2011 Ford Mustang GT Premium Review

The 2011 Mustang GT.

Back in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Ford Mustang came in second to the Chevrolet Camaro and Pontiac Firebird in terms of driving pleasure. The GM cousins hit the market in late '66 as better-handling cars than the original pony car, and when Ford started responding to the challenge, it was to make the Mustang bigger, not better.

Well, it's nice to see that institutional memory has its limits, because as great a car as the current Camaro is, the Mustang is smaller, lighter, more tossable...more of a driver's car.

Regular TireKicker readers will remember how much we liked the V6 Mustang (no slug now that it churns out 305 horsepower)...and now, we've had our week at the wheel of the Mustang GT. The one that comes with Ford's new 5.0 V8...making 402 horsepower (412 if you're running premium fuel).

Rear view of the 2011 Mustang GT. The sloping rear panel with the taillights still says "Celica" instead of "Mustang" to me.

That's serious power for a car this size and weight, and that means most drivers will have this view of the Mustang. Even the Camaro, which has some major power of its own (426 horsepower), has a 136-pound curb weight disadvantage.

Is it really all that fun? Oh, yeah.

Ours was the Race Red you see here. And it was the GT Premium. Starting price was $32,845 (the non-premium GT begins at $29,310). That buys the 5.0, a six-speed manual transmission, auto headlamps, LED sequential taillamps (still one of our favorite gimmicks, but then we remember the mid-60s T-Birds and Cougars), stainless steel dual exhausts, variable interval wipers, electric power assist steering, 2 power points, AdvanceTrac with electronic stability control, and SOS post-crash alert system.

The 2011 Mustang GT cockpit. Slide in, choose a color for the gauges, and take off.

There's also leather-trimmed sport seats (8-way power adjustable for the driver, manual 2-way adjustable for the front passenger), a center console with armrest, ambient lighting, a leather-wrapped steering wheel, and the Shaker 500 AM/FM/CD/mp3 audio system with SiriusXM and SYNC.

You could stop right there and be perfectly happy for $32,845 plus $850 delivery. But Ford's press fleet office added some options. Some I'd go for, some might take some selling.

First is Rapid Spec Group 401A. It's the Premier Trim with color accent package. And it makes a nice interior (Ford really upped its game on the Mustang this year) even nicer. And it's only $395. Sold.

Next is the Electronics Package. $2,340 for voice-activated navigation with Sirius Traffic and Sirius Travel Link, plus HD Radio and dual-zone automatic temperature control. Hmm. I usually say no to nav (my cell phone does that and most if not all of what Sirius Traffic and Travel Link do).

Dual-zone climate control is nice, but in a cockpit as small as this one, I wonder if my being set at 70 and my passenger at 74 is really going to make a difference.

And then there's HD Radio. Depending on where you live, there might be two or three dozen radio stations you don't hear unless you have HD radio (they're carried on sidebands of the AM and FM stations you get on normal radios). Some of them have interesting programming with music you don't hear on the motherships and very few commercials (because very few people can hear them). It's added variety in listening, but if I don't care about the nav and climate control, I'm spending $2,340 for HD Radio. And that's crazy. Pass.

After that, the Security Package. $395 for an active anti-theft system and wheel-locking kit. Cheap insurance for a car that inspires this kind of lust. Deal.

Another $395 for the 3.73 ratio limited-slip axle. That's putting money into performance, and that's what this car's all about. A keeper.

$525 for HID headlamps? Seems a little steep, but you don't want to out-run your lights...and they are good. Okay.

$1,695 for the Brembo brake package, which includes an upgrade to 19 inch painted aluminum wheels. Well worth it.

And finally, $240 for a rear-view video camera. The slope of the rear window is such, that this is a very good idea. In fact, it's hard to think of a car that doesn't benefit from one of these.

So I'm only passing on one option, as it turns out, and lowering the as-tested price from $39,680 to $37,340...and for this level of performance, fun and desirability it's a more than fair price.

Is the 2011 Mustang GT the best Mustang ever? No doubt. And the fact that you can buy a 400-plus horsepower car with an EPA rating of 17 city/26 highway is a pretty wonderful thing, too.

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2011 Ford Mustang V6 Convertible Review

Blue was, for most of my life, my favorite color. Three of my cars were blue. But there is something about Ford's Grabber Blue that really doesn't work for me. It's hard to explain...it photographs better (see above) than it looks in person. At least to me. And, apparently, to several other people who've mentioned "that hideous, cheap shade of blue they're painting Mustangs in now" to me.

That's probably sacrilege in Dearborn, where Ford is headquartered. In fact, I understand what it is they like about Grabber Blue. They identify it with this:

                        

That is the 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 429. Built solely for the purpose of making its monster 429 cubic inch, 375 horsepower (a deceptively low number quoted by Ford...reality was more like 500hp) engine eligible for NASCAR racing in the midsize Torino, it was very likely the hairiest, most brutal muscle car of its time...and given that the era was ending...it would stand as the ultimate example of brute power until the arrival of the Dodge Viper more than 20 years later.

