jimmbbo

FINALLY, got the camera in the car at the same time as the "golden hour" just before sunset... unfortunately, it was in the middle of the desert - visually about as unexciting as could be, but the light was as good as it was gonna get... will see if I can get out to Red Rock and get some pics there.

Put 1500 miles on the car over the weekend, and became convinced that the Mustang is one of the best automotive values to be had...

16ish hours of driving, vast majority of it at 75-80 mph. 24-26 mpg - better than I expected with the 3.73 gearing and the friction of new moving parts.

• Fantastic performance!
• Busy but comfortable ride
• Road noise on rough pavement, but whisper quiet on smooth asphalt.
• Passing is NEVER an issue.. With the 3.73 gears in 6th gear, just press down and GO...
• Smooth, responsive steering - like its on rails except in gusty crosswinds*
• Solid and predictable in the corners, but requires being ready to unload it and maybe stab the accelerator if the rear end starts to get loose.
• Occasional "clunk" from rear end (RH side?) sounded like a U joint going bad - trying to sort that out...
• NAV system is clearly more a blessing than a curse, but it generated some truly comical moments... Selecting the Fuel Prices screen for "Best Price" gave me a Valero station in Barstow, and the NAV confidently guided me to the middle of a sparsely settled residential area about a mile from the actual station location... It would be cool to have Google Earth overlays for the NAV maps to see the area into which you're driving.
• Discovered that the "Distance remaining till empty" figure is 30+ miles conservative (probably to avoid lawsuits). Leaving for Vegas, the Distance Till Empty left me 40 miles short. On arrival in Vegas, I did an actual fuel burn check that indicated I could have made the 397 miles from door to door with about .8 gallons to spare... Could likely do it comfortably at 65 instead of 75.

* Had an extended stretch of 30+ mph gusty crosswinds approaching Barstow, and the "electro-steering" behaved strangely... the combination of strong gusts and passing downwind of the 18 wheelers seemed to confuse the steering... nothing unsafe, but it was twitchier than than direct or power steering under the same conditions.. System couldn't seem to make up its mind how to handle the situation.

Overall the drive is on my short list of best trips I've taken. Right up there with driving my new Camaro across the country decades ago.