Mane Street USA: Original Pony Gallops into 21st Century
In general, a positive review of the car. Some notable quotes.
On the live axle
Track performance
The overall impression the article gives is you get what you pay for. But don't expect more from a Mustang, and that's not a bad thing.
In general, a positive review of the car. Some notable quotes.
On the live axle
All of that we can deal with. What we can’t comprehend is Ford continuing to equip the first 21st century Mustang with a live rear axle. We understand that an independent rear suspension—like the one found on the most recent SVT Cobra—costs more to design and build. Somehow the competition, like the Pontiac GTO or even the Nissan 350Z, squeezed it into the price of admission. One explanation from Ford: A full 25 percent of Mustang owners customize their cars, and the solid rear allows for a much easier change-out of gears. Another: It makes for better drag strip performance. We don’t buy it.
Track performance
On the track the Mustang definitely feels livelier than the outgoing model, with a satisfying throttle-driven rear-drive feel. And you can have a ton of fun at the track, as we did for a day at GingerMan Raceway in western Michigan. Steering is crisper than before, and the chassis was easy to set up into turns with a lift off the gas and quick flick of the wrist. There was plenty of power to pull us out of the final, hard right and back onto the long frontstraight. That improved power-to-weight definitely makes itself known at the top end. Braking deep into the first turn produced little drama, and set the car up nicely for the
The overall impression the article gives is you get what you pay for. But don't expect more from a Mustang, and that's not a bad thing.