Took the new Mustang 5.0 out to the country – this is how it went…

Long snout, heavy engine and loads of fun to drive, for a moment I thought I was back behind the wheel of my old Capri – no not the nasty ‘not fit to use its name’ 2 seater – the proper Ford Capri, icon of the late 70’s and early 80’s UK.

The new Mustang pays homage to the good old ‘merican muscle car that adorned so many kids walls. Ford have given it a jet pilots cockpit theme and added some technical wizardry but the somehow they have managed to keep its manly (slightly non PC) feel about it.

My chariot was a 5.0L with full racing stripes and a manual gearbox, yes a little impractical for day to day city driving but what the heck, I only had it for a week and I wanted to change gears dammit! Rev the engine hard, drop the clutch and the rear end snakes out of junctions for all the world to see but on corners – even at speed – it grips well despite a heavy lump under the bonnet (and in the drivers seat for that matter). At 3000 rpm its voice breaks and the V8 calls out to whom ever wants to listen, it’s musical, bringing back visions of the chase scene in Bullet – oh the nostalgia.

It also has ‘launch control’ a first for me in a manual. You go into track apps, set the revs you want (3000 was good enough but will go up to 4500), put it into gear, press and let go of the brake, put your foot flat to the accelerator floor (the revs will sit at the preset 3000) and literally dump the clutch. Normally the car would stall but with launch control it just makes the wheels spin to grab purchase of the the road below – then off you speed – genius.

I have added a video to show and tell – sorry about missing 3rd gear!

For more Ford reviews click here