CONVERTIBLE HAS POWER, LOOKS
Ford Mustang GT is first choice if you’re looking for a genuine pony car
Occasionally, we hand the keys of a test vehicle to two of our experts. Here’s what auto journalists David Booth and Lesley Wimbush think about the 2017 Ford Mustang GT convertible. Lesley Wimbush: I know what you’re thinking. “Female, blond, mature: it’s almost a guaranteed no-brainer that she loves a convertible.”
While there’s something incredibly self-gratifying about low-speed cruising past a crowded patio in a hot car, the downsides to going topless make it a deal breaker for me. Obviously, David, given your follicle challenges, you can’t relate to the experience of 90 km/h winds whipping your long tresses into a Medusa-like nest of cheek-stinging nettles. I also despise the taste of my own hair. And while it is kind of fun to see and be seen (at low speeds), it wears thin when you’ve got to vacuum the dust, sand, and tree pollen from every nook and cranny afterward. Not that I had much of a chance to stow the roof, anyway. David Booth: If you’re looking for an argument from me, you’ll have to go elsewhere. I’ll see your “hair whipping in the wind” and raise you a “bald spot prone to the most painful sunburn imaginable.” The hats I’ve lost trying to avoid such frying of scalp would probably add up to the GDP of Albania. So that you know, I’ll take a hardtop coupe every day of the year. Besides, it’s better looking. LW: OK, I hadn’t thought of that, but apart from hair/no-hair issues vis-a-vis convertibles, I really like the Mustang’s take on the ragtop theme. Despite what I said previously about droptops, I’d make an exception for this one. I’ve always found the clean roofline of a coupe more aesthetically appealing; even the nicest convertibles have the look of sneakers paired with a tux.
But this is a pretty car. I particularly like how the black racing stripes fade across the hood. The red leather interior is a stunner, but perhaps I’m a little too old and grouchy to appreciate the ambient lighting’s customizable palette. Glowing purple gauges and footwells are more Lady Gaga than the classic rock I listen to. DB: I did find the glowing purple gauges a little juvenile. Besides, I don’t think there’s much cross shopping between the raver crowd and Mustangs. That said, good looks have always been a Mustang forte and this one is no exception. LW: And the GT still projects the swaggering attitude of its muscle-car roots. Dropping down into the deep bucket seat, you grip a fat, solid wheel and peer over a brawny, muscular snout. And like a good North American muscle car should, it has a clutch to bang it into first gear. A pleasant surprise was my expectations of a heavy clutch being dashed. Remember the cement-mixer take-up of the previous Shelby-tuned Mustang GT500? But clutch and gearbox are delightful, really encouraging footwork and shift interplay as you row your way through the nicely positioned throws. DB: Sorry, Lesley, we were on the same page until the transmission accolades. And while the manual is not the rock crushers of yore, it’s difficult to see it as sophisticated and buttery smooth as Europe’s finest. And, yes, to you Trumpites already putting pen to paper denouncing me as eurozone apologist, some of those European transmissions do have to put up with the same level of torque as a good ol’ Yankee Doodle Dandy V-8. LW: OK, but you have to agree Ford’s monster 5.0-litre V-8 sings the siren song of an angry brontosaurus. The rumbling exhaust note is music to the ears of every muscle-car aficionado. Its 435 horsepower and 400 pound-feet of torque are sufficient to leave two black strips at every stop light, if that’s your thing. But it’s the chassis and suspension engineering that are truly impressive. The Mustang has been around for 52 years, and while the original pony cars are iconic collectibles, they weren’t known for their handling. Like most muscle cars, they were able to drop the hammer and look pretty saucy while doing so, but turning wasn’t really their forte. These new Mustangs handle as well as some of the two-doors from Audi and BMW. Instead of the brute, unpredictability of the more powerful Mustangs from even a few years ago, the GT’s sophisticated suspension is pliable, yet firm. It soaks up bumps and potholes, yet stays flat and composed through the tightest on-ramps. DB: Ford’s big V-8 truly does sing. Mercedes has been copying its basso profundo for years, so you might as well get the real deal. And it’s also plenty grunty for those needing to peel out, which is seemingly a Mustang owner’s favourite pastime. Whatever the case, the big V-8 is a gem. As for Mustangs handling as well as “some” BMWs, I’d counter that it says more about BMW going soft than Ford suddenly becoming more sophisticated. The steering is a bit more communicative and the brakes are not so bad, but it must be said that this Mustang still feels a bit brutish in the way it plows around corners. Give it full points for precision, a few less for finesse. LW: Can we at least agree that the current gen is the most refined in its 50-year history? Give me the streamlined simplicity of a hardtop coupe over the ragtop’s novelty, and I’ll drive this Mustang all day long. DB: The Mustang is not my cup of tea, but I seethe appeal. It feels more North American than the Chevrolet Camaro, which still looks vaguely foreign and sounds — in V-6 guise, at least — decidedly European. The Dodge Challenger, authentic to its core, is a portly beast sportified only by outrageous amounts of power. Fast it may be, but corners flummox it. That leaves the Mustang, master of perhaps no specific attribute, but sufficiently capable in all to be first choice among those looking for a genuinely North American pony car.