Vehicle: 2005 Ford Mustang GT Coupe with red leather sports bucket seats, interior upgrade pkg and interior accent pkg
Price as tested: CDN$35565

Performance: The new Mustang is powered by 2 engines. A DOHC 4.0L V6 with 210 ponies and 240 lb/ft of torque and the V8 in our tester, an OHV 4.6L 24-valver that bumps out a healthy 300 horses and 320 lb/ft of torque. After years of refining the pushrod technology, this V8 feels a lot more refined than before. With 320 lb/ft of torque available at 4500 rpm, there are plenty of torque available in the bottom end. Just like many pushrod units, this V8 still somewhat lacks the high rev punch when pushed into redline. The throttle response is very quick without being too abrupt. It also comes with a beautiful exhaust note that is typical of American pushrod V8 muscle car. Unlike all the muscle cars preceding this Mustang, it actually has a refined and sophiscated feel. While the 5-speed stick shift provides decent ratios and gates are well defined, it feels notchy when rowing through gears. The clutch feels heavier than its predecessors which means it has better feel. It feels progressive while the grabbing point is at the right place.

Handling: Instead of going for rear independent suspension, Ford decided to keep the panhard rod in order to please those drag racers. Despite that, Ford has done a really good job on improving Mustang’s dynamic qualities. With the newfound chassis that shares with Thunderbird, Lincoln LS and Jaguar S-Type, its torsional rigidty is 31% stiffer than its predecessor. Unlike its predecessor, there are no more chassis flex and rattles when going through bumps and rough pavements. The whole car feels solid and built right from the single bullet which I can never said that about previous Mustangs. The steering feels a lot sharper, responsive and precise when hustled through corners. Both the off and on-center feel are huge improvements. However, the turn-in still feels a bit too light for my liking. Another stubborn Ford tuning regarding this Mustang is the amount of understeer, it still has way too much understeer for a rear-driver. Yes, understeer is easier to control for unskilled drivers in a front driver. However, it prefers a bit more oversteer than understeer in this rear-driver although the target audience of Mustang prefers latter.

Brakes: Another area Ford has addressed is the pedal feel. Previous Mustang’s pedal feels mushy and easily fade after a couple of hard stops. Not so in the new Mustang. With 4-wheel discs and standard ABS, the pedal feels firm and easily modulated. The pedal effort feels just right when you hit the anchor.

Interior: Inside the new Mustang, everything are tastefully layout with a nice set of instrumentation gauges and decent ergonomics. The interior upgrade package includes in our tester offers 8 different colors for people who want to play around their car’s instrumentation colors. While its a nifty touch, I found this a grimmick. The seats are comfortable and provide decent support, however, it still feels too flat for a proper sports car. Other than the amount of hard plastic, my other complaint of Mustang’s interior is the handbrake lever. When the handbrake is up, its position feels awkward due to the height and size.

Conclusion: Despite of my criticisms, the 2005 Mustang is indeed the best Mustang ever. It finally got the chassis, refinement and quality it deserves. Ford is also smart enough to inject some sophiscation that lacks in all muscle cars. In short, a very nice package.

OVERALL VERDICT FOR 2005 FORD MUSTANG GT COUPE
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Performance: 4.75/5
Handling and ride/fun-to-drive: 4/5
Interior/ergonomics/user-friendliness: 4/5
Fit-and-finish/build quality: 4/5
Cargo/accessibility/layout: 2/5
Value-for-money: 5/5

Overall rating: 4/5