This, for the first time since it was launched in 1964, is a right-hand drive Ford Mustang and it’s on sale in UK dealerships. Whilst lesser versions will be available, we’ve shunned such things and headed straight for the top of the range 5-litre V8, taking to some of our favourite local roads to see how it fares in Britain.
Technical highlights
The big news for this generation of Mustang is that it has fully independent suspension all round, finally ditching the live rear axle. You’ll also find a limited-slip diff as standard, helping to control the 415bhp and 391lb ft from the quad cam, 32-valve V8. Reining everything back in are six-piston Brembo callipers clamping the front discs.
Inside the cabin your eyes will be drawn to a row of four rather nice toggle switches. One of these gives you three choices of steering feel (Normal, Sport and Comfort) and another switches between four choices of driving mode (Normal, Sport, Track and Snow/Wet). The ESP can also be set at three different levels of watchfulness – On, Off and an intermediate setting available in Track mode.
Other touches that aim to give the Mustang a more premium feel inside are the Sync 2 8” colour touch screen, the electric seats (which came with the rather luxury option of being either heated or cooled on our test car) and Track Apps with accelerometer technology. We’ll let you judge whether the puddle lamps that project the Mustang logo onto the ground are neat or naff.
What’s it like to drive
The designers of the new Mustang have done an exceptionally good job of disguising the big coupe’s size. It is a thoroughly good-looking car with its sharp creases and muscular haunches, but in isolation it also looks like it will be manageable on the UK’s lanes. Get in and things look a little more intimidating with the huge, ridged bonnet filling your view. The driving position is good, however, with the steering wheel allowing a decent range of adjustment for both reach and rake.
The engine starts with the sort of pleasing burble you would hope for from a hearty V8 and the gearshift as you go for first feels nicely tight and precise, if just a touch notchy. It’s obvious from the first few miles that there isn’t a huge difference between the steering modes and that even with the ESP left on the Mustang still feels very lively on cold British tarmac.
The gear ratios are pleasingly set, so that you find yourself working the ‘box reasonably hard through all of the first four gears when you’re pushing on. The V8’s soundtrack also changes from mellow burble into something with a real edge as it rises through the revs. Curiously although the Mustang feels quick, it also disguises its speed very well, accelerating hard out of a roundabout on a dual carriageway but then feeling positively pedestrian at 70mph such is its cruising ability.
Heading onto the twists and turns of the B660 the Mustang encourages you to push on because the front-engined rear-drive balance is fundamentally predictable and enjoyable even below the limits of grip. However, there’s not really any steering feel to get excited about, and the relatively large amounts of pitch and roll rob the dynamics of any great immediacy. Push hard and you will initially sense the front lighten as a touch of understeer creeps in, but this is easily handled and merely signals the opportunity to let your right foot help with the steering. The first part of a slide can be unnerving because of the lack of connection and the size of the car, but if you can let the slide build then the Mustang settles into it and feels nicely stable and controllable. Ironically, although the ride has improved with the switch to independent rear suspension, in the corners the feeling that there is a slight lack of lateral location means it still does a passable impression of a live rear axle.
Rivals
Such is the value of the £34,000 V8 ‘Stang, that it’s hard to know what to compare it to. There are hot hatches that cost a similar amount of money but it seems unlikely that buyers of one would be looking at the other. To get a coupe comparable in terms of arresting style and similar performance you would be looking at something much more expensive like a V6 Jaguar F-Type or a Porsche Cayman S, both of which are still languishing some way behind on power. Perhaps the closest, most interesting and truly tempting alternative is to look at a secondhand buy like a last generation V8 M3 or C63 Coupe.
Verdict
Objectively the Mustang can’t compete with its European rivals in terms of dynamics, feeling a chunk bigger and less precise – there is a price to pay for its price. Despite that, it is very appealing, because it has that most enviable of traits: character. Some of this is because of the big V8, but I also really enjoyed the challenge of driving the Mustang, despite a certain lack of precision and polish. In many ways then, nothing has changed. If you liked the idea of owning a Mustang in the past then you’ll still like the new one as it’s got the same all-American charm, just with added right-hand drive convenience at ticket barriers.
| Engine | V8, 4951cc |
| Max power | 415bhp @ 6500rpm |
| Max torque | 391lb ft @ 4250rpm |
| Top speed | 155mph (limited) |
| CO2 | 299g/km |
| Weight | 1720kg |
| 0-60mph | 4.8sec |
| Price | £33,995 |
| On sale | Now |
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