[MRaburn]

CarDomain Blog


By Rob Einaudi
Editor-in-Chief



We had to hand over the keys to the Bullitt today. I'm pretty bummed. Here's my capsule review: I love this car.
I followed the development of the S197 quite closely a few years back, and I think it's fair to say that Ford knocked it out of the park in 2005. I've always wanted a modern V8 Mustang, and our week with one just made me even more determined. Only, now I don't think I'd be happy with a GT. I want a Bullitt.
I often hear people complain that Mustangs are common (Mopar guys tend say this a lot). I never saw that as an issue. Common means affordable with great aftermarket support and great parts availability. But the Bullitt is a rare car. It's one of just 7,700 (5,600 were built for 2008, the remainder will be build for 2009).
Rare doesn't make this car special, though. What makes it special is the Steve McQueen myth, and of course that beautiful Highland Green. I really wish that Ford had made this color an option on the GT, but they saved it for the Bullitt. I probably don't have to waste time telling you what else is different about the Bullitt. I'm sure you read all the same stuff I read back in March when the car came out. Yeah, CarDomain is a bit late to the whole car review game, and we're late to the Bullitt. But better late than never. Continue reading...

Honestly, we didn't really have much in the way of the plan when we got this car. Yeah, I guess we could have driven it down to San Francisco caught air on some hills (heck, I did that in my old '70 Fury when I lived there). Mostly we just took every opportunity to get out of the office and thrash the thing around town. And then we took turns thrashing on it at night.



John got the Jag for the weekend, so I took the Bullitt for this past weekend (Jen has already called dibs on the R/T Challenger that we are getting in November). I flogged it around Seattle on Saturday, and on Sunday I took the family out to the pumpkin patch in Redmond to get our Halloween pumpkins. Then we headed out to Snoqualmie to rumble around a bit.



It took me a few days to realize that you don't have to drive this car like a total maniac all the time. The Bullitt can do sedate. In fact, it cruises quite peacefully on the freeway in 5th gear, spinning at a tad over 2,000 rpm between 65 and 70 mph. The exhaust is quite muted, too.



About the exhaust. I actually was expecting it to be a bit louder, and was a bit disappointed at first. The Flowmasters on my Satellite are a lot louder. But over the course of the week I decided the Bullitt's exhaust was just the right balance between burly and civilized. In fact, that kind of sums up how I feel about the car.



The ergonomics are first rate. The front buckets strike a nice balance between the old school buckets in my Satellite and some of the overly engineered and supportive seats you find in the higher dollar luxury imports. The Bullitt get the leather wrapped wheel with the little thumb notches, and it feels great. The dash just looks cool. Big and bulky, just the way I like it. And that machined aluminum shifter is just perfect for this car.



I was pleasantly surprised by the back seat. It's not easy to get back there, but once you're there, it's actually quite comfortable. Or at least, it was for me, and I'm 5' 11". John is around 6' 3" and was a bit more cramped in back. The back seat also handled my five year old daughter's car seat quite well. She loved it back there.



I heard some of the usual complaints around the office about the quality of interior materials. I kind of like it that way, actually. The Mustang is not supposed to be a luxury car. And it's a lot like the original. Anyway, most of the people who complain about the interior materials on a Mustang wouldn't buy one anyway, so screw them.



The exterior is pretty much perfect. I love the understated, sleeper look. But I'm still not sure I like 18 inch wheels on this car. I think 17s with more sidewall look tougher.



I love how the car handles. The suspension is just firm enough, the steering feels solid and precise, and it's really easy to kick the rear out under throttle (perhaps a little too easy when it's raining). The live rear axle is definitely noticeable on uneven pavement, especially when pushing hard around corners. But I know that this has been addressed by the aftermarket, so I won't belabor the point. What else? The gearing is perfect, the shifter and clutch are rock solid.



Basically, this is a car that just begs to be driven hard, and it's built to take a beating. If you haven't driven a manual V8 Mustang you really owe it to yourself to try it out. It's a totally different experience than the slushbox V6 rental cars. And if you are lucky enough to get your hands on a Bullitt, you'll probably start wanting one as badly as me.



Given the how bad things have been for Detroit recently, it's something of a miracle that this car happened at all. It is truly the second coming, and you can thank Ford for the new Challenger and Camaro. So now I'm really curious to drive the R/T Challenger next month. Will the IRS make it it handle that much better than the Mustang? Will I care? Will 5.7 Hemi trump Ford's 4.6? Or will the Mopar seem like a big porky slob in comparison? Stay tuned...








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