They built them in 1969 and 1970....but in 1970, one of the new colors available was Grabber Blue. And it seemed like any Boss 429 in the buff books of the day was a Grabber Blue model. At age 14, that seemed like a lot of cars. Now I know it was probably one or two getting shipped around to the fortunate few journalists allowed to test it.

In 1970, only 500 Boss 429s were built and only some of those were Grabber Blue. I never saw one in person until decades later at Barrett-Jackson.  But I saw plenty of these:

                        

And these:

                      

So many, in fact, that when I see Grabber Blue, I think of Mavericks and Pintos, not Boss 429s. And that's probably true of most of us old enough to remember the 70s.

So do this: Get your new 2011 Mustang V6 convertible in a color other than Grabber Blue.

My God, these guys at Ford have found the afterburners. They've updated and refined the existing Mustang, and fixed the biggest problem with the six...power...while delivering epic gas mileage.

The 2011 V6 has 305 horsepower....one more than the '10 Chevy Camaro V6.  And they've won the mileage wars, too...EPA estimates 19 city/31 highway to the Camaro's 17/29.

                     

And the best part comes when you get behind the wheel.  The tweaked interior is better put together and made of better materials than last year's. It's smoother and more contemporary, while still giving you that little flash of '60s era Mustang.

Driving? Well, 305 horsepower was Mustang GT territory before....so this gets up and runs...and Mustang has a major edge on the Camaro and Dodge Challenger because it's smaller and lighter...it simply handles better.

The convertible? You can intellectualize all day long about how the fixed-roof Mustang is the way to go in terms of structural rigidity and blah, blah, blah....

It's gorgeous. Pretty women turn and smile. Drive it two blocks on a sunny day and you'll want one. And now, no one will bust you for cheaping or wimping out and going with the V6.

Base price for the V6 convertible: $30,845. As tested (Mustang Club of America Package, 6-speed automatic transmission, 3:31 ratio axle, security package and HID headlamps), $35,000 including delivery.

Chevy intends to fix the power deficit in its 2011 Camaro, but they're stuck with the excess weight. Hands down, the Mustang is the better drive among the new-gen six-cylinder pony cars.

Can't wait to drive the 2011 Mustang GT 5.0 (hint to Ford PR).

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Acura ZDX Review (UPDATED 4/16/10 5:40 PM PST With Recall Information)

Fastbacks are an acquired taste...and even then, there's an element of scale that seems to work best. Smaller being better. The 1965 Mustang worked. The much larger 1965 Rambler Marlin, to my way of thinking, didn't. 

While BMW's supposedly adding a fastback to the 3-series in 2013, the current crop of fastbacks are larger cars...four-doors at that...and, well...I think I've made myself clear.

                             

Acura would like us to think that the ZDX breaks new ground between sedan and crossover. That's a pretty slim territory, and a station wagon is what would fill it. One based on the outstanding 2010 TL-SH AWD sedan (review coming soon...I liked it much more than the supposedly identical 2009 and we'll explore why) would be perfect. It would carry more, have better rear and side visibility and handle better than the awkwardly proportioned and heavier ZDX.

                              

But let's assume you like the ZDX (I actually got a few "Hey, cool car" comments from passersby during the week I had it). What's it like? Well, given the size and visibility issues, it's surprisingly good. While I've bemoaned Acura's abandonment of clean styling and simple, straightforward controls,  the cars still exude a feeling of quality and a sense of sportiness that set them apart.

It would just be so much better in another form.

Base price for the ZDX Tech model: $49,995. That gets you a 300 horsepower V6, a six-speed automatic transmission and all the luxury and tech goodies (upgraded audio system, real-time traffic and weather, a hard-disc drive storage system for your music library) Acura offers. Ours had no options beyond, so with destination and handling charges, the tab stopped at $50,805.

EPA estimates: 16 city/23 highway.

Fine so far as it goes. But I'd like it a lot better as a $45,000 TL wagon.

UPDATE: Acura is recalling 1,850 ZDXs because the passenger-side airbag may not deploy properly in a crash. Details from the New York Times Wheels blog.

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2011 Mustang V6: More HP Than Camaro Six, Cheaper Too

The legendary pony car battles of the 1960s usually centered around the most powerful V8 versions.

Things change in 40 years. The 2011 Mustang V6 hits showroom floors next month with 305 horsepower...exactly one more than the Chevrolet Camaro six.

Not enough to move your needle? Ford figured. So they're pricing the 'Stang six at $22,925...$535 below the Camaro's base price.

Don't expect this to stand, though...GM's already reportedly at work on bumping up the output of their six-cylinder engine, and we could see a price war here as well.

Give your Mustang an aggressive look with a Mustang chin spoiler from AmericanMuscle.

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Steve McQueen's 80th Birthday

If he were alive, he'd be 80 today. So let's celebrate by watching the ultimate Steve McQueen car moment: the chase scene from Bullitt.




For more on McQueen, the movie and the last-gen Ford Mustang Bullitt, go here.

