FORD MUSTANG GT

Head out on the highway...

THE EUPHORIA OF DRIVING A FERRARI for the first time in my life was not going to die down any time soon, but the adrenaline rush needs a soothing follow-up. Honestly, there’s no better soul-soother in the world than the Ford Mustang GT. You may say there’s a big V8 up front and the guys at Ford have line-lock feature in this car just to shred the rear tyres so violence is the name of the game, but, on the contrary, the joy of driving a Mustang is creaming the V8 on a highway with its light rumble on loop. The Mustang is a sweet, sweet thing between 1000 and 2000rpm, almost spa like, with those big ’ol American buckets, high set dash and even higher set bonnet, painting a romantic picture of a roadtrip in your mind. Its other name would be freedom.

So soothing it is that stabbing the firewall with the right foot after the sensory overload in the 488 feels wrong. But it’s a part of the fast six and one must find out how fast. So I stab it and, in its defence, the pony raises its nose, lowers its rear haunches and gallops with the grace you don’t associate with Americans. The rumble of the V8 gets louder and a series of bends later we hit the highway. Mustang territory.

If there’s one car that made the boring straight highway a fun piece of stretch to drive, it is the Mustang. Shades on, setting sun, Highway to Hell on loop and a cocky smile on my face, every time I drive a Mustang I have to repeat this clichéd picture. As far as fast cars go, find me a faster car to go cross country. The Mustang has compliant suspension, a big V8 engine, is a comfortable cruiser and has a boot big enough for a roadtrip. Ford detuned the engine to handle our fuel quality which may seem to short change you at first but it’s a smart move as Ford recently proved by getting journos to drive the Mustang across the country without a fuel issue whatsoever. Without an issue whatsoever actually. When was the last time you drove the length of the country in a sportscar? My guess is never, but you can with the Mustang, and at speeds you never would have imagined. For grand touring there’s nothing like it.