Someday I will be able to look at the 5.0 badge on the side of a V-8 Mustang and not immediately start humming "Ice Ice Baby." Someday.
Not today though, obviously.
All right stop, collaborate and listen, here's the Mustang's brand new edition: a ground-up redesign that includes the long awaited, fully independent rear suspension, a new style based on Ford's global design language, and that same old five-litre ability to wax a chump like a candle (you can also get the 'Stang with a V-6 or a new turbo-four).
Built continuously since 1964, the Mustang really has earned the right to be called an icon - perhaps an overused word these days, but accurate in this case. Like the Porsche 911, we've had more than a half-century of this basic shape and idea, and this latest refinement has huge, multi-generational expectations to live up to.
I associate the Mustang with rolling in the Five-point-oh; others might think of T-Rex, or Chuck Berry, or Wilson Pickett's Mustang Sally. It's a part of our culture — so how does this new one do as a car?
Design
Consider the Mustang's previous retro-styling experiment over - there are those who refer to this car as looking a bit like a Ford Fusion Coupe. Still though, there's no denying that this thing has a lot of 1964 in its silhouette, with that long nose and fastback rear glass.
It's a well-executed design, though it can look a little unwieldy in some of the brighter colours. My favourite paint choice is Guard Green, a dark greyish-greenish metallic flake that looks like an angry wave in a North Atlantic sea storm.
The Mustang gets LED accent lighting up front and retains the sequential turn indicators out back. The vents in the rippling hood are functional. There's nary a Ford badge to be seen, just those iconic running pony badges. And, best of all, buy the V-8 and it says "5.0" on the side. Barber, give me a high-top fade.
Environment
The outgoing Mustang came with a brief list of things I thought needed fixing. Ford apparently read that list and corrected every single one. I'll give you an example: even on the Boss 302, the best-of-breed of the former car, you got plastic surrounding the steering wheel right where you're supposed to put your hands at 9-and-3. It came with an Alcantara wheel, but if you were driving it properly on a track, you didn't get any benefit from it.
Here though, there's leather all around the wheel. The plasticky bits look less plasticky. There's less tacky chrome trim. The gauges are easier to read. The infotainment system is a little better, though there's still a bit of a learning curve here. My tester came pretty heavily loaded with the Recaro seats and Shaker audio system, the former to keep you gripped and the latter to kick out the jams. Heck, even the trunk's not too bad in this thing, although those who find the cockpit a little claustrophobic will want to opt for the glass roof.
Performance
I can't believe you're going to be able to just waltz into a dealership and buy one of these things without taking an advanced driving course. It's a frickin' rocket ship.
Under the hood is a 5.0-litre V-8 — Ford dubs this the Coyote — that makes 435 horsepower and 400 foot-pounds of torque. To understand how nutty this is, maybe a time machine is in order?
Let's say you travelled back in time to the year 2000 and decided to drop $300,000 on a Ferrari Maranello: V-12, front-engined, 478 h.p. Now you can get basically the same amount in a Mustang (and if the aftermarket can't find another 50 ponies in this thing, then my name's Mr. Ed).
The Ecoboost cars are great, a new generation of tuner car for a new generation of Mustang owners. The V-8 feels like a greatest hits album Ford's playing for the fans. It goes RAARRRR-tail-waggle-skipskipskip-seeyalaterstoplight-GONE! I've driven faster cars, but the Mustang does a really good job of both being fast and feeling fast. There's theatre in this car, sticking its nose in the air and galloping down an onramp like there's a burr under its saddle. This one's got the optional performance package, which comes with uprated Brembo brakes that remain fade free even after a long and hilly descent.
The big news everyone's talking about is the new independent rear suspension, and the way it tames the Mustang's behaviour on bumpy roads. It's certainly more composed over the rough stuff, but "tamed" is the wrong phrase. This thing's both rootin' and tootin', and born to run.
Features
Fitted with a stick shift and as little equipment as possible, the new Mustang makes for a great track car (particularly if the track's an open, high-speed affair). Cram it with amenities and it becomes more of a muscular grand tourer. You can toggle the Mustang's behaviour with some aircraft-style switches at the bottom of the centre stack: Normal, Sport, Track, and Snow. Ford's navigation and infotainment system is still not as intuitive to use right off the bat, but a few days spent learning the voice commands and shortcuts reveals it to be a pretty powerful control centre. The Shaker stereo, as mentioned, has plenty of punch, although if you've sprung for the V-8, maybe you just want to drop the windows instead.
Even more handy for long-distance cruising was the adaptive cruise control, paired with forward collision warning. When purring along the Coquihalla on the run back from Vernon, it came in handy every time we came up on a pair of slow-moving trucks passing each other. Base price on the GT is a little more than $42,000, but this well-optioned version was close to $56K after freight.
Fuel economy (uh-oh) is rated at 15.2 litres/100 kilometres in the city and 9.2 l/100 km on the highway (hey, not too bad). Real world testing revealed a little worse figures over the week, but then again, just look at the size of the grin on my face.
Green light
Looks great; semi- practical; sounds like thunder; hilariously fun to drive.
Stop sign
Infotainment still getting there; cramped space for rear passengers; can feel a little too large in the city.
The checkered flag
Ford's pony car still loves to gallop. Yo, word to your mother.
Competition:
Chevrolet Camaro SS ($33,505): Comparing the Camaro to the Mustang head-to-head is a half-century-long tradition. However, with the new Camaro just around the corner and the Mustang in its newest form, it's maybe not a fair fight to pit these two pony cars against each other. The Mustang feels fresher, because it is.
But that doesn't mean the Camaro isn't capable of putting up a fight, even if it's a little older. The exterior and interior don't quite measure up, but the powertrain does - that mighty 6.2-litre V-8 makes 426 h.p. and 420 foot-pounds of torque, enough to line up with confidence next to a 5.0-litre Mustang at the dragstrip.
