gmichael

I've test driven a V6 before (thick on the ground) but until last night I couldn't get my hands on a GT. They are always sold by the time I get there.

So I had to work late last night, and this salesman calls. He's got a GT automatic that was sold earlier in the day to a husband and wife. She’s owned a V6 convertible (2001 or something) and she says the new one is too powerful and scares her. So they return it. I love this story: really appeals to the MAN. In the back of my mind I’m a little worried about the car: did they do “something” to it? But, I go down there to see it despite the fact that I want a stick. Sonic Blue – very nice. The salesman lets me take it off the lot. I punch it, but have to slow down for a red light. I’m thinking there are a lot of car dealerships in the area, and probably a lot of people taking test drives, and it is raining, so I better watch out for other cars. The salesman points out that the traction control is on. Since I’m sitting at a light and can see a ½ mile, with no one ahead, I decide to punch it again and count how long it takes to get to 60. No surprise: about 5 seconds. Well you’ve probably guessed it: after about ¾ of a mile, going no faster than 60 in a 40, blue lights appear in my rearview. I haven’t gone a mile in a test drive and I’m being pulled over. Well, the officer pointed out my speed, the wet streets, the salesman and his fondness for Fords (the county’s vehicle of choice) and let me go. If I can’t go for a test drive without being pulled over, how does this bode for the future?

Altoid

I too test drove an auto GT. They did a great job, but I knew what I wanted. Funny you got pulled over; I had the car up to 95 on the test drive without being pulled over.

Good luck on not being pulled over. Hopefully it is the only time you do get pulled over in a GT.

gmichael

Yeah I hope so too. Maybe if I've learned my lesson: I should do a better job of looking in the rearview.

aponyfan

I've only test driven a V6 myself, so I'm still waiting for my chance in a GT. I'm curious about one thing that maybe you can share from your experience with me, gmichael.

I'll most likely be getting a GT auto, so my wife can drive it, as well. (Please, everyone, no stick vs. auto rants in reply.) And I want to understand how to get the best performance out of it.

When you say 'punch it', do you mean you just floored the accelerator? If so, is that the best way to get top performance out of the auto? Or is there some subtle combination of applying/releasing pressure on the accelerator that produces better results then just mashing it to the floor.

I've heard it reported on other threads that people have experienced delays in responsiveness on accelerating, so I want to understand if their is some trick to coaxing as much power as possible out of the auto as quickly as possible.

By the way, I didn't punch the V6 I test drove because I had seen several cops around. Better safe than sorry...

doulos4JC

Not to flame you, but, 60 in a 40 mph zone + wet streets, in a car your not familiar with and not yours :nono: you should have been ticketed. Consider yourself lucky.

Stangfriik

He probably sits outside the ford dealership just to pull over all the mustang test drives so he can check all the different options on each

It's kinda like sitting outside of a bar waiting to pull someone over to DUI. It's inevitable you'll see one

falchulk

The auto GT did not impress me much, but I scared the heck out of the salesman.

gmichael

I've only test driven a V6 myself, so I'm still waiting for my chance in a GT. I'm curious about one thing that maybe you can share from your experience with me, gmichael.

I'll most likely be getting a GT auto, so my wife can drive it, as well. (Please, everyone, no stick vs. auto rants in reply.) And I want to understand how to get the best performance out of it.

When you say 'punch it', do you mean you just floored the accelerator? If so, is that the best way to get top performance out of the auto? Or is there some subtle combination of applying/releasing pressure on the accelerator that produces better results then just mashing it to the floor.

I've heard it reported on other threads that people have experienced delays in responsiveness on accelerating, so I want to understand if their is some trick to coaxing as much power as possible out of the auto as quickly as possible.

By the way, I didn't punch the V6 I test drove because I had seen several cops around. Better safe than sorry...
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I just floored it. I did not experience a delay, but I did not truly clock it (just counted, one thousand one...)

When I said no faster than 60; I should have said no faster than 65. I took it to 60 for the 5 count and no doubt it went a little higher as I backed off the accelerator.

As for another's comment:

“Not to flame you, but, 60 in a 40 mph zone + wet streets, in a car your not familiar with and not yours you should have been ticketed. Consider yourself lucky.”

Let’s call it lack of good judgement. In my defense: 1 it was a relatively straight road, with no one else around, 4 lanes with a center trun lane in an industrial area (which I didn't say before); 2 in the officer's judgement I didn't quite deserve a ticket; and 3 I am going to buy a 300 horsepower car!

Ten years from now I am going to have to find an engine mod to tune it to 110 hp before I let my kids drive it. Let’s hope they are wiser than me.

