18 Hours In: A Review, Some Questions, Some Surprises, and Some Petty Gripes
 

So, I officially left the dealership about 18 hours ago and currently have 150 miles on the new Brembo GT Premium. Note I now have a GT500 axle back exhaust installed as of this morning. I should also note that believe it or not, I had never driven an S197 until I left the dealership last night with my very own.

So, I have a little review, some questions, some surprises, and some petty gripes (most of which I knew about when I bought the car). So here it is:

Review:

Car is fantastic in every way. The car is quiet, no drone, no rattles, feels very solid. Powerplant is fantastic, but I haven't gotten into it yet, but you all knew that it was awesome anyway so need not say anything more there. The most I've done is punch it a couple times from a 60 mph roll and holy hell it's a freight train, make no mistake.

Car feels well built, but you can definitely feel the weight - car feels "substantial" I'd say. Steering is great, I like the different modes and the sport mode is perfectly fine, I don't miss hydraulic steering like most people do on most cars - Ford did a great job here.

I had some concerns about how the 19" Brembo wheels would ride day to day and I have no concerns now. They ride no harsher than the 17" wheels and respective low profile tires that my last car had. Car feels great in the curves, no detectable body roll. This suspension results in great handling and yet is perfectly compliant for daily driving. ZERO complaints here.

LOVE LOVE LOVE the MyColor and the 401A interior. The MyColor alone is worth the price of the Premium. Interior feels nice, driving position is fantastic although I'd like a *little* more of an armrest, but that's really my problem since I'm short and have the seat all the way up. The armrest is probably perfect for most people who are taller and have the seat further down and farther back.

The Xenons are AWESOME, and the LED fog lights throw an insane amount of light. I will never buy another new car without Xenons/LED headlights. No way, never again. The taillights are amazing, I love showing off the blinker as I cruise down the road.

Gas mileage is terrible. Averaging under 17 mpg with pretty much all highway, wtf (granted I punched it a bit on the freeway). This needs to improve as the car breaks in. I want to see 20 mpg when driving normal, or a bit north of 300 miles per tank.

So far no sync problems, works great with voice command. Glad I skipped nav and kept it simple. I like the look of the non-navigation center stack better too.

Overall great car.

Questions (any you can answer, great):

1) Biggest question - If it's daytime, and I have the headlights on (not set to automatic, just manually switched on), the MyColor does NOT work and the center stack dash lighting does NOT light up if there is too much light outside? I noticed as soon as I went under a bridge all of a sudden the MyColor and dash lighting all came on, then a few seconds after I passed under the bridge, all my nice MyColor (which I could still see in the sunlight) turned off and reverted to the standard white gauge lighting.

Is there any override for this? Last night with the headlights on the MyColor wouldn't kick on until nearly dusk, WELL after when I easily could see the MyColor and ambient lighting inside the car. At some point it just kicked on, I guess when it finally thought it was dark enough.

I want it set so that if my lights are on, my MyColor is on, outside amount of light be damned. Can I do that??

2) Pushing seat backs forward to access rear seats - I pull the lever to push the seatback forward, but then I can't return the seatback to the set position it was at prior to pushing it forward? Do I really have to reset the recline level every single time I move the seatback forward? Retarded if that's the case.

3) What's the lock on the passenger side sun visor for?

4) What's this thing in the lower grille? I think it's to plug into the heater, but not sure. Can I hide it/remove it?

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7454/...b7230c94_b.jpg

Surprises:

1) Visibility out the rear is fantastic, I was expecting it to be terrible.

2) SYNC works better than expected, or perhaps I should scale this back to - SYNC works. I've seen a lot of people complaining about it, so mine seems to work well with my iPod classic in the console and my iPhone in my pocket.

3) A lot of people say the Shaker Pro is a waste of money and sounds like crap. My young ears disagree 100% and I'm thrilled I splurged for it. Most say the mids are muddy and there isn't enough treble. There is plenty of treble (I have always used the treble boost EQ on my iPod FWIW, not sure if that gets accounted for in the car's base EQ settings or overridden altogether by the car's EQ) and you can certainly make your ears bleed with the treble if you want. The subwoofer can pound out serious bass, but again, you don't need it that way. I have it set pretty low, just enough to fill out the sound. People say you pay $1300 literally just to add a sub, but I think there's more to it. I saw one person say that the sub takes the load off the midrange speakers so they can do a better job playing mids, and I'd agree. I'm certain you aren't paying $1300 just for a sub, because this sounds fantastic at all volumes with all types of music, and I'm picky with my sound. Ford puts out almost no info on this system, so it's pretty much all speculation.

