Muscle car segment is running hot right now thanks to Ford, Dodge and Chevrolet. Ford has just upped the ante with the 2011 Ford Mustang GT that showed up in our driveway with the brand new 5.0 V8 Engine.
Ford’s famous pony car has been around for 45+ years and Ford has sold quite a few of these. It says something about the Mustang that over all these years Ford has been able to maintain the core of this great muscle car.
The 2011 Ford Mustang GT Premium that showed up in our driveway had an eye catching Grabber Blue Exterior with Black Leather interior along with a manual transmission. It was also loaded with options such as 3.73 Ratio Limited Slip Axle, Brembo Brake Package and 19” premium painted wheels wrapped in 255/40/19s.
Without wasting any more time, we will go straight to the main talking point of this car – The All New 5.0 V8 Engine. We think Ford has done a remarkable job with this new engine that delivers power all over the power curve and maxes out at almost 7000 rpm. Ford states that this new engine will light up the rear wheels with 412HP at 6500 rpm and 390 lb-ft of torque. We can swear it appeared way more than that while we were testing this vehicle on the back roads. The 6-speed manual transmission is a match made in heaven for this engine and shifts aggressively yet smoothly. Ford has also struck a perfect combination with the suspension and this vehicle handles as good as it looks.
Although, we were very impressed with the Mustang’s exterior and performance, the interior still needs some work. We think that even though the retro styling is carried over to the interior of the vehicle, it still feels a little “cheap” inside. However, from the usability perspective, all the knobs are in the right places. We must admit that even though the interior felt cheap, the seats were almost perfect providing us a true performance driving experience.
What Ford has done with the Mustang GT is a true balance between an old-school muscle car and a modern day performance car. While the competitors are still focused more on the muscle part of the equation, Ford is providing everyone a car that is still true to its muscle-car styling while putting many modern day performance coupes to shame. This was evident in a recent feature where MotorTrend compared the 2011 Ford Mustang GT to a 2011 BMW M3 Coupe.
So the bottom line is that if you are in a market for a true performance coupe and don’t want to spend a fortune, then 2011 Ford Mustang GT is the car for you and trust us – you won’t be disappointed!