PerfWhite05

It has a tendancy to be a bit sluggish if you try to get on it while in 5th (overdrive) at around 2,000 rpms but I've done a number of different things to get maximum performance.

1) Drive with overdrive disabled- seems a bit more responsive (poor gas mileage of course)

2)shift through the gears manually (so to speak)

3) both of the above minus traction control

According to the manual, you can even downshift without damaging the trans. because the trans. will only shift to the lowest gear thats safe for the current speed that you're traveling (sorta like triptronic transmissions). I've tried that as well with some success. Mind you, I'm no expert at all.. just frisky Late 20's with a fast car...

BuzzyStang05

gmichael,
I am going to assume that after your test drive, and having driven both V6 and V8 that there was no comparison ... you HAVE to get the V8. Any other quick impressions between the two you could share?

I've driven a V6 (rented from Hertz over a weekend, was able to get it out in rural areas and punch it a few times, was moderately impressed, would make a nice daily driver and then some) but I am still waiting for a local dealer to hang on to a GT for more than 24 hours. When they do it's going to be "cost analyis per V8 g-force induced grin vs. V6 practicality and fuel economy" time. But really, I think I already know my answer. (V8!!!)

PerfWhite05

I'm not here to bash the V6 because I'm an all around Mustang admirer. However, I have driven both (auto) and purchased V8 (auto). Personally, I like the 05 V6 automatic better than the 04 GT automatic (more responsive IMO) but I would've regretted not getting the V8. To be honest I'll probably regret not waiting for the Cobra...

gmichael

I was smiling at the beginning, smiling while driving, smiling when talking to the officer, smiling when driving back to the dealership and smiling after I left the dealership. V8!

But if a few thousand were an issue, I could get happy enough with the V6.

stoic21

i almost got pulled over on my test drive. i passed a cop going the other way while i was going about 95. we had to pull into a residential for about half an hour till we knew he was gone.

mustp51

Last week I drove both the V6 and the GT the same afternoon. Had the 6 for almost 2hrs and 30 miles, dealer would only let me keep the GT for 10-15 minutes. Had other people coming in to look at it and it is the only one on their lot.

The differences I noticed between the two were not real drastic. Obviously, the GT has power to spare over the 6, but the 6 is still pretty quick (both cars were manuals). The engine in the GT seemed to run smoother overall compared to the 6.

The shifters and shifting are different. The 6 seemed more like my '95, wide spaced and a little sloppy, where as the GT has shorter, tighter throws. The shift lever in the GT is also a little shorter than the 6. The clutch action, pressure/travel, seemed about the same between the two.

I did seem to notice more road/body noises in the 6. The GT just felt like a heavier, tighter car.

The interiors of the cars were like night and day apart, litterally. Neither car had the IUP. The 6, lime, was the lowest end stang you can buy so it had the cloth interior, medium partchment. The GT, mineral gray, had the dark charcoal leather (hence the night and day B) ). In my opinion, the lighter partchment did not go well with the lime. It just made the the car look too light. I looked at another lime 6 that had the dark charcoal and it looked way better, the dark and the lime seemed to go together better, again this is my opinion, others may feel different about that combo.

Personally, I thought the partchment color, especially in cloth, made the inside look pretty cheap as compared to the darker charcoal color. It was like you could just see too much of the interior and you could already see darker scuff marks on the seats and door panels. This car, the 6, had about 100 miles on it. The GT's dark leather just seemed more refined and of higher quality than the 6. I guess that's what the upgrade package is for. The GT had about 120 miles on it.

I'm sure if the 6 had the same interior as the GT, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the two except for the performance of the 8. That is what drove my decision to get the GT, I just wanted to have that extra power I agree, as I said in another post, the 6, with the right options, would make a great daily driver.

As far as fuel milage goes, if you look at the numbers between the 6 and the 8, it is pretty much a wash, they are almost the same. I've found that with a 6, used to own a '95 6 cylinder stang, you wind up driving it harder to make up for the lost 2 cylinders worth of performance and end up using just as much fuel as you would with the 8 The extra few grand in price from the 6 to the GT is little tough, but I think it will be well worth it in the end. Otherwise, if I didn't go for the 8 at the start, I'd kicking myself in the hiney down the road. Been there, done that before

Hope the observations help....

RaGsHoCkEy88

well i agree about the part with the extra couple grand for the GT. im a teen buying a new car. crazy decision. but i know for the money i worked soo hard and saved everything for, it will all be worth it in the end. i get a beautiful car, responsibility, and some pride outta this thing. soo i know i made the right choice. u know u will be too

kintaro

I've only test driven the V6 as well, and it was nice but it wasn't too impressive. I will hopefully tst drive the GT tomorrow, MY GT! But with the rain and it being mine I probably will take it easy.