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Build Your Own Shelby Cobra With The New Mustang 5.0 Engine

Factory Five Racing, which has made more than 8,000 Shelby Cobra kits, has a new one that will accomodate the new Mustang 5.0 V8.

Full details from The Detroit News.

                                                                    
Increase your stopping power with Mustang brake rotors from American Muscle.

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Ford Mustang GT Review

Okay, throw the old script away. You know, the one where Mustang invents the pony car, but after a couple of hot new kids named Challenger and Camaro come to town, rapidly loses its edge.

That was so 40 years ago. Literally.

One thing is immediately clear after an afternoon...much less a week...in the 2010 Mustang GT:

Ford is serious.

The new 'Stang ought to be just a mid-cycle refresher...but it goes a big step further...it's slightly smaller, a bit lighter, handles and rides a ton better than last year's...and the interior is now a much nicer place to do business. We're talking a jump of two or three grades of materials and workmanship. And it's lighter and airier than the Challenger and Camaro, both of which tend to sit you low and cloak you in darkness.

The GT comes with those big fog lamps in the grille, leather trim sports seats, a power 6-way driver's seat, air, ambient lighting, the Shaker 500 audio system, SYNC, and a leather-wrapped steering wheel standard.

Oh, yeah...and a 325 horsepower 4.6 liter V8, which logic says ought to be mincemeat for the V8 Challenger and Camaro, but ends up being very competitive...partly due to the weight and size savings I mentioned earlier.

All that for a base price of $30,995. Sure, a six-speed manual would be better than a five, but the five shifts smoother and easier than ever before.

The one I had for a week (up until this very morning, in fact) had the premier trim with color accent (see photo above) for $395, a Security Package (another $395), a Comfort Package with heated seats ($595), and the 3.73 rear axle ($495). With destination and delivery ($850), the total tab was $33,725...a couple grand less than the Challenger.

Gas mileage? 16 city/24 highway, according to the EPA. Again, a six-speed would be nice.

A lot of the goodness in the new Mustang GT comes from last year's Bullitt package, right down to the throaty exhaust note and the chrome cue-ball shifter. Here's hoping they're not done with that franchise and that there will be a new Bullitt to raise the bar further still.

I took it to the local cruise night this past weekend...the Ford guys were all over it...and the GM and Mopar guys expressed admiration too. They talked about the styling, the interior upgrades, the engine note.

But the thing everyone dug most?



Yep...gotta love the sequential turn signals. Tells the guys in lesser cars where to follow.

Write this down...if pony cars survive at all, Mustang's here to stay.

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Ford Mustang Bullitt Review

(Note: This is a 2009 model. Read the review of the new 2010 Mustang GT here.)

If, in 1968, Ford had introduced a car that looked like the 1928 Model A, there would have been more stockholders selling shares than dealers selling cars. But pop culture is a funny thing...and a 40 year flashback can work...as long as it's the right 40 years.

The Ford Mustang Bullitt is a car that trades on two images...one, of a car...and two, of the man who drove it: Steve McQueen.

The 60s were full of cool cars on TV and in the movies, but you don't see Dodge trying to rush a Dodge Dart GTS Mannix edition to market, do you? Steve McQueen was beyond cool (for the record, I like Mike Connors, too).

If you haven't seen the movie Bullitt (is that possible?), buy it. McQueen is Frank Bullitt, a San Francisco cop and it's a good story, but the movie is best known for a 7-minute chase scene featuring McQueen at the wheel of his Highland Green Mustang GT (with decidedly non-stock wheels, blackout grille and a lack of badging) and a couple of murderous thugs with a '68 Dodge Charger.



Despite some continuity errors (the Charger loses six hubcaps and that green VW bug is everywhere), it's widely regarded as one of the best, if not in fact the best movie chase scene ever. See it once and it's burned into your brain.

But even before the big scene, McQueen and the Mustang peg the cool-meter. There's just something that says...yeah, he'd drive that car. And he's so cool, we'd all like to have it rub off on us.

Ford tried a Bullitt edition a few years ago, before Mustang's re-design...and it didn't really work. But now that Mustang looks like a Mustang again, the effect is dead-on. It's achieved by taking a Mustang GT Premium coupe (base price $27,020) and adding the Bullitt Package (interior revisions including a 60s-era Ford font on the gauges, 3.73 limited slip axle, 18" wheels that look like the movie car's mags, and packed exhaust tips for $3,310).

In reality, you get a better car than McQueen drove. This one's faster, can actually go in directions other than a straight line, and comes with the killer Shaker 500 audio system, including AM/FM and an mp3 capable 6-disc CD changer. Our tester also had Sirius Satellite radio. Steve was stuck with just AM (though KFRC and KSFO in 1968 weren't exactly punishment).

And you'll get way better mileage, even if you drive it like Steve...the EPA says 15 city, 23 highway. All for a price of $34,705 as tested. So, go buy the movie and then go test drive one of these...and then tell me with a straight face you're not at least tempted.

                                                                        
Wake up your Stang's inner beast with a Mustang cowl hood from your aftermarket Mustang authority, AmericanMuscle.com!

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