Man! I am sooo jealous right now. I'm glad you like the new ride. I'm surprised you thought the exhaust was too quiet, after all of the hype about the resonator and all. Is it too quiet all the time, or only too quiet when cruising?

 

I'm curious to know as well. It will be too quiet for me i'm sure . I'm used to a lompy big Comp mechanical cam in my ex '69 Mach1. This thing would just turn heads with sound alone. I'm getting nostalgic again......

 

Where's the pics???

 

I'm interested in how much quieter the ride is cruising. Ford was supposed to add extra sound deadening material. Also, how much smoother is the ride? I know it has more power, that's a given. I'm more interested in how much nicer the overall riding experience is. My Mustang is a daily driver. I want a smooth ride, not a tank.

 

Pics and my first day impressions.

First, exhaust definitely could be louder at idle. Wide open pretty loud, but I wouldn't mind more. But that said the exhaust note is great, mellow, not poppy and pretty smooth.

Handles good, better than I figured the EPAS would. Sport mode will let you have enough fun for most of the time. It will still get pretty sideways on full on throttle around corners even with the traction control fully on.

Just from the butt dyno it seems to get the best launches with sports mode on, power brake till about 2000 RPM and then GO!

I decided to break it in a little before taking it to the 1/4 mile. There is a pretty strong smell of all the oil and sealants on the metal burning off, pretty sure its normal though.

It's way faster than my Audi A4, but thats not saying much. Going from AWD to RWD is taking some getting used to.

It definitely does drive like a smaller car than it looks, very fun through the corners. Barely any body roll, feel nice and tight.

The Automatic does a pretty good job, but obviously if you want maximum fun factor - get the stick. You can "shift" the automatic manually and have fun, but that first gear is short - bounced the red line a few time.

All in all, an excellent buy and I put about 125 miles on it so far today. Couldn't be happier with it.

 

Rides smooth, firm but smooth. Pretty quiet at highway speeds. Oh and the Auto runs about 2000 RPM at 70ish.

Mines a daily driver and its comfortable enough.

 

Congrats man!! glad you are enjoying it!!

 

Sounds good man. Seems like you're the first GT guy on here...congrats!

 

Interesting. My 08 is the same. I would've figured it'd be lower with a six speed and more HP.

 

Thanks for keeping us updated with the new ride. Great to hear some first hand experience from a regular guy like us.

 

Looks really good, I'm envious...

 

Maybe not the first GT owner, but certainly perhaps the first private GT owner (Evolution has had theirs for a few days now).

Sounds great! Only 9 more months 'til I get mine... *sigh* I think I'll at least get the award for "longest time between order and delivery"! (13 months!)

 

Congratulations on your car. It looks great in black.
Mine was built April 5th and I'm only 4.5 hours away from the plant, but the border crossing seems to slow down the process and I'm still "awaiting shipping".

Enjoy your ride!

 

Thanks. Do the blind spot mirrors seem useful? What kind of tires come with the 2011? You've got 10,000 miles to go before you change 10 quarts of oil.

 

1500 miles then royal purple for me.

 

+1!!

 

The Royal Purple headquarters and plant is very close to me and I used to be a big fan but they are just too over-priced.

I switched to Mobil 1, you can get 5 quart jugs for $22 at walmart. That price just makes the Royal Purple not make any sense to use, costs almost twice as much as the Mobil 1.

So, two jugs of Mobil 1 and a motorcraft filter and you can do a complete synthetic oil change on your new 5.0 for about $50, can't beat that.

 

Motorcraft Synthetic Blend usually costs around $2.40 per quart multiplied by 10 quarts costs $24.00. By contrast Mobil 1 usually costs around $4 per quart multiplied by 10 quarts costs $40.00. Royal Purple is even higher than that. I'm keeping Motorcraft in my 2008 GT/CS. Good enough.

 

I was thinking the same as some others, that it took 10 qts in a 5.0 but it is only 8, so it is even cheaper to change.

 

Right. And I sure wouldn't wait 10k miles to change as the 5.0 suggests. Not with the blow by contaminents. I'd just as soon by a quality oil and change it frequently, rather than super duper scientifically other worldly awesome and leave it in for the extended period synthetic advertises.

The synth might still have fantastic lubrication qualities - but its still getting contaminated by blow by gases.