4Speed Auto 2008 V6 Ford Mustang follow up

2008 Ford Mustang V6

For as long as I can remember, I never liked the Ford Mustang. Ever since I was born (in the mid-80s), Mustangs have been awful looking cars powered by engines lifted out of pickup trucks, and they only ever made sense on roads where a steering wheel was optional. Sure the V8 Mustangs were reasonably quick cars, but the V6 models, despite having enormous engine displacements, always had less power than a toddler on a bicycle. To make matters worse, what made even SVT Cobras unable to float my boat is the fact that, despite loving straight line speed, my passion lies with cornering ability and overall agility and the Mustang has always been absolute krap when the steering wheel becomes necessary. Ever wonder why Mustangs have been pretty much absent from motor sport?

However, when the latest generation of the Mustang came out with those sleek retro looks, I wanted to like the Mustang because it looked astonishing. I felt that yes Ford kept that ridiculous suspension relic called the live axle, but maybe they engineered around it to make the car good this time, in the same way Porsche has made the absurd rear engine thing work brilliantly. Then my chance to find out fully occurred when we were doing the Mustang vs. Mazda 3 segment on Mount Rainier for 4Speed Auto…

When I first picked up the Mustang from the dark parking garage of SeaTac airport, I was certain that the Mustang would indeed be krap so I wasn’t exactly filled with anticipation, but as I got close to the freshly washed red car I stopped and thought “these really are gorgeous cars.” I was then filled with mild excitement and jumped in… then disappointment settled back in. The interior of the Mustang looked very retro cool, but wow… where the heck does Ford get these plastic slabs from to make their interiors? The inside of the Mustang is nothing but cheap, scratchy plastics that you’d normally find on Rubbermaid storage bins, only stiffer. The door trim was the worst, because it was JUST one solid piece of beige plastic and it looked horrid. I was instantly reminded of James May’s quote from when he drove a Proton Gen II on Top Gear, “I would gladly trade my Lotus developed suspension for some Toyota developed door trim.” The only nice bit of trim was the automatic gear shifter. It was a proper chunky old school piece of equipment, but honestly other than that the interior quality was appalling.

Seeing how it was going to be a long drive from Seattle to Mount Rainier where we would be filming for the show, I decided to sit down and load up the CD changer; and well, it was a bit trickier to figure out than all the other cars I’ve ever driven because none of the buttons are where you’d think they’d be. In fact as I drove out of the parking garage and tried to do the usual adjust the air con while you drive business, I found I was doing it all wrong. I usually praise Toyotas for having unrivaled ergonomics in their cars where even if it’s your first time in the car you can work all the controls blind folded, but the Mustang is the exact opposite. I had to pull over and put some actual thought into figuring out how to get the AC to where I wanted it! Sure you can call me an idiot, especially if you’ve owned a Ford your whole life and you’re used to these controls, but honestly they are at least 2 times more complicated than they should be on any car. Then there was the light switch, which on any other non Ford car is on the left stalk… but in this case it was on a dial well off to the left of the steering column… I've seen that before but why? Its a rubbish place to put it.

If you’re yelling at your monitor right now saying “Stop complaining about the interior, is this car any good to drive?” you’re in luck because that’s what I intend to do now. For once, Ford has put in a decent amount of power into the V6. Despite this car weighing about as much as an oil tanker, the 210 hp, torque monster V6 really makes this car move. I had no complaints about the acceleration other than wishing I had the GT which is obviously even quicker. At slow speeds the engine makes a faux V8 rumble which is rather aurally pleasing, but once the revs build up the sound is then replaced by the sounds of a rather large bloke regurgitating his lunch in a tunnel. Maybe it’s not as bad as that comparison makes it sound, but it is a bit of a let down.

On the way to Mount Rainier we drove down quite a long stretch of highway and this is where the Mustang shines. The suspension on the Mustang is reasonably soft so it ironed out the terrible road surfaces of Washington’s highways, and the rest of the car was fairly quiet. Then when a car in front of you is driving slower than a canoe, you just stomp on the gas pedal and the car gives you a nice kick of power to overtake it with no trouble at all. So unsurprisingly, the Mustang is an excellent highway cruiser.

