Ford Mustang

The Mustang is landing. It’s big, brash and oozes confidence, but might be a little too much for some

WHAT IS IT?

We know what you’re thinking: why on earth would I be interested in an left-hook muscle car brought into the UK by some dodgy US import dealer called something like Big John’s Stateside Motors? The correct answer to that is that you wouldn’t be. But here’s the thing, from autumn 2015 you’ll be able to pop into your nearest Ford dealer and come out with one of these. In right hand drive. With a lily-livered four cylinder engine if you so wish. And a full UK warranty. Sound good? Of course it does. This is the all-new Mustang, specifically designed to be sold in markets outside of America and as well as a 5.0-litre V8, you can now have it with a 2.3-litre turbocharged Ecoboost engine.  

DRIVING

Confession: so far we’ve only driven the V8, although we suspect that in the UK the turbo four will be the more popular choice – not least because it’ll be a fair bit more efficient. We’ve also only driven the Mustang in America, where it felt, well, close to perfect, built for the place. Here it’ll doubtless feel larger on the road and as a result less wieldy. But don’t go thinking it’s a talentless heffalump. The new rear suspension has transformed the car’s stability and ride control, and although we’d stop short of saying the Mustang has the long range ease of a Bentley, it sucks up distance effortlessly, plus steers pleasingly accurately and is easily rapid enough. 

ON THE INSIDE

It may be big on the outside, but the Mustang isn’t a exactly packaging masterclass within. The boot’s suitably commodious, but fitting normal-sized adult humans into the boot into the back seat isn’t an easy undertaking. Especially not if you tick the box for the optional Recaro seats. You really should, though: they are absolutely magnificent bucket chairs. 

Build quality isn’t going to rival the TT and nor is design (it contrasts starkly with the Audi’s ‘virtual cockpit’ sophistication), but that’s not the Mustang’s schtick – it’s all about delivering a laidback feelgood factor, and it does that pretty darn well. 

OWNING

This is a bit of an unknown and it’ll be interesting to see what Ford comes up with to encourage potential owners to buy a car that appears so intrinsically American. It will be thirsty – yes, even the 2.3-litre Ecoboost – and it thus won’t be cheap to tax. People will also be concerned about residuals so lease deals are unlikely to be a bargain. In theory, reliability shouldn’t be an issue, but with driving conditions in the UK being very different to America it is possible that unforeseen issues may occur. Are you bold enough to give it a go, cowboy?

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE RANGE

Title	0–62	CO2	MPG	BHP	Price
THE FASTEST 5.0 V8 GT 2dr Auto		281g/km	23.5	421	£34,340
THE CHEAPEST 2.3 EcoBoost 2dr	5.8s	179g/km	35.3	317	£29,590
THE GREENEST 2.3 EcoBoost 2dr	5.8s	179g/km	35.3	317	£29,590

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