Surprisingly, it went easier than expected. Fairfield Ford (OH) who is notorious for addendumn stickers, had mine ready and waiting today. No addendum stickers. Had their ducks in a row for price protection and no extraneous fees (outside of a $30 tag fee) on my X planned car. 7 weeks from order to delivery of a GT premium with IUP, ICAP, side airbags, active anti-theft and wheel locks. Everything went smoothly (although, they kept me an extra 15 minutes to make sure they were price protected for X plan orders).

My car had 2.7 miles on the odo when I got it. I've been driving it around for another 50 miles tonight. It's better than I expected. No Shaker problems that I can tell. Won't know about filling the gas tank until I run it down to near empty. Active anti-theft works exactly the way the brochure says it should, including the windows down feature.

This car is "INTOXICATING".....

Apparently, mine "hitched" a ride on a truck last night after it left the factory yesterday morning. Thus, built yesterday....delivered today. Feeling very lucky as it was the only car delivered to my dealer today (must have made a special trip from the truck driver).

Too dark to take pics. Will do so this weekend. Dealer had 3 offers on mine for MSRP while I sat there waiting for the title to be transfered. But, my name was on the sticker, so it would have been pretty hard to sell it from under my nose. Ended up about $150 over invoice with X plan. No games, no shenanigans....just an honest, helpful (and someone who didn't play the typical games) type dealer.

 

congrats
pics pics

 

Good for you! Glad to hear more of these good stories

 

Congrats!

 

That is a great story; I'm looking forward to your comparison of your Mustang to your RX8 in the turns and straightaways.


Is your V8 a Romeo or Essex? I'm trying to track the switch over, Thanks.

 

He has a big sticker on his engine that says: Made in China!

 

Congrats on the car. Nice to hear about a deal that went so well.

 

Congrats! Can't wait to see the pics. I have a feeling you're going to have a great weekend!!

 

Mustang Dan....I haven't had the chance to see where the engine was made. I did a pretty thorough inspection of it last night before taking delivery, but didn't go so far as to look at the engine sticker.

Having had it less than 24 hours, here are my impressions.....

Panels all fit well with small even gaps. Interior looks and feels good. This car is put together very well. Flat Rock employees should get a kudos from me. Paint is even with little orange peel effect (which all cars have, to one degree or another). As much female ******* as people do about the Shaker 500, it beats the daylights out of the BOSE in my previous RX8 (which was one of the better factory units I've heard). Don't know why someone would want the 1000 or to add "thumping" subs (which usually do nothing more than rattle).

I'd say that build quality matches anything else on the market within reasonable price shouting distance of the Mustang.....that includes Honda and Toyota.

Of course, there's little that anyone should complain about when hitting the starter and listening to the rumble. One of the best "sounding" engines currently on the market. Other's may match it, but few will exceed that visceral sound.

This car is FAST....and I've yet to take it over 4K RPMs. Clutch take-up is smooth. Shifter is quick and positive. Steering has very good feedback. The clutch, shifter and steering alone should sway anyone considering a GTO to get the Mustang GT (and I've test driven GTOs plenty).

Suspension was my biggest surprise. I know, we've got a solid rear axle, but it responds quickly without punishing you. I didn't feel any "side stepping" that you ordinarily feel with a solid axle over some pretty bumpy roads. That said, I've yet to get on it through a pothole filled sweeper. That will be the real test. IRS or not, Ford did great with the suspension. Probably the best trade-off between ride and handling of any car within $10K of the Mustang's price point.

You asked about the differences between the previous RX8 and the Mustang GT. They are way different. The RX8 will carve a switchback with surgical precision. But that precision maifests itself with "twitchiness" in every day driving. Any small crown in the road will tug at the steering wheel with the RX8. Plus, if you hit a bump in the RX8, you'll know it. The Mustang GT, while it doesn't have that same precision, is much more forgiving.

Viscerally, there's something about taking a rotary engine whirling through the gears, hitting the 9K RPM redline in each gear. As mentioned, the "snarl" of the Mustang's V8 gives off it's own, unmistakeable growl. I like both, just in differerent ways.

It would be hard to duplicate the "snick-snick" shifting that the RX8 possesses. It's one of the best I've ever used.....in any car.

You set a line in the Mustang GT and it will hold it tennaciously if you don't try to defy the laws of physics. In the RX8, you can set a line and do very minor corrections to build even more speed. The handling limits of the Mustang GT are high. The RX8s limits are even higher, though. You can steer the Mustang GT with the throttle. Don't even attempt that with the RX8.

One of my complaints with the RX8 was launching it. With so little torque available, it could sometimes be a handful. You launch it too low in the RPM range and you'll bog down. You launch it too high in the rev range and you're spinning the tires. In the Mustang GT, I can launch it much more smoothly as there's torque everywhere in the rev range. Clutch in the RX8 was light. The Mustang GT's clutch is heavier, but probably more positive.

I had forgotten what having a hi-po V8 under the hood means. The Mustang GT is faster than the RX8......by a large margin. The RX8 is real quick. The Mustang GT is real fast.

Then, there's pricing issues. I paid $30K for my RX8 about 1.5 years ago. The Mustang GT on X plan cost me ~$25.5K. There are little differences here and there....the RX8 had stereo controls in the steering wheel. The ergonomics in the Mustang GT are so good, I don't know that it really matters, though.

All-in-all, it's easy to see why the '05 Mustang is such a runaway success. Pick any reason....styling, performance, build quality, "bang for the buck", etc and it's no wonder they are selling as fast as Ford can make them.

 

graphicguy,

What a GREAT write up I'm going to print it out to go in my folder of professional reviews of the 2005 Mustang. It was nice how you brought in your experience with the GTO to contrast the RX8 and the Mustang.

When we get our Mustang I'll be able to offer a totally different look contrasting the Mustang GT with our Windstar and the Mustang V6 we test drove.

MustangDan

 

Congrats! But I ordered mine a day after you from a large Detroit area dealer, where the heck is mine?

 

Yeah...excellent write up and comparison, especially with the GTO. It's great to hear that everything went so well on your order and delivery..congrats!!