm comparing your so called "tier 1" cars to cars half the price. Our view on what's important in a car is opposite. But I respect you for actually test driving a car and writing an honest review.

[herbz]

Originally Posted by PandaBear

nothing to say, its an american car...p.o.s

if you have nothing to say why did you post? btw who buys an AWD bmw someone point this guy to the audi forums..

[Ubermensch]

Originally Posted by herbz

if you have nothing to say why did you post? btw who buys an AWD bmw someone point this guy to the audi forums..

Totally agree, guessing he had some bad experience in like a '78 Gremlin and thus assumes all American cars are the same. Guess what your BMW was built in the US.

Oh and what's wrong with AWD Bimmers, I wouldn't mind a nice X6M. Mind you I used to have a Jeep GC SRT8 so I like cars that make no damn sense sometimes

[jt335i]

Originally Posted by herbz

if you have nothing to say why did you post?.....

Originally Posted by Ubermensch

Totally agree, guessing he had some bad experience in like a '78 Gremlin and thus assumes all American cars are the same. Guess what your BMW was built in the US.
..........

Yeah. What a dumbass!

I would LOVE to trade my 2005 GT for the 2011 GT. Then, I'll have a the best of both.

[Cdnrockies]

Originally Posted by herbz

Nice review, but I don't think the Mustang's target market are people who are interested in M3's. Comparisons may be drawn solely because of the fact that the GT can outperform cars like the M3 at half the price (not just in a straight line). Other than that, the Mustang has nothing in common with an M3. The GTR has the job of embarassing cars like the M3, C63 and ISF.

The first thing you say is that it has great "performance bang for the buck", which is interesting because you test drove the automatic convertible version (by far the slowest, heaviest, and most expensive choice).

You go on to complain about the interior (legit, but who buys a Mustang for the interior), then rag on the performance when comparing it to cars twice the price. Your handling concerns may be legitimate, but I'll reserve judgement until I actually drive one. Although, see the following quote:



Mmmkay?

You complain about not having paddle shifters in an automatic (drive a standard like anyone else..)

But what I really disagree with is your quote that the car is just "decent" in straight line. I'm at liberty to say that these cars are built to go fast in a straight line. Solid rear axle and all. In fact, a stock GT will keep up with our beat all 3 of your "tier 1" cars, and with very inexpensive mods that just about anyone who owns a Mustang does, there won't even be a discussion about performance in a straight line.

All I have to say about the so-called "tier 1" cars is good luck trying to milk any more than 420HP out of the M3's 4.0L V8 without spending 10 to 20 grand on some eurotrash tuner shop. Not to mention the M3's complete lack of torque (not even 300lb/ft at a high RPM, you're gonna be making great use of those "paddle" shifters lol) and heavy weight for a performance car of its so-called caliber. And tell me the difference between an M3 interior and a 128i interior besides the ricer ///M symbol. If I'm spending $60k on "luxury/sport" car I'd certainly want my interior to look better than a base 1 series.

So, while you compare a Mustang to "tier 1" cars, I'm comparing your so called "tier 1" cars to cars half the price. Our view on what's important in a car is opposite. But I respect you for actually test driving a car and writing an honest review.

Umm...ya...I didn't test drive this car, so I really had no choice in what I was given. I had one as a rental for 3 days. We had booked a Ford Fusion Hybrid and the guy at the rental company asked if I wanted to take the new 5.0L instead for only $20 more per day.

I agree that the standard would be much more fun.

Call it what you want but the one I drove was only "decent" in a straight line. It was not faster than M3, C63 or IS F. I could give a rat's ass about modded vs. stock cars. You can mod a Civic to be faster than your Mustang....so what?

The M3, C63 and IS F are all luxury cars that offer very good performance. I don't think there are a ton of people cross shopping them with Mustangs. They're not true sports cars as they're compromised in many ways (ie. too heavy, 4 doors, too much technology/luxury), but they get the job done.

The OP asked if anyone had driven one....I offered my impressions....I have no interest in owning this car.

[jsublime]

Maybe pos = pretty outstanding stang

[gonzo]

Originally Posted by jsublime

Maybe pos = pretty outstanding stang

If he/she can't capitalize American then I doubt it. No respect for the country or it's cars apparently.

But he/she does respect a cute little bear wearing a cape.