When the 4Speed Auto convoy finally made it to Mount Rainier, I was in for a little surprise. I found the Mustang to be quite good around the mountain bits, and I was rather enjoying myself, but there was a good reason for that. First of which, being that the previous car I was in, was a Land Rover Discovery… so basically anything after that will seem agile. The next reason has a short story behind it. I was on the radio talking to my friends driving in front of me saying that the Mustang is doing pretty well so far and handling just fine. I wasn’t getting scared in the tight turns or anything. Then it struck me, the car leading us all was our camera car… an old early 90’s Toyota Pickup with large off road tires! If the pickup was doing just fine I’d hope the Mustang would be as well.

My opinion didn’t change too greatly after we started doing runs without the camera cars, probably because I was still driving at roughly the same speeds, but after I had my stint in the Mazda 3 (you will be able to read about that later) though my outlook on the Mustang completely changed. I started realizing just how heavy and bulky this car really is. Proper sports cars tend to hide their weight but the Mustang strutted about like a fat lady with a broken corset. This wasn’t helped by the fact that the enormously heavy engine was mounted in front of the front axle making the weight balance all wrong too. If I attempted to recreate cornering speeds that were achievable in the Mazda, the car would just under steer and make you think that you were going to fall off the next cliff. Sure, hardcore muscle car enthusiasts with lots of track experience will tell you that with a Mustang you can stomp on the throttle and cure that under steer with a bucketful of over steer… I’d be happy to try that on a wide track, but on narrow two lane roads overlooking mountain cliffs, I think I’ll pass.

The final offense was the steering feel and the brakes. While the Mustang offers up a heavy steering wheel, I’d really like to know why there isn’t a strong feeling that it’s connected to the front tires. I couldn’t tell where the car’s limit lies and that usually resulted in fairly tense tire skidding moments, or with taking corners at speeds family carrying minivans drove at. And to make things worse, the brakes on the Mustang seem to be something that Ford decided to save money on… personally brakes are something where I’d like to see money spent. While the 3 (and our camera cars for that matter) got through the trip with no brake issues, the Mustang’s brakes started fading as the day went on until they seem to have caught fire and started releasing a hilariously bad smell. Also with the brakes completely cooked I realized something about this particular Mustang… it had no ABS on it, so the front wheels started locking up under hard braking. That’s certainly a problem you can solve by paying a bit more money at the dealership, but how did a powerful car with such bad brakes wind up on the market with ABS as an option?

So overall I wound up not liking the Mustang other than the straight line speed, which admittedly can be matched or beaten by any mid-size sedan with a V6. However despite my negativity and hate, I kind of get this car. If you live in a place like south Florida or somewhere else where the roads are straighter than Hugh Hefner, the Mustang starts to make some sense. The Mustang can be purchased for less than a burger when Ford has one of their crazy sales, and for this small amount of money you can blast down the road in a gorgeous car with a smile on your face.

I still hold that the V6 Mustang isn’t powerful enough to be an actual muscle car, especially when V6 Altimas and Accords can leave it in the dust, and if Ford isn’t doing something crazy like employee pricing, it starts to be a little not worth it; but, I can definitely see the temptation. If you do in fact live somewhere where the roads are one dimensional and you can’t afford the GT, I think this is definitely a car you should look at; however, if you plan on taking the car to or plan on moving to a place where you need to use a steering wheel at all you’d be an idiot for getting this car. Seriously, if you want cheap sport yet still desire straight line speed, save up a few more bucks and buy a Civic Si, a Mazdaspeed 3, a VW GTI, or something else.

Summary:

The Good: Cheap, good looking, and reasonably quick

The Bad: Really cheap in the bad way, has really bad brakes, and can be out handled by compact sedans

Verdict: Not bad if you live in a world without sharp turns

Random Stats:

Engine: 4.0 liter V6 210 hp, 240 lb-ft torque

EPA Fuel Estimates: 17/26

Observed: 24 MPG which we all thought was quite good

Quote of the trip: Random 7 year old kid: “Who brings a Mustang to the mountains?”

Show link: http://www.youtube.com/user/4speedauto