Don’t look a gift horse like the Ford Mustang GT in the mouth

Since its debut at the New York World’s Fair in April 1964, more than 10 million Ford Mustangs have been sold across seven generations.

The car has made thousands of appearances in film, television, music and video games and is also the world’s most-liked vehicle on Facebook.

It has been the best-selling sports car in the US since its launch and the best-selling sports car globally for the past 10 years.

Ford Mustang GT enters fray

You can love them, you can hate them, you can even mock them for climbing pavements into crowds every time they leave a car meet. But one thing you can’t do is ignore a Ford Mustang. The new seventh-generation GT The Citizen Motoring had on test was testament to this. Not the climbing pavement part, but the hard to ignore part, because wherever I went in the car, people stared, and the comments were all positive.

The Ford Mustang is to car culture what Harley Davidson is to motor biking. The cool kids don’t get them and dismiss them as slow and noisy, while there will always be a niche group of enthusiasts that have the money and hanker after that old school performance vibe that only this iconic car gives off.

This brings us to the crux of this road test; the power and the drive that you get for R1 300 000 in an era of smaller capacity, hard boosting, turbocharged engines. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Up front, under the long bonnet, sits the trusty old 5.0-litre V8 naturally aspirated lump that we have come to know over the years.

ALSO READ: Wild stallion Ford Mustang Dark Horse price confirmed

Smooth auto shifting

In its latest iteration, this Coyote engine produces 328kW of power and 540Nm of torque driven down to the rear wheels through Ford’s 10-speed auto. Purists might whine about the standard Tremec six-speed manual box not being offered in SA, but local historic sales data indicates that the people who actually lay out the cash for a Ford Mustang, prefer that their Mustangs self-shift.

Talking of which, and I know you hate to admit it, but when it comes to getting off the line and posting the best acceleration numbers, a machine is always going to be quicker than a human, and the GT on test here backed up this statement 100%.

The 338kW 10kW stronger, but slightly heavier Mustang Bullitt could only get to 100 km/h in a rather disappointing 6.24 seconds. My smooth shifter hit the same speed at a much improved 4.96 seconds. It doesn’t get any better after this. The Bullitt is 10km/h behind a quarter mile and the half mile and is almost two seconds slower from 100 through 200 km/h.

For straight line stuff the 10-speed does good work, but for me, it’s when you hit a racetrack or bunch of tighter corners out on the road that 10 is simply too many gears for the car to make the most of the conditions. I would prefer a faster, more aggressive, shifting double clutch gearbox with four to three gears shaved off the end.

Dynamic enhancements

This doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy your Ford Mustang at a track day. Bundled into the selling the price is the Performance Pack, which adds a host of track-focused features including a front suspension tower brace, Torsen limited slip differential, MagneRide active suspension, wider rear wheels and tyres, along with larger 390mm front and 355mm rear Brembo brakes.

Furthermore, the Performance Pack adds brake ducts for enhanced cooling and a standard auxiliary engine oil cooler. And just to make sure that everybody knows you are going fast, the car has an active valve performance exhaust system that allows you choose how quiet or loud you want the exhaust sound to be.

Most short-term test drivers will opt for the growl. While an owner will probably go for the quieter option until he has a reason to irritate the neighbours.

ALSO READ: Ford pulls the plug on electric Mustang Mach-E for South Africa

GT has moved the goalposts

The Ford Mustang also offers a segment-first electronic drift brake that takes new technology to the racetrack by unlocking the rear-wheel drive drifting capability of the car with the visual appeal and functionality of a traditional, mechanical hand brake. Did I ever try drifting this Ford Mustang? No. I have seen way too many clips of what happens when Mustangs go sideways.

All jokes aside, the new Ford Mustang GT is a substantially more dynamic car than it was before. And if you understand its limitations, you can actually have a lot of fun driving it fast.

The Dark Horse is even better and we are getting one on test soon. And if you don’t believe me, just Google Ford Mustang GTD and you will see where Ford Performance is heading with the Mustang.

Ford Mustang GT road test results