4) I can't believe this car has no side marker blinkers. I thought for sure the rectangular amber/red reflectors on the side of the car would blink alternatingly with the front/rear blinker elements in the head/tail lights, but nope. The only blinkers on this car are the taillights themselves and the orange blinker in the headlight housing. This seems dangerous, and I didn't know you could still build a car without a proper side marker blinker.

Gripes:

1) Biggest gripe - no inner handle to shut the trunk, coupled with a piano black decklid panel = fail on Ford's part. Come on, $41k car and no inner trunk handle to close the trunk? Fingerprints be damned, nobody wants to get their hands dirty/salty/wet shutting the trunk. Maybe it has something to do with how hard it is to shut the trunk...

2) Second biggest gripe - Ford can't finish a trunk area to save it's life. The inside of the trunk seems cheap as hell, and the trunk mat is cut so unbelievably poorly, it actually flat out doesn't fit. It's actually more poorly finished than my '98 GT was, and that was not anything to be proud of.

3) Car has the comfort package which gives me a passenger power seat, but no lumbar support for the passenger.

4) Power seat - The seat has power tilting back and forth but no power recline? WTF?? Power tilt, I could live without…never been in any other car that had it, especially not prioritized over power recline.

5) Presence of AM/FM antenna. Petty I know, and this is obviously a holdover from the original 2005 design of the body style but they could've integrated it into the car. Same said for LED side markers in the side mirrors. Would be nice to have and could've been included in the 2010 refresh.

Overall I'm 1000% happy with the car and can't think of a car I would've rather bought at any price point. This is a fantastic car all around, and most of the gripes I have are pretty petty in the grand scheme. Look forward to many happy happy miles with this car.

That's your blockheater plug, you plug that in when the temperature goes below freezing and it warms the coolant in the engine block. Makes for easier starting a less wear in cold starts. Should be able to tuck that away especially if you don't plan to use it. Seems to me like an ugly spot to put it.

Mine will be very similar to yours, but manual/track pack and black exterior, black/blue interior. Great review of the new car, I'll make a note of some of these things when I get mine, and will watch your thread for the answers to some of your other questions.

Couple other *very* petty gripes I noticed:

-Can't hop out of the car and lock it with the button on the door, gotta use the key fob

-Sunvisors appear to be "bent" to the roof rather than molded, I thought manufacturers stopped doing that years ago.

But to balance that, a positive:

Even with a gray car, the attention is crazy! As I was pulling off the freeway today a guy in a 2014 535i cruised by and rubbernecked it hardcore and stuck a thumbsup out his sunroof, and I've had so many people (including hot chicks) staring at the car on the road…gotta love it! I could only imagine the attention with GHIG or Grabber Blue if I'm getting this much with gray.

I could be wrong but I think the only way to over ride your My Color issue is to put something over the light sensor on the dash... Congrats on the car!

Thanks!

Is that what that bulb thing is on the top of the dash? Figured it was either that or the compass.

I think that's kind of lame though, if I deem that it's dark enough to want to use my headlights, the MyColor should come on as well, regardless of the amount of light outside. At the very least we should be able to override it without covering the dash bulb.

Oh my. I haven't seen a block heater plug since living in Alaska.

I believe that one sensor determines both when to turn on your automatic headlights (if you have them) and when to turn on your My Color lighting - different ambient light levels. I have not seen any way to adjust those settings.

You're right, the seat back does not return to the prior position. You have to adjust it. Some have made it a point to only access the rear seats from the passenger's side to avoid having to readjust the driver's seat.

You should have received a black plastic spring clip that can be inserted into the fitting on the passenger side visor. You can use it to hold your sun glasses when you are not using them, or some such thing. I use it to hold the microphone for the movie camera I use when autocrossing.

One other surprise I forgot to mention - I'm surprised that the LED strips in the headlights are NOT daytime running lights, but rather they are the parking lights. Is this the case for '13s? I saw a bulletin from October 2013 saying that they were removing the LED running lights, so I was worried my car would come through without the LEDs at all. Perhaps they meant they were switching them from being running lights to parking lights?

