I took delivery of "Wildfire", my first Mustang in 19 years, on July 2nd. It was ordered January 28th and built on April 15th, so it's been a long wait. Here are a few pictures (if I'm doing this right). I'll take a lot more after the body modifications have been done.

I can't say how it compares to other brand new performance cars that I haven't driven but I can tell you how it compares to my previous sports car, a 2000 Corvette.

Engine: Simply lovely. There are no peaks and valleys in the power delivery. It's smooth, sounds beautiful, and really puts out the power. A few people on TMS have commented on there being a throttle delay. I'm not sensitive enough to notice it. I couldn't ask for anything more. My Corvette's engine sounded nice and was also powerful, but it was not this smooth. And the sound induction tube? Love it.

Transmission and shifter: I know some people have found the gate spacing a little too close. I call it perfect. In terms of precision, this makes my Corvette's shifter feel like it came out of a truck. Thank you Ford and Getrag, job well done.

Ride and Handling: While my Corvette was a dream to drive on a smooth winding road, it was harsh on a bad road. The suspension was so stiff that on a road with a lot of cracks, the car played a melody of Thump, Thump, Thumpity-Thumpity-Thumpity, Thump. On a really bad road it felt like the paint was going to shake off the body. This new Mustang is the first car I've ever named, but if I had named the Corvette, an appropriate name would have been "Jackhammer". And this was with a completely stock suspension and OEM tires. It was not a Z06, either.

My hope was that this Mustang would have a substantially better ride without giving up too much agility. On a race course in the hands of an experienced race car driver, perhaps that 2000 Corvette could turn in better lap times than this Mustang. I don't know. For me, it's every bit as much fun to drive on a curvy road, and that's what is important to me. As far as ride goes, the Mustang rides like a normal car, which is a gigantic improvement over the Corvette.

Interior: I'm very happy with the interior, although I've got a lot to learn yet about the navigation system. There are a few things with it that don't work as I expected so I'll have to take a closer look at the manual. I love Sync. Several people have seen this car and easily the thing that has gotten the most compliments is the Saddle upholstery. People that grimaced when I told them I was getting a black and brown interior have said that it looks awesome.

 

Beautiful car! Enjoy it!
Glad to see the 'vette guys are providing positive input. I was looking at a used 'vette six months ago but this new Mustang seems like a much more useful platform in comparison. Much more useLESS than my 4dr 4x4 F150 I sold to get the Mustang, but who's counting?

 

Nice car! Do you find that the 18" wheels w/ the 235-50/18 tires offer enough grip through the corners and/or during aceeleration? How do you like the "regular" brakes? Good pedal feel and stopping power? How do you like the 3.31 axle? Feels snappy enough off the line? or while highway crusing in 6th? Not all that much info out on the "real world" driving experiances of the non-Brembo GT's

With the really crappy roads I have around me, I'm really considering the 18" wheels for a better, more managable ride, plus those polished aluminum wheels are the nicest looking stock wheels that Ford offers IMHO.
Still pondering if I need the 3.55's or the 3.31's are enough for lots of h'way driving.

 

Nice! Thanks for giving the driving impressions and comparison with the vette.

 

I contemplated getting 19" nickel luster wheels. After reading a number of posts on the topic it sounds like performance is going to be kind of a toss-up between 18" and 19" (at least for non-Brembo cars). The 19" tires are a touch wider and lower profile which should make it corner better. On the other hand they weigh more which is a performance negative. I concluded that the difference is probably negligible. I really like the look of these wheels best, at least with Kona Blue. Plus they are a less expensive option than 19's, and replacement tires will be less expensive. If I had chosen Ingot Silver or Red Candy, though, I probably would have chosen the 19" Nickel Luster wheels.

I'm happy with the brakes. Good pedal feel. Even for doing a little tearing around, I don't think there would be a lot of difference in braking performance between the Brembo-equipped cars and a non-Brembo car that had the summer-only tires. On a race track, the Brembos are going to be less fade-prone and would definitely be worth the money, but I'm never going to actually race it.

I do expect I will one day upgrade to higher performance tires but for now I'm happy. I'm not saying that these tires are shabby, but I've read a few magazine articles that say that the P-Zero tires are substantially stickier than the P-Zero Nero tires. Of course they do wear out faster, too.

