bdunosk

I want to preface this by saying that evidently this guy has really only driven extremely heavily modified Mustangs in the past - so take EVERYTHING he says with a grain of salt in terms of performance. I hope he's mostly wrong, but he does at least say the interior quality is better. :P



So I drove a 2005 Mustang GT today...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I was invited to a focus group where they had us drive 4 different cars and rate many different aspects of each car.

I got to drive:
-2003 350Z Touring
-2004 GTO
-2004 RX-8
-2005 Mustang GT

I was really looking forward to driving the new Mustang. But it pains me to say this....The Mustang was a real piece of poo. They completely missed the boat on this car.

Interior
The build quality was very good as were the interior materials and fit and finish. The seats were comfortable but didn't offer great support for performance driving, although the leather quality was really nice. That's pretty much where the positives end. The interior looks great in pictures, but everything is oversized and gives you the feeling that you're in an F150, not a sports car. There are so many different colors and textures on the dash that it makes it almost unpleasant to look at. The faux aluminum dash tried to recreate the look of classic Mustangs, but it failed miserably. The gauges were hard to read, cluttered, and the color changing option was a waste of time...Totally worthless.

Exterior
Bloated. High. Bulbous. Long. It looked more like a Mark VIII than a sports car. It was parked right next to the 350Z, and the Z made the brand new Mustang look like a dated piece of poo. Nothing more to say.

Driving impressions
The Mustang felt bloated. Very heavy, lots of body roll, weak brakes, and the engine didn't seem as potent as it should. Some of that lack of excitement might be due to the auto tranny (which stinked by the way), but there was nothing under the hood that made me want to punch it. The 350Z and GTO felt worlds quicker and actually invited you to push the car. Not so with the GT. The steering was too light, but did seem more responsive than the older Mustangs. The brake pedal was soft and spongy, again not really inspiring any confidence.

I rated the car a 7 overall. That's not terrible. The car felt good as a cruiser, but fell very, very short of being a performance car. The build quality was a noticeable step up from previous Ford offerings. But again, the car just really left some things to be desired. Out of the group of 4 cars, the Mustang would be my 3rd choice.

The other 3
I'm very familiar with the 350Z, so there was nothing surprising about driving it. Very responsive, pretty quick, good brakes, nice interior layout. Nissan did a much better job on their sports coupe than Ford did. The GTO was the best of the group. The LS1 roared and offered instant power. It felt twice as powerful and responsive as the Mustang's V8. Gorgeous interior highlighted by really high quality materials. The seats were easily a 10. The aluminum accents and Alcantara inserts on the doors made it feel very upscale. Great car. The RX-8 was exactly what I expected...Nimble, yet grossly underpowered. The interior was way too busy. Buttons and vents everywhere. The seats were supportive and the paddle shifters were really a lot of fun to use.

Overall, the 350Z and GTO would easily be on the top of my list. The Mustang came in a distant third, with the Mazda falling far behind that.

I'm holding out hope for the Cobra. I'm sure 100+ horses and a tighter suspension would do the car wonders. But it'll still be overweight and too darn big.

I'd take my '00 Saleen or an '04 Cobra over 2 GT's any day of the week.

USA-Adam

Lurker .. how did this guy get his hands on those cars? What are you hoping to accomplish here? You think guys are gonna cancel their orders?

ManEHawke

I hope and half know he is wrong. I bet his opinion is something most of us wont agree with when we test 'em out. It was an auto, so I dont know if that had anything to do with it.

USA-Adam

All I can say is that one look at Ford Power forums is enough proof that some people are so closed-minded that they can't accept the fact that their fox bodies won't be king of the road.

Dan

Comments read and dismissed....next..

TomServo92

... and yet demand will problably be more than production can handle (at least IMHO). This is one mans opinion folks. It don't mean jack to me until I get a chance to get behind the wheel and evaluate it myself. There were alot of people spouting doom and gloom for the redesign in '99 yet it sold very well.

Romero

I feel that this guy's mind was made up before he ever sat in it, assuming he actually was in the car.

