2016 Ford Mustang GT review, test drive

Horsing Around

Press the starter button and what you hear is more burble than growl, a nod then to the ever-tightening sound level norms. But oh, what a burble it is! The smooth rasp has a deep bass to it which makes it more Joe Cocker than Bruce Springsteen. Internationally, the Mustang is available in three engine options – a 2.3-litre four-cylinder EcoBoost, a 3.5-litre V6 and of course, the 5.0-litre V8. Going the whole hog, Ford has brought to India the largest-engined Mustang, the 5.0 V8. And rightly so, this sixth-generation car looks every bit a Mustang, and so it should sound so too. Just don’t expect it to go easy on the gas tank; you’ll burn through its 60.9-litre tank rather quickly.  

We’ve got five laps on the Buddh circuit, which really didn’t give me a thorough driving impression but just a taste of what to expect. The Mustang has four selectable driving modes – Normal, Sport+, Track and Snow/Wet. In Sport+, the engine is allowed to rev that little bit more and feels more responsive too. What is evident though is the acceleration. It’s quick but not neck-snapping, and that’s because it’s let-down by a slow six-speed automatic gearbox. What is fun, however, is how the Mustang accelerates. Stamp down on the nicely sprung accelerator pedal and the car squats onto its haunches and shoots forward. For the first time in its history, the Mustang has an all-independent suspension setup, and out on the track this probably does help. The handling feels fine but the car does roll a lot.

Braking is handled by discs all round that provide a decent amount of stopping power, but after repeated hard use on the track there were signs of brake fade. What was more worrying though was the fact that after three to four laps, the car’s engines would overheat and go into safe mode. All this underscores the fact that this is not a track car; it’s like asking a boxer to do a 100m sprint. The steering though, is a delight, it has the right amount of weight and good feedback from the road and is probably quite nicely weighted up for everyday driving too.

Muscle Mania

At Rs 65 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi), the Mustang is priced very close the Audi TT, which is a more agile, sportier and better-built car. The Mustang on the other hand, changes gears slowly, rolls a lot and has quite a few cheap plastic bits. But that’s missing the point. You don’t buy such an icon for finesse or carving corners. You buy one because of the massive engine under the hood, and its ability to cruise effortlessly at high speeds. And of course, if you love the idea of lighting up the rear tyres with just the flex of your right foot (with traction control off, of course), the Mustang does this in spades! It may not be James Bond, but it sure is Rambo with the vocals of Elvis. Truly a great American muscle car.