V6 Mustang TestDrive
I first have to admit that even though I've known this car has 210HP it was still not in my mind as a Sports Car. I mean really!! Never in my 31 years has a V6 Mustang been considered a muscle car. And maybe this still isn't. But it definitely falls into the sports car category now. For years car companies have put out amazing power with the V6 engine. Ford Motor Company seemed to be holding out till recently. Even GM had a 200HP V6 in their Camaro back in 1994. So what took Ford so long? I'm not sure. But I'm truly impressed with the Mustang. In all reality if it weren't for my work I never would have driven the V6. I picked up my V6 45th anniversary edition Mustang at 1 am from Hertz at the Kansas City International Airport. I was very tired and had a 40 minute drive to my hotel. I was happy to get a Mustang because well, I'm obsessed with them. The only thing that could have been better was if they gave me a convertible. But no luck. So I loaded in my luggage and get in the car. The V6 Mustang testdrive begins! The interior is really comfortable. Tan leather. Fully adjustable seat. The dash cluster is very easy to see. Not a cluttered mess like the Ford Escape. (which was my rental before this) The shifter and dash bezel give the feel of yesteryear. Styling is great. You can almost feel the rumble of the engine. Or was that the Shaker Sound System? In actuality the engine sounds like its being caged in. The little V6 has this faint rumble that seems to be blocked by the restrictive exhaust. Onto the road. The first thing I disliked was the drive-by-wire accelerator. There is a small second or so delay before the car moves. Which is hard to get use to. But hey, that's what all the aftermarket performance companies are here for right?! I gave it a little gas and was quite shocked. I couldn't believe how quick this thing was. I think you know what was next! Yep, matted it to the floor to see what she's got. And despite the 3600 or so lbs. this pony has some geddy-up and go in 'er.My tiredness was gone for the time being. It didn't matter that it was now 1:15 am and I had to be to work at 5:30 am. The expressway was a little noisy inside the car. But much better than my '85gt. The ride was very smooth in comparison also. Steering was very responsive. 4-wheel disc brakes make stopping very easy. Or helps when you need to slow down for upcoming SLOWER traffic. Need to pass someone? No problem. I passed many people without a hesitation. (besides the 2 seconds I mentioned earlier) Didn't even feel like I was going 80MPH... go figure. My V6 Mustang testdrive didn't end at the hotel. Ok, well for that night it did. But I still have it as I am writing this. I've had the car for 4 days now. Even with the tall "road" tires this thing handles and sticks pretty well. Now remember this is city/highway driving I'm talking about. Don't think this car is ready to hit the track. The transmission reminds me of the one in the Ford Five Hundred (which I loved as a rental car and is now known as the Ford Taurus). As it shifts through the gears(yes it's an automatic) the RPM's don't drop down like I'm use to seeing in cars. It keeps the rev's up and the car just keeps pulling. It hits its peak shortly before 6000 though. For you family's out there, the back seat is really only big enough for kids. And I mean small kids. Or for your drunk friends who are being obnoxious!! And if they start kicking the seat you can just toss them in the trunk. 1 of them anyways because the trunk isn't the biggest either. But hey, what do you want from a Sports Car? So to sum it all up. I will have to give the Ford Mustang V6 its well deserved title of Sports Car. My '65 with an inline 6 falls very short of this title. With all the aftermarket parts available now also for this car, you can easily get 400HP out of the V6 engine. My first thoughts would be a true dual exhaust, cold air intake, and a computer flash. That should be good for 25 to 30HP. Take a look at the photos of this car. It appears the only
option it didn't have was the foglights. It did have the ambient
lighting though. Which is cool and somewhat annoying. Good thing you
can turn it off. AFTER going through the color choices. (reminds me of
my moms tv when I was 7 or 8. Volume was also the on and off button)
Click-on, click-volume up, click-volume up, click- well you get the
drift. Then the last click was tv-off and repeat this process to turn
it back on. 
V6 Mustang Specs. - Wheelbase (in.) 107.1 Check out Livernois Motorsports Photos are property of Ford-Mustang-Hype.com (c)2008
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