Cool, thanks for those answers. So that's what that little clip in the bag is for, I was looking at that sun visor clip wondering what it was for, I have it still in the bag in the trunk (where I guess it will stay since I don't use sunglasses).

LED running lights on my 13

So what do your lights look like when turned to the parking light position?

The LED strips in the headlights turn off if you have the E-brake on and don't have the parking lights on, and they dim a little when you turn the headlights on.

You didn't say what gearing you have but that has a definite impact on it. In 46,000 miles tracking the mileage of my car ('11 GT w/ 3.31 gears) religiously, I'm averaging 21.7 overall, which is higher than most people seem to get.

Guessing you noticed that the rear headrests fold down? If not, the visibility will be even better!

That'd be my guess too - getting your hand out from under it before slamming it shut would be hard. I've found I can just use the edge of the spoiler with my fingertips so the dirt/fingerprinting isn't too bad.

Yeah, I've been less than impressed with that too.

Guessing this is because it would take longer to flip the seat forward for people to get in if it was power. That, or it's because Ford has a long history of not doing power recline. My '97 Explorer had power seats with manual recline, as did my '88 Taurus wagon in high school.

Personally, the built-in antennas are weaker than the external ones so that doesn't bug me.

Hey puma1552,

I'm glad you are enjoying SYNC (and the rest of the vehicle) you know where to find me if you do have any questions about your system. :)

Kim

Nice review. My 14 GT is the same color as yours and I also get a lot of looks. My car is a base model so I don't have some of the options you have.


I have a little over 5,000 miles on mine and average about 23 mpg in mostly highway with some city driving. I also have an automatic transmission.


My car was built in Feb, 2013 and my LED bar lights are on while driving


My car locks the doors when using the button on the door.


I also don't like that the seatback doesn't return to it's previous position


These are nice cars. I've been really enjoying mine. Have fun with yours.


Wayne

Congrats on the car. Enjoy it. I agree with several of your issues. Especially if one purchases a 'Premium'. Some of my pet-peeves:
* side mirrors do not fold.
* no real dead pedal.
* no telescoping steering wheel.
But, I love the way the car looks and drives. Mine's a 2011 GT, and I still get lots of stares!

i do it the same way to avoid finger prints on decklid panel...

I also use the spoiler to shut the trunk lid...I've found I pretty much have to to get enough force to shut the trunk, just trying to slam it down from the decklid/faux gas cap isn't quite enough grunt to do it.

One other thing I found that I really like - the ability to have my parking lights and fog lights on at the same time...so many cars will not let you do this.

I picked mine up 2/27 and have a whopping 80 miles on it so far.....I love the sound of the GT500's so I am only averaging about 11.5 mpg as of now, mostly driving around town and a little out in the country.....I am sure that will improve as I put more miles on it and shift a little quicker around town...

Anyone else notice just how much crap gets kicked up against the rocker panels when driving around? I swear the entire time I'm driving all I can hear is stuff getting kicked up against my rockers and it makes me cringe, never been in a car where I could hear that much stuff kicking up…it seriously is non-stop no matter how slow I'm going or how clean the road looks...

This must be because of the sticky summer tires?

http://rallyarmor.com/

:D

But seriously, don't do that.

So then on a '13, if you have the switch turned to the parking lights, do you then have the LED running lamps with the orange parking lights behind them?

Since mine is an auto I've got the 3.15 gear, so I'm expecting a bit better mileage. It has gone up a little, now I'm averaging 18.2. Hopefully this keeps going up.

They were down when I took delivery, and I actually haven't climbed back there to put them up and see how much that impacts visibility.

That happens with mine also, I have all season Pirelli 275's standard setup.

What are you guys doing with this **** block heater plug? There actually is a cut in the grille's honeycomb for this thing to fit through, which I didn't realize until just now. I want to get rid of this thing, but I know if I push it back through the grille I'll never get it back, but the radiator isn't far back from there either and I'd hate to have a meltdown…

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7444/...ea488c17_b.jpg

Just tell people its an electric Mustang and that is used to charge your batteries :D

also i *can* lock the doors with the button on the door panel, i was just being a sally and not pressing it hard enough

I also would like to see a power recline driver's seat. I will not try to adjust the seat back manually while the car is moving. However, my Subaru has a power seat back and it comes in handy since I can adjust my seat back to match driving conditions and driver fatigue. Ease the seat back up for driving in heavy traffic for better visibility. Ease it back for hi-way driving and comfort, and when my back gets fatigued a little up or back recline makes a big difference.
I understand why Ford didn't use a power recline in a 2 door car. It would be a PITA trying to get someone in the back seat. But other than kids (and I don't have any), who rides in the back seat of a Mustang?

