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DRIVEN: Mustang GT Delivers The Goods
With another facelift and more power from its 5-liter V8, the six-speed coupe stays ahead of the fun quotient while retaining its retro charm.
The 2013 Ford Mustang GT shows off its new front-end styling in s silver, stripe-delete paint scheme. (Photo: Bob Golfen)
Ford Mustang soldiers on for 2013 with its third facelift in four years, while still keeping the faith with retro styling that harks back to the ’60s.
There’s an all-new Mustang waiting in the wings for 2015 that promises to be a thorough update of the original pony car, but for now, there are plenty of Mustang fanatics who like it just the way it is.
Mustang is the everyman sports car – nearly everybody I know over a certain age has owned a Mustang some time in their lives, including me. Mustang again established itself as a centerpiece for auto enthusiasts at the recent SEMA show, where it scored the highest number of customized versions of any car model on the floor.
I’ve driven all manner of late-model Mustangs, from the 305-horsepower V6 version to the full-on Shelby GT500, and I’ve had fun in every one of them. The favorite has to be the Boss 302 that I drove last year, which has such a balance of performance, attitude and sports-car drivability. But there’s much to be said for even the least-expensive Mustang V6.
Now, I’ve driven the latest Mustang GT, a basic V8-powered coupe with close-ratio six-speed manual transmission. This is the classic setup, fog lights in the grille and all, that has set hearts racing since the beginning, what, 48 years ago.
And it’s held up well. Ford says it has taken some of the lessons learned with the Boss 302 and applied them to the GT, and the improvements in power and finesse are apparent.
The GT remains a blend of roaring muscle car and agile sports coupe, and I find it trimmer and more everyday drivable than its key domestic competitors, Chevrolet Camaro and Dodge Challenger.
The 2013 version of the 5-liter V8 pounds out 420 horsepower, up from 412 last year, and 390 pound-feet of torque that provides a satisfying thrust of acceleration with an appropriately thunderous soundtrack. The six-speed snicks into gear with precision. A six-speed automatic is also available, but hey.
Fuel mileage is pretty sparse. I averaged about 15 mpg, according to the trip computer, but I had my foot in it a lot during my weeklong test drive. This is where another consideration comes in: the 305-horsepower base model with its V6 engine and much-improved fuel mileage is also a pretty satisfying Mustang with decent performance, especially with stickshift.
No, the hard-charging torque and muscular roar are not there, but you have to ask yourself how much that is worth to you.
The 2013 Mustang blends the new with the old, the biggest throwback being its solid rear axle, the straight-beam “live-axle” setup embraced by drag racers and off roaders. This is where critics lay most of their complaints about Mustang, that the solid axle puts it behind the times in sports-car finesse and refinement. When even lowly econo-boxes are riding on independent rear suspensions, it does make you wonder.
Doesn’t really bother me, though. I find Mustang’s handling to be firm and balanced, maybe a bit old school but still acceptably poised on back roads. The GT does get kind of squirrely in back when you throw it into sharp curves. The electronic stability control steps in to prevent a garish spin, but the ragged edge comes up a little sooner than expected.
From what we’re hearing, the next generation of Mustang that’s coming up soon will take a whole new approach, restyled in a less-reminiscent fashion and with a modern IRS setup.
There’s an all-new Mustang waiting in the wings for 2015 that promises to be a thorough update of the original pony car, but for now, there are plenty of Mustang fanatics who like it just the way it is.
Mustang is the everyman sports car – nearly everybody I know over a certain age has owned a Mustang some time in their lives, including me. Mustang again established itself as a centerpiece for auto enthusiasts at the recent SEMA show, where it scored the highest number of customized versions of any car model on the floor.
I’ve driven all manner of late-model Mustangs, from the 305-horsepower V6 version to the full-on Shelby GT500, and I’ve had fun in every one of them. The favorite has to be the Boss 302 that I drove last year, which has such a balance of performance, attitude and sports-car drivability. But there’s much to be said for even the least-expensive Mustang V6.
Now, I’ve driven the latest Mustang GT, a basic V8-powered coupe with close-ratio six-speed manual transmission. This is the classic setup, fog lights in the grille and all, that has set hearts racing since the beginning, what, 48 years ago.
And it’s held up well. Ford says it has taken some of the lessons learned with the Boss 302 and applied them to the GT, and the improvements in power and finesse are apparent.
The GT remains a blend of roaring muscle car and agile sports coupe, and I find it trimmer and more everyday drivable than its key domestic competitors, Chevrolet Camaro and Dodge Challenger.
The 2013 version of the 5-liter V8 pounds out 420 horsepower, up from 412 last year, and 390 pound-feet of torque that provides a satisfying thrust of acceleration with an appropriately thunderous soundtrack. The six-speed snicks into gear with precision. A six-speed automatic is also available, but hey.
Fuel mileage is pretty sparse. I averaged about 15 mpg, according to the trip computer, but I had my foot in it a lot during my weeklong test drive. This is where another consideration comes in: the 305-horsepower base model with its V6 engine and much-improved fuel mileage is also a pretty satisfying Mustang with decent performance, especially with stickshift.
No, the hard-charging torque and muscular roar are not there, but you have to ask yourself how much that is worth to you.
The 2013 Mustang blends the new with the old, the biggest throwback being its solid rear axle, the straight-beam “live-axle” setup embraced by drag racers and off roaders. This is where critics lay most of their complaints about Mustang, that the solid axle puts it behind the times in sports-car finesse and refinement. When even lowly econo-boxes are riding on independent rear suspensions, it does make you wonder.
Doesn’t really bother me, though. I find Mustang’s handling to be firm and balanced, maybe a bit old school but still acceptably poised on back roads. The GT does get kind of squirrely in back when you throw it into sharp curves. The electronic stability control steps in to prevent a garish spin, but the ragged edge comes up a little sooner than expected.
From what we’re hearing, the next generation of Mustang that’s coming up soon will take a whole new approach, restyled in a less-reminiscent fashion and with a modern IRS setup.
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