Road Test: 2010 Ford Mustang

This summer looks like being the battle of the muscle cars, with new versions of the two biggest names in American metal – Mustang and Camaro.

You can see what we thought of the Camaro here. We liked it, a lot, but can it compare to the 2010 Mustang?

On paper, the Ford is hopelessly outclassed. It’s down on power and down on technology when put up against the Chevy, but the Mustang legacy and image is very, very strong, which gives the Blue Oval a much-needed boost.

Looks are important on a muscle car, and the Mustang is a handsome beast. It’s an overhaul of the last generation, rather than an entirely new car, and the improvements to the lights and grille work well. The car looks sleeker and meaner without losing its chunk factor and its retro look. Our test car came in a very snazzy shade of blue which really sets off the lines on it, and when we drove it around Dubai it turned heads. Which is what you want, in a car like this.

There are some nice design touches inside too. We particularly like the mirror covers on the sun visors, which are shaped just like the Mustang bonnet. The dials too have an awesome retro look, particularly the semi-circular speedo. It looks like a Mustang speedo should.

The car we drove had a very cool interior lighting pack. Open the door at night and a Mustang logo glows blue at you from the sill, and blue LEDs light up the footwell. Very smart.

Unfortunately, the quality of the interior is pretty shoddy. This is a 2010 car, but the quality of plastics harks back five years at least. The materials on the door and the centre console, for example, are horrible scratchy – reminiscent of the interior of a last generation Ford Fiesta, which is not a good thing.

There’s no feeling of solidity to the way things are screwed together either – the surround around the gearstick wobbles if you touch it, the central armrest moves around. And when I pulled down the sun visor on the driver’s side, it popped out of its mounting every time. It feels like there hasn’t been enough attention paid to the details that matter when you own the car.

One slightly odd problem we experienced was with the Ford SYNC sound system, which lets you plug in an iPod and use voice controls to literally ask for songs by name. I’d used it before in a Lincoln and it worked well, but in the Mustang it couldn’t recognise my commands – until I put on a fake American accent, and it worked straight away. Yee-haw.

There are more downsides too. Visibility through the rear is pretty lousy, mostly thanks to the tiny little rear windows. To be fair though, that’s the price you pay for the exterior looks – the high shoulders and low roof leave little room for glass, and if I were investing in a Mustang I’d specify the retro rear window louvres that Ford offers as an accessory.

To drive, the Mustang is… good. Not brilliant, but good. The noise is highly evocative – push your right foot down and the V8 ahead of you burbles away, sending gas blarting out of the exhaust and putting a big grin on your face. With 315bhp from the 4.6-litre lump it’s quick, but when you realise that the Camaro SS makes up to 422bhp from its 6.2 V8, the grin fades somewhat. The GT comes as standard with a five-speed manual transmission, although our test car had the optional five-speed automatic which is uncomplicated, but competent.

Handling is also not as good as the Chevy. Whereas the Camaro sports independent rear suspension, the Mustang doesn’t, relying on outdated technology that might as well be a big iron rod connecting the rear wheels together. And it shows around the corners, feeling less spry and nimble than the Chevrolet. However, in true muscle-car fashion, you can play with the back end (if you find a piece of land away from the main road, of course). The Mustang comes with AdvanceTrac (Ford’s electronic stability control system) that can be set to Sport for more leeway in tail-happy antics, and fully off if you just want to do donuts.

To read these points and come to the logical conclusion, you would say that we recommend the Camaro over the Mustang. And you’d be right – the Chevy feels better made, more advanced and packs more of a punch than the Ford.

And yet I still really like the Mustang, despite its flaws. When you’re sat in the leather-covered driver’s seat, one hand on the t-shaped gearstick and blapping the throttle, while staring out over the Mustang-badged steering wheel and the bulging bonnet, there’s definitely an emotional response and you’d need to be a die-hard GM fan not to acknowledge it.

So while Chevy wins this battle, the Ford deserves a round of applause nonetheless. I was still sorry to hand it back.

2010 Ford Mustang GT

Price (AED): from 140,000 to 170,000.

Engine: 4.6-litre V8 

Max power (bhp): 315

Max torque (Nm): 441

Driven wheels: Rear-wheel drive 

Trim levels: Premium, Premium accent 

Standard safety features: Advance Trac (electronic stability control), ABS,  driver and front seat passenger airbags, LATCH anchors for child safety seats, SOS Post Crash alert system, tyre pressure monitoring system.

 

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