Automotive Faqs

The new 2007 Ford Mustang GT Premium Coupe has arrived at with it all Mustang enthusiasts are eager to see how it will fare on the road. With its powerful V8 engine you can only imagine how fast it can be.

Ford has never forgotten to add the things that make this legendary car perfect: great looks, cheap as dirt to get into and a big stonkin’ V8 option on a live rear axle. Now that they’ve given it some thought (though likely passing on the live rear axle).

The big black grille and the hood’s leading edge creeping out over the top of it never fail to bring a wicked grin to my face. This generation of Mustang bears a lot of throwback styling cues like the grille, the hood, the profile and the back end, but it all comes together with a kind of futuristic Judge Dredd slickness, especially if you get it up to Shelby GT500 trim.

Between classic glossy colors and metallics and a variety of racing stripe colors, you can find Mustangs in just about any color combo you can dream up, with three interior color schemes that can be further customized with upgrade packages. The interior is all black, the comfy leather seats with horizontal ribbing feeling properly nostalgic while offering sufficient support, plus miles and miles worth of comfort.

Toss it around a bit, though, and you won’t soon mistake them for racing seats as bolstering is minimal and they are a bit slippery. Gauges are large, simple and clear, with the option of adjusting them to a variety of different colored illumination as part of the Interior Upgrade Package, plus the leather-wrapped dashboard which is a step up from the standard hard plastic unit.

The interior is not going to win any materials quality or assembly contests, but the look nails the combination of retro simplicity and nostalgic touches that gives it enough flair to be embraced and loved for its character and appeal, even enough to overlook its cheap plastics. Every seat is comfortable, too, the two back seats providing respectable adult accommodations, while the trunk offers American sedan, like stowage.

The source of the GT’s siren song is Ford’s old-school 4.6L V8, relying on displacement to pump out 300 hp and 320 lb-ft of torque, seemingly from zero rpms. Road and Track pinned it at 4.9 seconds from 0 to 60 mph, and I believe them as it has no problems getting off the blocks. Power comes on with a lot of low-end torque, meaning plenty of kick right out of the gate, and a five-speed manual.

The pedals are widely spaced and require a lot of pedal travel, so it’s not a great setup for tight corner work and lots of heel-toe downshifting, but I’m pretty sure that the majority of guys and girls that want to race their Mustangs will be worried more about the quarter mile than lap times. Because of this audience, it’s not necessarily a weakness, but in contrast with that surge of low-end torque, the engine gives up after 5,000 rpm. That’s just the nature of this beast, and you have to enjoy getting all of your love from it between 2,000 to 5,000 rpm, but peak torque is at 4,500 rpm.

Within those limitations, if driven right the Mustang can return performances that far outclass its price. While the live rear axle has a habit of hopping and skipping around corners with rough pavement, the kind you’d find in most any city, smooth roads or tracks mean you can control your speed into the corner and power out of it with the help of the limited slip differential that comes standard with the GT.

Then again, you can also smoothly step out the back and power oversteer through the corner if your aim is style points. The steering is firmly weighted but lacking in feel, so skill in handling this car will come through familiarity rather than instant communication. And compared to many other sports cars on the market today, the 235/55ZR17 rubber on 17-inch rims seemed decidedly high profile, with plenty of give in the corners as a byproduct of the compliant ride.

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