2011 Ford Mustang GT 5.0
The ingredients needed to make a Mustang: horsepower, horsepower, and more horsepower, plus a chrome pony, a glove box, and a cigarette lighter. Thankfully, Ford has embellished on this old-fashioned recipe with a car that handles, gets decent fuel economy when driven mildly, and doesn’t consume your driveway like the much larger and heavier Chevy Camaro and Dodge Challenger.
The 412 hp and 390 lb-ft of torque, the latter on a gloriously flat curve that peaks at 4250 rpm, are achievements. It’s enough to knock out a 60-mph sprint in 4.6 seconds, and the quarter-mile in 13.2 seconds at 109 mph, which are more or less Camaro SS times. Finally, a Mustang engine that doesn’t have to eat dust from a Small Block.
But horsepower doesn’t tell the whole story. This V-8 is major evolutionary step for Ford, perhaps the best gasoline-burner the company has ever produced. It twists the tach needle quickly and without vibration but with a roar so menacing it makes the Camaro SS sound like a pickup truck. Detroit has long made cars that leap off the line in a burst, then flame out shortly thereafter. Ford has tuned the V-8’s throttle to be remarkably gentle and progressive, as if road racers in ballet shoes were the final editors of the software. Dare we say it? This engine is too good for this car.
For 2010, Ford spruced up the Mustang’s interior with soft-touch materials and more brightwork. But to get the full effect, you have to buy the Premium upgrade, a $3200 hit. On the base GT, plain, deep-grain plastic abounds, the steering rim a no more thrilling ring of plastic to grip than a hula hoop. The base interior is a bit impoverished considering the $30,495 starting price, much less our $32,980 as-tested price.
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