You answered your own question.

Add some Roush side splitters they will cut down on the grime on the rockers, plus they look good.

[QUOTE=puma1552;6781507]So then on a '13, if you have the switch turned to the parking lights, do you then have the LED running lamps with the orange parking lights behind them?

On my 13', the LED bars are daytime running lights and the parking lights. When you turn the parking lights on, the LED bars get a little dimmer than they are as DRL's. The orange bulbs in the headlight housing are only turn/hazzard signals

I have a block heater plug, it doesn't look anything like that, it looks like...a normal plug you could plug into something lol. It comes out under the front license plate holder (yeah, we gotta have them here) but can be moved, it's quite long. I moved mine under the front license plate so you can't see it (as if the front license is so much less ugly than the tiny black plug it's hiding). I am guessing that what your pic shows is the connector that goes to the actual cord/plug part, and if that's so, it shouldn't be sticking out.

It's the interiors where Ford is still well in the last century. The trunk is abysmal, an extra $0.25 of carpet would do wonders...fold your back seats down to see what I mean. Also look under the passenger dash, another dime's worth would have been nice. But I really like the car, it's gray like yours, and for reasons I don't understand (but then, I did choose it...) people do look at the car more than any other IMO better-looking car I've ever had. No accounting for taste... :)

Try some of these:

http://www.americanmuscle.com/front-...ards-1012.html

There inexpensive, not too noticeable, and will add some protection.

I noticed when the temps started to rise down here in Louisiana and Texas that my mpg started to go up a little bit. I've got 3.73 and am getting 22-23 without even trying. If I do try, I'm actually seeing up around 25.

Yeah, and I stated my case. Maybe someone from Ford will listen.

I believe the thing sticking out of my grille is what you plug the actual block heater into, which I had in a little baggie in my trunk (my car was not prepped at my request). I bet me having this thing visible at all is a result of my request for no cosmetic prep...I should look at pics of new ones on the dealer's site and see if they show this sticking out or not.

Ordered a set yesterday morning!

I was at 18.2 average from when the car was new last Friday so this morning at the 300 mile mark I hit the reset button on the way to work and knocked down 26 MPG average on the way in (cruising around 50-60 on the freeway before the hit of rush hour traffic). Now that it's broken in/breaking in I think I'll get some better mileage numbers.

These do take care of the problem. I have them, and they work. They are a bit expensive for what you get, but worth it to protect the paint.

Do you hear anything kicking up on the rockers anymore? Right now I'm in cringe mode where the only place I feel safe to enjoy the car and turn up the stereo is on the freeway...if I'm in town I've got the tunes turned way down listening for the rocks to hit as I creep through town as slow as possible, lol.

So after combing over the car numerous times since purchase, I've just noticed that the passenger door could be ever so slightly better aligned; in particular, the rear edge of the door isn't completely flush, it sticks out from the rear quarter just a tiny bit, but it's enough to make the rear door gap look a little bigger (driver's side is fine).

Having looked at hundreds of these on lots over the last X years, I know hanging doors (and panel alignment/gaps in general) is a bit of a sore spot for Ford, and in comparison to pretty much all I've seen mine are quite good with this one small exception. I know at the factory they hang the doors, paint the cars, then remove the doors and send them to a separate line for sub assembly, then are re-hung at the very end of the process and just eyeballed, whereas the Germans and Japanese do use and have been using lasers to measure panel gaps for quite some time. For some reason all the American makers still have a tough time with nice tight panel gaps.

Thinking I might see if the door can be adjusted slightly? Not sure if I want to open that can of worms though and should just leave well enough alone…it's not someone anyone but me will ever notice...

It is possible that it's the driver's door that isn't quite right. I know some import makes will push the trailing edge of the doors out just ever so slightly, prevents the edge of the panel behind it from chipping and all it takes is a mm or two.

