Bought a car (finally)

[MX793]

A few more photos I took this morning.






Also, a few more impressions:
-Took it down one of the twistier roads in the area (a favorite of mine when I'm on my bike) and pushed it a bit.  This car is not as taught or as tossable as something like an RX-8 (or even my 3), but it still handles respectably.  There's no denying that it's more GT car than featherweight go-kart.  Considering how plush it feels, I was pleasantly surprised in the corners.  It corners quite flatly, though the tall sidewall tires can make it feel a little vague/soft when transitioning from one corner to another.  It seems to want you to take it a little easy on corner entry to let it take a set in the turn.  I'm guessing a set of lower profile tires would be all you'd need to sharpen it up a bit.  The steering is pretty numb, but it is precise and you can get some sense of what's going on where the rubber meets the road.  I wonder how easy it would be to reprogram it to the GT's steering settings?  I think I even had the ESP kick in on one turn where I came in a little hot.  Only way I noticed it was because my foot happened to be ever so lightly on the brake and I felt some light pulsing.

-I also topped up the tank (I always try to fill up when my gauge shows 1/4 full) and was pleased with the mileage.  25.4 mpg on my first tank.

[Atomic]

nice pics!

[AutobahnSHO]

Still jealous. About the only thing that would make it better would be no car payment.

[Rich]

IIRC he paid cash

Yeah, some sticky tires with lower profile will definitely sharpen it up

Hopefully they come out with some kind of ECU flash that controls the steering assist.  I'm happy I got the brembos just for the steering feel in sport mode.  If it didn't have that, then in retrospect I would have passed on them.

[AutobahnSHO]

IIRC he paid cash

jealous x1000 then

[sportyaccordy]

MX793- better shocks might help w/corner entry stability too. My 1st Accord was on Konis/Neuspeeds and stock size 195/60s, and with the strong low speed damping it really felt rock solid in transitions. On the contrary, my dad's M45 is on low profile 18s and pretty weak shocks.... it inspires no confidence whatsoever. I remember in the M3 vs Mustang GT vid, they said the main weakness of the Mustang was the suspension being too soft, even on the 19s. I think shocks/springs are the answer. Keep the stock wheels and save $$$ on rubber

[SVT666]

IIRC he paid cash

Yeah, some sticky tires with lower profile will definitely sharpen it up

Hopefully they come out with some kind of ECU flash that controls the steering assist.  I'm happy I got the brembos just for the steering feel in sport mode.  If it didn't have that, then in retrospect I would have passed on them.

The nice thing about the electric assist steering is that changing the steering feel and weight is just a reflash away.

[Cookie Monster]

I really really like the Mustang V6. Nice pics!

I think you should get some slightly bigger wheels though... I know Ford has some great looking ones.

[MexicoCityM3]

Congratulations. Great choice of car and color.

[MX793]

MX793- better shocks might help w/corner entry stability too. My 1st Accord was on Konis/Neuspeeds and stock size 195/60s, and with the strong low speed damping it really felt rock solid in transitions. On the contrary, my dad's M45 is on low profile 18s and pretty weak shocks.... it inspires no confidence whatsoever. I remember in the M3 vs Mustang GT vid, they said the main weakness of the Mustang was the suspension being too soft, even on the 19s. I think shocks/springs are the answer. Keep the stock wheels and save $$$ on rubber

A firmer suspension would certainly tighten things up, though the Mustang's suspension woes I think come from it being too soft about the pitching axis, not the rolling.  The squishiness I experienced was when entering corners at steady speed, or at the very least not while under particularly hard braking, so I don't think pitching softness was really a factor.  The sensation was similar to the difference I noticed when I went from the OEM 205/50s to 215/50s with deeper, blockier tread on my Mazda.  The car just felt slightly less sharp on initial turn in.

While part of me would love to swap in a firmer Ford Racing suspension setup, another side of me rather likes the Mustang's plushness on the rough roads around here.  Once these tires wear out (or perhaps before), I intend to replace them with a wider tire.  The stock 225s are just too narrow, IMO.  I want to stick with a 17" rim to save on $$$, but would like to go up to a 235 width tire like what the earlier S197 GTs came with from the factory (I'd also like to toss on a set of 17" Torq-Thrust style wheels).

