[theragingbull]

So here is my third review on team-bhp. First one being our VW Polo, second one being my uncle's Tesla Model S, and now I present you a first hand initial ownership review of my 2014 Ford Mustang GT Premium Coupe (M/T). My first new car. My first sports car. At the age of 24, this was a big achievement for me, which I bought with my hard earned money

First things, a lot of you would ask me why didn't I wait for the 2015 Mustang? I had very clear reasons for that:
- I graduated last month and have moved to Austin where I needed a new car right away
- The 2015 Mustang will be on roads end of this year
- I had a budget of $30,000. I wanted a V8. Manual transmission sports coupe.
- I got a whopping $8000 discount on this Mustang GT, which originally had an MSRP of over $38,000. A similar specced 2015 Mustang GT will cost you over $45,000. There was no way I could get a V8 even if I had to wait for the 2015 model, which will 'start' at $33,000.
- This was the last of the retro looking Mustangs and I simply love these Stangs. The 2015 though looks good, ain't a proper muscle car anymore.

My Mustang GT is a premium trim and has a few options added
- 19" machined-aluminum alloys with Pirelli Pzeros P245/45.
- Sport pedals, engine strut brace.
- Higher 3.73 Ratio limited slip axle
- Anti-theft system and rear parking sensors

Being the premium trim, the car comes with track apps, which I will get to later. Other equipment include power driver's seat, leather interiors, Shaker sound system etc.

A few facts about the brilliant Coyote engine under the hood
- 5.0L V8
- 420 bhp
- 530Nm@4250rpm

I have not yet done a proper photoshoot of the car. But let me first show you a few pictures of the car. The color is Deep Impact Blue, my personal favorite.
My next part of the review will be on the interiors, engine, driving impression. Stay tuned

[theragingbull]

Interiors and tech

I will keep this short as you can get most of the info on the Ford website.
The premium trim comes with "Track apps", which are essentially functions like accelerometer, 0-60 times, quarter mile times, braking times etc. Some functions shown in below pictures.






Besides that, I have some other interesting settings. I can change the color for gauges, halo (outer gauge rings), and ambient light to almost any color I want! Ain't that full NFS style? I love it My personal favorite combination is blue gauge with green halo (seen below).








Other functions include changing steering feel to Sport, standard, and comfort. I will talk about steering in the next section.
MyKey is a Ford specific feature that restricts driving modes like setting a speed limit, belt reminder, volume limits etc. It is similar to a parental control feature for electronics.




There is an 'AdvanceTrac' button, similar to a TC-off button in other cars. The switch allows three adjustments: traction control can be turned off; stability control can be placed in a Sport setting that allows more rear-end sliding before it activates; or both traction control and stability control can be turned off. Personally, I haven't dared to turn things off because the car is already so tail happy at corners!

Some crappy pictures of the interior:




The Mustang comes with Microsoft Sync standard. Though there are a bunch of people who have reported problems with the system, I could connect just fine with my iPhone 5. The voice command system works perfectly. The phone being in my pocket, I just have to say "bluetooth audio", and within the next 3 seconds I have music playing wireless in my car! It is as easy as that to make phone calls too. There are several other features that Sync offers but I haven't had the time to play with it much.


Driving Impressions



The engine, in one word is - Brutal! The 5.0L Coyote V8 is one of the happiest revving engines I have seen! It redlines at 7000rpm in no time. Especially since I have the higher 3.73 gear ratio (stock is 3.43), my first gear is very very short. I am at 60mph in no time! I haven't got a chance to use the track app to measure my actual 0-60mph time, but officially it should be around 4.3 seconds. That is FAST!! The main reason I went for the Mustang GT was this V8 engine. It is just spectacular and makes a deep growling noise. It is loud when you need it and muted when you are cruising. Just the perfect exhaust to ask for. Though I was still contemplating to go for the GT500 axle-backs, I have postponed that idea for now.

Coming to the handling, the Mustang has a solid rear axle as most of you would know. Theoretically, that should hamper a car's handling. But in reality, it is far better than one could expect. I think Ford has nailed it by developing a good handling sports car that a solid rear axle! I drove around a few twisty sections around Austin at about 70mph and had full control over the car. Though there were times, I thought I am gonna lost the rear but I believe it was mostly due to the damp conditions at that time. I would still not say that it handles like a dream sports car, but it is good enough and there is nothing to complain about. The strut brace under the hood really helps the car not move around a lot in corners. This brace only comes when you opt for 19inch wheels or the track package.

The steering is electric-assisted so it offers very little feedback but I really like how well it is weighted even in standard setting. Switching to the sport mode makes the steering much heavy, somewhat like the older 3 series. Perfect for high speeds and highway cruising. The car is very stable at high speeds on the highway.

