ROAD TEST: Ford Mustang 2.3T fastback
By: Denis Droppa
Johannesburg - Our first taste of the Ford Mustang, probably the most anticipated car launched in South Africa last year, was bittersweet. While we enjoyed the power and the character of the blue-oval’s pony car, the experience was blunted by an old-tech auto gearbox which felt like riding a racehorse that was wearing heavy rubber boots.
We felt the horse would gallop better with its other gearbox option, a six-speed manual which is available in both the Mustang 5-litre GT and 2.3-litre turbo versions. It’s the 2.3 manual derivative on test here, which at R699 900 is the most affordable Mustang you can buy, as the auto costs 20 grand more.
The choice between manual versus auto is fairly emotive and subjective and both have their adherents, but on a purely objective view the three-pedalled Mustang is, in our opinion, the better car.
Also read: We test the new Mustangs: V8 vs 4cyl
In our Gauteng performance test the manual version was quicker in a straight-line sprint than the auto, posting a 0-100km/h time of 6.6 versus 6.9 seconds and a quarter-mile of 14.6 versus 15.2 seconds. Notably, the manual 2.3 is only half-a-second shy of the 0-100 time of the automatic 5-litre (6.1 secs).
More importantly though, it was the delivery of the power that made the one with the clutch pedal the more satisfying drive. The auto version’s afflicted with a lazy torque converter transmission that won’t allow itself to be hurried, and its shifts feel obstructively slow when you’re trying to drive it as a Mustang should be driven. It’s a laid-back, old-school gearbox with none of the surgically-sharp responses of many of today’s modern automatics.
Unlocking its potential
In the manual, with the driver controlling the cog-changing, it’s much easier to exploit the turbocharged 233kW and 430Nm nestling under this pony car’s long hood. Admittedly it’s not the slickest manual we’ve tested and the gearshift and clutch are both a little stiff, but the lever snicks with precision through its gate and we didn’t miss any shifts. In fact, this slightly heavy feel suits the overall character of the American machine, which is more of a muscle cruiser than an outright sportscar.
This feeling is visually intensified by the ‘Stang’s very long bonnet which stretches ahead of the windscreen like a big piece of handling-muzzling real estate. This is not to say the American car can’t get around corners at a decent lick. It can, and there’s plenty of driver entertainment to be had even though it doesn’t carve curves with the finesse of a German rival like the BMW 3 Series.
With that long nose the Mustang doesn’t have the sharpest turn-in, but it has sticky tyres that don’t break traction easily, a hunkered-down feel, and firm suspension (now independent at the rear end compared to the bakkie-like solid axle of previous Mustangs) that prevents excessive body roll. It carves curves with a very neutral feel and doesn’t run early into fun-sapping understeer.
Switching off the traction control allows power slides that are nice and controllable, and there’s sufficient power to elicit some tail-out action without turning the car into a snorting, wide-eyed handful of opposite-lockery.
All good, and you can lay chilli sauce onto this all-American burger by pressing buttons that quicken throttle response and harden the steering.
‘Strangled’ war cry!
There’s no button to spice up the rather tepid sound of that turbocharged Ecoboost engine, though. The strangled little war cry of the four-cylinder motor is out of sync in a car that looks all fire and brimstone, as if they got Milli Vanilli to do the lip-syncing.
Apart from the sound it’s a likeable engine. Together with the aforementioned sub-seven second 0-100 ability, it’s a tractable power delivery that pulls strongly from low revs. Fuel consumption’s fairly palatable too, and our test car averaged around 10 litres per 100km in a town/freeway mix.
The Mustang still rocks the visual richter scale and the novelty clearly hasn’t worn off in the seven months since the car was launched in SA. Parking the car never fails to elicit a few picture-snapping onlookers who clearly appreciate the brash, muscular lines of this born-in-the-USA coupé.
At night the Mustang-shaped light is projected onto the floor next to the car when you press the remote unlocking, another audience-pleasing party trick.
There is some internal eye candy too, most notably the steel toggle switches and the Mustang logo in the steering wheel, but the overall cabin quality simply doesn’t come up to scratch compared to the Germans or Jaguar.
This ain’t no family car either and space in the two back bucket seats is tight, with passengers’ heads squashed right under the rear windscreen.
The boot is reasonably spacious (helped by the fact that there’s no spare wheel) and with the rear seats flipped down the car’s even large enough to take a bicycle.
VERDICT
Modern autos – especially dual-clutch ones of the PDK and DSG variety – are becoming so quick and slick that they’re making manuals basically passé.
The Ford Mustang bucks this trend and its charms are still more enjoyable with the driver’s left arm and left leg involved in proceedings. Now if they could only make that 2.3 engine holler.
Star Motoring
FACTS
Ford Mustang 2.3T fastback
Engine: 2.3-litre, 4-cylinder turbopetrol
Gearbox: 6-speed manual
Power: 233kW @ 5500rpm
Torque: 430Nm @ 2500-4500rpm
0-100km/h (claimed): 6.6 seconds
Top speed (claimed): 239km/h
Price: R699 900
Warranty: 4-year / 120 000km
Service plan: 5-year / 100 000km