2016 Ford Mustang GT Review
The Ford Mustang looks sizzling hot and offers savage performance with its hefty V8 engine
‘There is no replacement for displacement’. An age old saying popular amongst the performance enthusiasts but does it still hold true today? With the world moving towards turbos, the large displacement cars are more or less redundant. Performance may still be the same but it’s more like the soul extracted from the body. Then there are cars which are icons in their own right, the Ford Mustang being one of them. Trust the Americans to deliver with big muscle, brawny proportions and large displacement engines, the perfect combination for a petrolhead. The Mustang, right from 1964 has followed the same principles and we are glad.
Currently in its 6th generation, the Ford Mustang has always had a cult following. Kids of our generation have grown up driving this beauty in the virtual world, be it ‘Forza Motorsport’ or ‘The Need For Speed’. This is the first time, this sports car is available in right-hand drive mode and the good blokes at Ford India were quick to get this to Indian shores. We were amongst the lucky few who had the opportunity to unleash it at no better a venue than the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida.
The interiors are loaded with advanced tech but look simple with the retro feel
The Ford Mustang is a looker and there is no denying that. The red looks gorgeous but the yellow shade takes provocation to another level altogether. The American lineage is evident by its proportions which typically has a long hood with sharp character lines and the coupe styling. Attention to detail is worth a mention and we love the DRLs. The interiors too are inspired by the cockpit of an airplane with switchgear to match the same.
Now lets get to the main talking point, performance. Globally the Ford Mustang comes with a host of engine options including the 2.0-litre EcoBoost but in India you can buy it only in the 5.0-litre V8 guise. This naturally aspirated monster produces 401 PS of raw power and 515 Nm of twisting force and is mated to a 6-speed automatic gearbox that transmits all the power to the rear wheels. The car comes with four driving modes but we eagerly switched to the track mode to make the most of the situation.
The Ford Mustang GT loves to be pushed around the corners and how
In the track mode, the ESP turns off, the suspension tightens up, gearbox gets more aggressive and you need to manually shift with the help of paddles. Acceleration is brisk and you literally get a feeling of being pushed into your seat. It comes with an interesting new feature called ‘Line Lock’, which other than being a party trick, helps you get optimum traction for drag racing. When you activate this feature, the system will lock the front wheels so that you can do a burnout with the rear tyres that lays rubber on the tarmac and offers better traction when you launch the Mustang.
The chassis is set up beautifully, even better than that is the steering wheel which offers terrific feedback and weighs up just perfectly. If you push the Ford Mustang too hard while entering a corner, it tends to understeer but give it some beans while exiting the corner and it gets the tail out cleanly. The ‘Pony’ was quite eager to turn in, following through quite well too. The brakes bite well and encourage you to push this beast harder, the feel being quite progressive and predictable.
As all good things come to an end, our track experience was brief but good enough to know why the Ford Mustang falls into the elite category of muscle cars. Launching the Mustang in India is a welcome move by Ford and also a very good brand building exercise for the Detroit based manufacturer. The icing on the cake is that Ford has launched it at a very competitive price making the Mustang the most affordable V8 you can buy but only 100 units are allotted to India for the first lot, so better hurry up as no deal is sweeter than this for the performance enthusiast.
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