That's interesting, I hadn't heard that, nor observed it on any of the German cars I've had. I'm really happy with the driver's door, and the gap between the passenger fender and front edge of the door matches the driver's side, so I think the gap itself is correct, it's just that the gap at the rear edge of the passenger door looks a little big when viewed from the rear 3/4 of the car since the door sticks out 1-1.5 mm.

There was a service bulletin out a few years ago for a Subaru I had where they were getting a lot of chips on the leading edges of the rear doors, and the bulletin cited incorrect front door alignment. The fix was to adjust the door so the trailing edge was no more than 1mm "out" from the leading edge of the rear door. I never had the problem so I never had it done, but have noted a number of recent Subaru's I've seen have had this sort of alignment of the doors.

Based on some of the complaints you have and you feel are worth complaining about makes me think you have picked the wrong car.

No, I love the hell out of the car. Don't get your panties in a bunch for a few nitpicks here and there.

Panties arent bunched brah, youre just new to mustangs.

If only that were true, nice try broseph. Ain't my first Mustang, nor my last.

Well, I sorta had some similar thoughts to xtc.inc that maybe a Mustang wasn't quite the right car for you...I've had several people ask me, "A Mustang? Why a Mustang?" I just like it. That's why I got one. I felt good in it. Right from start up it felt like a car that talked to me, involved me in the drive. Panel gaps may not be perfect, some of the plastics might not be the greatest. Whatever, it felt good to be behind the wheel and rowing gears. It looks badass. Yes, I'll detail it and probably find little niggles that bother me. But then I'll finish, step back and look and think, "That's badass," and go for a drive, and they won't bother me again. I'm not the kinda guy that sees every little defect every time I walk past my cars. I know they're there and I spot em initially. If it's an actual problem I'll get it corrected, but other than that, they're character marks.

As for the trunk trimmings....dude, you put your groceries in there. Maybe some potted plants from Home Depot. If you and your buddies are hangin' around the car, drinkin' beer with the trunk up...I gotta say, you're at the wrong end of the car. :D

I have an automatic V6, and after 3000 km on it, I'm getting the equivalent of 14.6 mpg (15.9 l/100km). The majority of the mileage is in the city, and (I'm proud to say)mostly it's the way I've been driving. :-)

So, compared to that, your V8 is getting awesome mileage!

Thank you for the write up and congrats on your vehicle again, puma1552! You guys are more than welcome to provide you input at Ford Social.

Deysha

Swung by the dealership body shop to ask about adjusting the passenger door to make it flush, a quick 5-10 minute adjustment of the striker and the door is flush like it should be. Glad I stopped by.

Great! Thank you for the update, puma1552!

Deysha

Question: is there a difference between Line-in and USB? When I plug my iPod into the USB port, it recognizes it as a USB connection, but when I plug my iPhone in via the USB port, it recognizes it as a Line-in connection and if I want to listen to music from the phone I have to specify the USB input source.

More important question: Does the stereo not play music over bluetooth? Why bother with a cord? :)

Actually having a dedicated iPod classic specifically for the car that lives in it permanently, I actually have no use even for Bluetooth audio.

My phone just happened to die while I was out so I plugged it into the USB port to charge it while driving, and was just curious about playing music through it.

Did you know about the top secret super cool extra USB port on the back side of the Sync module up behind the glove box? Great spot for a thumb drive or iPod, so you can leave your phone charger in your console USB port.

I had no idea...

I don't think they just "eyeball" the panel gaps. It's 2014. Watch this mustang assembly video.

Great find! Thanks for sharing!

Hi puma1552,

This link gives you a good description of each source: http://support.ford.com/sync-technol...-by-voice-sync

As you can see, USB voice commands should be used when the device is connected via the USB port. Line In voice commands should be used when your device is connected to the auxiliary jack.

Kim

Does anyone know the stock xenon color temperature? I figure it's probably either 4300k or 6000k, probably 4300K given how the LED foglights are so blue they make the HIDs look like projector halogens, lol.

Also I just realized last night you can't seek/scrub forward and back within a song with the steering wheel forward/back buttons, you have to use the seek buttons on the center stack...kind of odd.

I'm quite sure they do just eyeball the panel gaps when manually rehanging the assembled doors well after the car has left the bodyshop and is in final assembly, that video shows nothing about panel gap measurement, but it shows that even the painting process isn't fully automated which is kind of surprising for 2014.