The history of the Ford Mustang has been covered many, many times before and if you know your cars, most of you out there will already be fans of this iconic piece of American muscle after all, the 2015 Mustang is offered with a 5.0I V8 offering 410 bhp, a combined 22.1 mpg and CO2 emissions of 289 g/km.
Sitting down into the cabin and what’s immediately clear is the attention to detail bestowed upon the interior with a quality feel to all controls. Switches feels chunky and solid, the dials glow with an intense, green luminosity which contrasts beautifully with the blue ambient lighting and stark metal of the retro switches and muscular gear shift. Retro touches abound with the speedometer proudly displaying its impressive ‘groundspeed’ nomenclature, a touch of yesteryear that will surely please Mustang fans of old. There’s the iconic double-brow facia, those aircraft style toggle switches for hazard lights, traction control, steering and driving modes and a leather clad steering wheel that feels just right in your hands.
However, between the dials there’s a digital feedback screen offering selectable information depending on need, such as mpg, distance to empty, trip, odometer and such like whilst both Convertible and Fastback have a centrally mounted 8″ colour touchscreen with Applink, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and Ford’s impressive SYNC 3 system. And in everyday use? The touchscreen is so simple to use that it becomes integral to your enjoyment allowing you to configure your Mustang exactly how you want it to be.
With keyless ignition it’s foot on the clutch time and a press of the red rimmed start stop button to wake the 5.0I V8 and Oh My word, that rumble, it is so expressive, so visceral, you can feel the power and fury of the Mustang’s power plant. You can’t help but sink back into the comfortable leather drivers seat and blip the throttle one more time just to enjoy the moment. Superb.
In normal driving mode the Mustang easily lives up to it’s muscular reputation as you feel your way through the revs. Stick to gentle touches of the throttle and the Mustang rewards you with silky smooth power but search a bit deeper and you can sense the Mustang’s true personality lurking just beneath the surface. The 5.0I V8 is perfectly suited to the car, infact, an upgraded valvetrain and cylinder heads help the engine to develop it’s 410 bhp and 390 Ib/ft of torque whilst a specially developed intake manifold also improves low speed breathing for better fuel efficiency and emissions.
With the engine moved up into sport+ the smooth automatic gearbox works it’s role with relish, changing up and down the ‘box with nary a whimper whilst utilising all of it’s six gears, but begin to push and the gears quickly drop down allowing the engine to sit bang in the middle of it’s torque curve creating a sense of unlimited acceleration, testing to the limit the Mustang’s all independent suspension, suspension that Ford say: has been tuned to provide anti-squat, anti-lift and anti-dive characteristics. This helps keep the Mustang’s body more level under hard acceleration or braking. And it’s a feeling that you’ll never tire of, the noise, the sense of occasion and the feeling of power is utterly addictive.
There aren’t many cars these days that create such a strong feeling of desire so very, very quickly and would appear to offer an almost perfect mix of power, poise and looks to the consumer and yet this 5.0I V8 all American icon can be on your drive for between £38,095.00-£44,895.00 and that is an absolute bargain.
Where will you go?