A few comments about the manual gearbox on the Mustang. It is surely not the best gearbox I have used. It needs a lot of improvement by Ford and I hope they address it in the 2015 model. Though the shifts are short-throw, there is a lot of work to be done to shift through gears. Shifting to second gear is terribly hard. Other gears are still fine to shift to. I was reading on a few forums that a lot of people have trouble shifting into second. I rarely have found myself not able to shift to second, but it still is not as slick as my Polo back in India which could be shifted through gears using just two fingers. In the Mustang, you need muscles to work through the gearbox!
Again, it is just a matter of time I get used to this gearbox and it might need some work in the next scheduled service.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Initial Ownership Section. Thanks for sharing!

[blackasta]

Superb choice - superb color - please do take good care of this one, and drive safe!

[iceman7]

Looks Splendid. I am so very blue with envy

Maybe this is a stupid question but is there any specific reason you chose the MT?

[eq24]

Wow Congratulations dude, now that is THE car to get. You have taste and conviction, that much is evident, in a land marred by choices to still be head strong and do the right thing.

How is the space in the back and the trunk and how is it as a day to day car. I myself am contemplating the stang for a long time but not the V8, V6 to start with and then lets see what the God of horses has in store for me.

Happy riding and may the horse be with you.

[microaubin]

Congratulations on the new mean machine most of us will only ever get to ride in NFS!!! Nice Review. Absolutely love the colour!!

[iliketurtles]

Lovely color and super ride! Looks the raging bull went and got himself a marauding stallion

I imagine it's not built with practicality in mind, so I'm not going to ask about boot or rear space, but do drive safe and treat her with love. See ya!

[imp!]

Originally Posted by iceman7

Looks Splendid. I am so very blue with envy

Maybe this is a stupid question but is there any specific reason you chose the MT?

Many many congratulations ragingbull! This is one sweet ride, incredible VFM too. Reminds me of my student days. Wish I could have bough my dream car after graduation. For that matter, wish I had stayed back in the US! Atleast it would have been easier to buy nicer cars and bikes!

I am not the OP, but, if it were me, I'd have bought the manual as well. Simply for the FTD factor it brings. I'm smiling with happiness that even in todays messed up automobile industry, there are still some markets in the world where one can buy a powerful manual.

[theragingbull]

Thanks folks! I really appreciate your comments.

Originally Posted by iliketurtles

Lovely color and super ride! Looks the raging bull went and got himself a marauding stallion

I imagine it's not built with practicality in mind, so I'm not going to ask about boot or rear space, but do drive safe and treat her with love. See ya!

Originally Posted by eq24

How is the space in the back and the trunk and how is it as a day to day car.

Actually one of the main reasons I opted for the Mustang over other muscle cars was the rear leg space and trunk volume. Only the Dodge Challenger has more space but it's a huge car anyways. The Mustang has enough leg space for a person of similar height as me (5'10") to sit right behind me if I am in the passenger seat. A little less if I am in the driver seat. So that was a good thing for me because my parents would visit me often and there was no way I would have compromised on rear space in my car With the Mustang, I can fit 3 other people of my height in the car without them complaining too much about leg space. This was the main reason I did not opt for the BRZ, which has absolutely non-existent rear leg space. Otherwise, the BRZ was a very tempting buy!

Originally Posted by iceman7

Looks Splendid. I am so very blue with envy

Maybe this is a stupid question but is there any specific reason you chose the MT?

Very simple. It is a sports car and meant to be driven like it should. That is with a manual transmission only That's where the fun lies.

On another note, Ford automatics aren't really good. I'd probably have given it a thought if it were like those German DSGs with paddle shifters.

[sawnilrules]

Whoosh!!! I have extensively driven this car, only and only in CSR-Racing... It gives an adrenaline rush in the game itself, So I can imagine what you must be feeling in the real life.

Fantastic machine with uber cool color and mouth watering specs. Am I already envying you. Well a big Yes. Congratulations on your acquisition, drive real safe.

[S_U_N]

Wow! I saw the movie - Getaway, just over the weekend. This is essential the same car.

Drive safe.

[Nicky]

Wow, A Dream Machine.
You said it right, this is now the last generation of Mustang muscle car. New one is sharp, modern but no more showing muscles.
True pleasure of driving can be only felt when behind this hulk machine.
Nice pics.
Track app is good addition.
Enjoy the HULK.

[stanjohn123]

Great choice, One of my favorite car's.

How's the music system ? Did you get the Shaker 1000 ?

Also regarding your 2nd gear issue , I'm really shocked Ford have not fixed this issue yet. This was also one of the main reasons why I didn't go for the 5.0 way back in 2011. They are using a Chinese Getrag transmission which caused the infamous gear problems back then, by the looks of it I think they are still sticking on with it.

[//M]

Wow Zohaib !!! Many congratulations brother.

I haven't read a single word in this thread so far, the blue Mustang had me drooling so badly that I couldn't just concentrate enough to read the description.

Envy you totally !!