The 3.31 axle works for me. It tears through first and second gears very quickly. For me, it wasn't worth it to spend $400 and give up one or two miles per gallon in hopes of cutting 2/10 of a second in quarter mile time. My goal was to have a car that is fast, fun, beautiful, but also comfortable and reasonably efficient. Yeah, I know "if you care about fuel economy so much, why don't you get a Prius?" Heard it before, doesn't change my mind. It's true that if you have it in sixth gear at 55 mph, you're going to have to downshift to do any serious acceleration. Fine with me, I love shifting. But you should decide for yourself. Take one for a test drive with the 3.31 axle and see if you find it wanting. I made the right choice for myself, but that doesn't mean it's right for everybody.

 

Congrats, looks very nice.

I almost got the Saddle interior on my Kona too, but in the end ordered it with Dk Charcoal. Even saw a 2010 Kona / Saddle combo in person on a dealer's lot but just could not convince myself that I was really going to like it. Did not help that every one I showed pics of both interiors to for 2nd opinons picked the Dk-Char over it too.

I'm glad to see someone took a chance on the combo and is lovin' it !!

BTW, I really thought your car was going to be Red Candy with a name like "Wildfire".

Doug

 

I saw a couple different colors with saddle interior, and I just didn't think the black and silver and saddle interior worked together. Also kinda felt the same way about the stone, but it's grown on me. I suspect the saddle would as well.

Every time I see a Kona, I like it more. All cleaned up, that may be the most beautiful color Ford puts on a car.

 

Kona blue with saddle was a combo I considered seriously, and it looks incredible. Great pick. Thanks for the driving impressions, too. I went with the 3.55, but from your description, maybe I should have saved the $400. I guess I could still change it, as I just ordered on Saturday.

 

Also -love the spoiler delete. I chose that as well. The "clean" look is best. Mine will be silver with brick-red interior.

 

Thank you, Doug. I've never named a car before but my wife's dad names all of his vehicles and it got me to thinking. He's got a black 1995 Mustang GT called "Lightning". I was trying to think of any famous horses and I thought about the Michael Martin Murphy song Wildfire, where he sings about "a pony she named Wildfire" and it just seemed right. Another good one would be "Trigger", the name of Roy Rogers' horse from many western movies made before my time.

 

Great looking car!!!!

 

Nice randy!!

 

Thanks for the quick answers RandyW! Like you, I'm looking for a fun all-round GT for sane back-road blasts, but also for road trips etc. I've been riding sportbikes for 25+ years so that's where I get my "real" performance jollies.

 

Thanks for all the compliments, guys. I just remembered one other comparison between this Mustang and my recently traded-in Corvette. Do you know how nice it is to be able to drive up driveways at a normal speed? Thanks to the long front overhang and low ride height of the Vette, driving up any kind of an incline meant doing it very gently to keep the spoiler from scraping.

I don't mean to trash Corvettes, I really loved mine. But there's a reason that most Corvette owners have another car for everyday use.

 

Nice!!! I was expecting to see a 'red' Mustang too. My red candy Mustang's name is 'Little Red'. My Dad has a red candy Taurus, its name is 'Big Red' LOL!!!

 

I can't believe anyone would order Kona WITHOUT Saddle...what a killer combination! Really upscales the look of the car. Nice!

 

That's a great looking car! I am much more leaning toward the Saddle interior again. Love it! Those wheels SUCK....in pictures, but really they look good on the car. I saw a 2010 GT, up in Maine, black with the optional 18" wheels and I thought it looked awesome! Just wish the strut brace was an option.

Only driven the C5 a very short distance, so in that regard, the Mustang is an upgrade in comfort. As it should be, it's still a basic coupe with sporting underpinnings.

 

Very nice Randy, congratulations!

I am also happy with the 3.31 rear in my 2010 and the 2011 can only be better because (I believe) it has both a lower first and a higher 6th gear, in addition to the extra 100 ponies

you can buy the STB for something like 100 bucks or so aftermarket, not a big deal

 

Well optioned car!! Love the spoiler delete and saddle interior!