2016 Ford Mustang Review : First Drive

July 13 2016

Whether you’ve been waiting since 1964 (when the original Mustang was launched) or since early this year – when the brand new Mustang GT was showcased at the Auto Expo – it’s been a long wait. But the legend is finally here!

There are few terms as ubiquitous as ‘Mustang.’ It has the same level of recognition with muscle car as coke has with soft drink, or Madonna has with pop music. This is, after all, the original pony car – the one that started it all!

Fortunately, then, this isn’t the first time that I’ve driven a Mustang. In fact, it isn’t even the first time that I’ve driven a Mustang on our soil. But it certainly is the first time that I’ve driven a car with a wild horse on the front grille that you can buy from your local Ford dealer. You took your time Ford, but if there was ever a time to launch a right-hand drive Mustang it’s now…

You see, the sixth-generation Mustang (this one) has been designed from a clean sheet of paper – and, by all accounts, they appear to have done a pretty good job. Get this – the Mustang is the best-selling sports car in Germany at present. If that isn’t a ringing endorsement for a muscle car I don’t know what is. And, really, all it takes is one look to know that they seem to have got it just right. I mean, what a beauty! Although, I have to say that I wouldn’t particularly want the weight of expectation – especially from the rabid muscle car fans – on my shoulders when the time comes to pen a new model of the Mustang from scratch. Fortunately, then, the designers looked to the past for inspiration. But, at the same time, it doesn’t look retro. Yes, it looks like a direct descendent of the car that debuted in 1964 but it looks thoroughly modern at the same time – and achieving that balance is no mean feat.

The Mustang certainly retains the proportions of a pony car – long bonnet, rearward cabin, and fastback tail. And sitting on those black, multi-spoke 19-inch alloys it looks oh so purposeful indeed – that’s worth the price of admission alone. And a price that, well, is steep at 65 lakhs (Ex-showroom, Delhi) but not entirely obnoxious either. After all, the only other car with sporting pretensions in the same vicinity is the Audi TT – and that’s short 3.0 litres, 4-cylinders, and 175 horses on the Mustang. That’s right, what we’re getting is the full fat GT that proudly sports a fittingly massive ‘5.0’ badge on both front fenders. This massive V8 (4,951cc to be precise) produces 401PS (396bhp) at 6,500rpm and 515Nm at 4,250rpm. With all the power going to the rears (of course), this should be more than adequate to propel this 1,770-kilo beast to 100km/h from a standstill in just over 5 seconds. On this day, we got a mere five (un-timed) laps around the BIC – an appetizer so to speak. So you can be sure that we’ll be back at the BIC sooner rather than later to do a full track test with lap times and telemetry data. Read More