I am very biased when it comes to cars, not to mention many other things. If I were to go take a test drive in a 350Z, I would rate it fairly (no pun intended) low. It is just not the car for me. The styling just makes ME kind of queasy, especially the convertible. I am SURE that the 350Z would be a good car, but my rating, due to my personal feeling, would be low.

Opinions are like butts: Everyone has one and no one wants hear one.

bdunosk

Wow, the hostility! :P I wasn't sure how this would be received here, but I do think he meant it as honest criticism.

It is his opinion, of course... I'm over on the other forum now, evidently this event was something that Ford sponsored. He has some relationship with Ford based on his previous ownership, got a call and was invited to drive the four cars at this comparo. Though he drives a c5, he said that he didn't let it skew his impression of the GT, but I just don't see how it could not have. I'm still holding out, because I'm hoping it's everything I'm looking for in a car. Well, other than snowy-weather performance, but that's another story.

BlackRiderX

I don't believe a word of it. He didn't bash the GTO styling!

Gradeau

Having seen the '05 Mustang in person, I can tell you that the car looks nothing like a piece of poo. Actually, I'd go as far as to say that it was one of the best-looking cars at the Chicago Auto Show...

Amy V6

What board did this originally come from? Seen it reposted on a few boards... who is the source?

Evil_Capri

I thought they (Ford) had not built production '05 to test yet? Was this '05 a pre-production model? It would seem that Ford would let the magazines have first crack at a 100% production model.

To each his/her own, but I'd take an '05 over the others listed sight unseen.

428CJ

This is my post over at Fordpower in response to the review...

http://www.fordpower.net/forums/showpost.p...499&postcount=6

Evil_Capri

Agreed!

But tell us how you really feel!!

428CJ

Agreed!

But tell us how you really feel!! [/b][/quote]
As you can see...I was a little torqued off

Evil_Capri

As you can see...I was a little torqued off [/b][/quote]
As Bobby DeNiro once said (a couple of times) . .

Little Bit . . .Little Bit!

CWP

The guy who rote that is FULL OF CRAP! HE NEEDS TO LET IT OUT IN THE TOILET INSTEAD OF HIS MOUTH! :angry:

conv_stang

gee, if you compare a 2 seater to a fully loaded 4 seater. i would hope that the mustang would look bigger and feel bigger. the sad part is the mustang they say weighs 3400, the 350Z weighs 3200???? i mean the current GT is close and can match most 350Z's in acceleration. so hows more power, more gear in the rear going to make it feel slower than the 350Z??? the GT(BLOW) weight what 3800??? i mean come on. this report is a joke anyway. CAN I GET MORON FOR 1000 ALEX????

AgentJ

Give me a break... that thing looks like every other car on the road...

I'd buy another Mercedes before that POS.

-And that was towards the guy who origionally wrote the article... mind you -

Decipher

Wow. You people are just as biased as him, and just as "bad" (if not worse) for being so. I read it and thought it was a fair assessment. The cars weren't really comparable to begin with (the GT and 550Z) since they're different classes and different sizes. The size was the reason the Z felt quicker. Compare going 20mph in a nice go cart to 20mph in a big old Caddillac. You'd be pretty bored in the Caddy, but the go-cart would be a blast. An exaggerated comparison, but you get the point.

As for his thoughts on the interior, I can see where he's coming from. The guages, dials, buttons, etc. are indeed bigger than on most sports cars, but it's all a matter of taste in the end.

As for drivability, I would believe that the Z and others (with the exception of the woefully underpowered RX-8) are better handlers etc. The GTO has been proven as a great ride, with the only quam being "ho-hum" styling. The Z is a tight little car. It's a great roadster and Nissan fine tuned it to be so.

Take in to consideration that the Mustang he drove (if he even really did) was a PRE-PRODUCTION MODEL. Any feedback Ford gets would be implimented before it becomes commercially available.

So what I'm saying here is CHILL OUT PEOPLE. We don't know if it's credible for one, and also we have to realize that WE ARE ALL DIFFERENT PEOPLE FROM DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS WITH DIFFERENT TASTES. I mean come on, it's not like he's insulting your first born. It's just a car you happen to really like. If he doesn't like it, that's him. You go and buy one anyway.

"CAN I GET DEFENSIVE GUYS BLINDED BY LOYALTY FOR 1000 ALEX?"