[MX793]

Hard to believe it's been 5 years (and a few days).  Only put a little over 30K miles on it in that time, but I've enjoyed my time with this car.  Sunday's auto-x was effectively the pony's last ride with me.  Save for the drive to the dealer to trade it in next month (or so I'm told; build date was yesterday), I won't be driving it anymore.  Inspection expires this week and I don't feel like paying 25 bucks to renew it when I'll be trading it in in just a couple of weeks.  Yesterday, I swapped the OEM wheels and tires back on and cleaned out the interior.

We did pretty well Sunday on our farewell ride.  I had the fasted PAX time at the end of the first heat, but ultimately fell back to 6th overall as others found more speed than I was able to in later heats and I just wasn't willing to push the car hard enough (and frankly, wasn't skilled enough) to maintain the top spot.

I've had a lot of fun autocrossing with this car, even the two seasons I ran on the frustratingly lo-po factory all-seasons (620 tread wear rated!), as well as daily driving it through the springs, summers, and falls.  5 full seasons of auto-x, 4 local class titles, 1 local overall top-5 season and 2 local overall top-10 seasons.  I hope I'll be able to generate comparable, or superior, results with it's replacement next season.  I expect next season will be something of a learning season as I adapt to a new car, so I'll need to set expectations accordingly.

As I was searching to find this thread, I stumbled across some earlier discussions of the then new 2011 3.7L V6 Mustang and was surprised how critical I was of the car back then, before driving and then buying one.  My recollection is that I'd always been pretty positive about the V6 Mustang when the 2011 powertrain updates had been announced.  I gave it a lot of flack for its pricing scheme, especially when compared to the performance, content, and price combination of the V6 Genesis Coupe.  Of course, then I drove both cars and opinions changed significantly.  Though my opinion that the base interior in 2011 was inexcusably cheap still stands.  Interestingly, some of the things I said Ford should do to the base interior to raise its curb appeal ended up happening in later S197s.  Specifically the addition of a leather wrapped and aluminum trimmed wheel and shifter to base trims.

Some parting thoughts and observations based on my time with the car:

-I've loved the 3.7 V6 since day one, and still am a big fan of that motor.  Broad torque curve and plenty of power practically everywhere.  Exhaust note can get a little harsh as you get up around 6500 RPM, but sounds very good everywhere else.  I've gotten numerous unsolicited complements on the (completely stock) exhaust note.  All that, plus surprising fuel efficiency.  I took 3 interstate road trips, each over 600 miles round trip, and averaged solidly over 30 MPG each time.  Best tank was 35 mpg.  It saddens me that Ford seems to be doing their best to discontinue this motor in the Mustang.  I might have considered getting another one if it were still available with the premium trim and performance pack.

-The MT-82 transmission gets a lot of flack, but overall I never had any real issues with it.  When temperatures got below 50F it could be a little rough until things got up to temp, with some light gear crunching felt through the lever when shifting up from 1st into 2nd, but that's probably my biggest complaint.  Otherwise, it's a tight, precise pattern with positive engagement.

-Overall, the suspension is softer than I would have liked.  While body roll is pretty well controlled but the car is too soft in the pitching axis.  Particularly nose dive under hard braking.  Despite the softness of the suspension making the car a little sluggish to react, it's more nimble than one would expect.  Part of me wishes I'd waited and sprung for the performance pack and its upgraded suspension, but another part thinks it would have significantly compromised the relatively good ride quality and then I'd be complaining that the suspension was too stiff/harsh.

-Live axle wasn't nearly the detriment that a lot of people make it out to be.  It has its weaknesses, and I'll take a well sorted IRS any day, but a well-done LRA can work plenty well.  Where I noticed it the most was on extremely choppy pavement (like railroad track crossings) and on large, crosswise bumps like speed bumps or very large frost heaves.  The front would soak them up without much drama, but the rear would dance over the former and buck on the latter.

-Coming from a nimble and communicative Mazda3, the steering is numb and the ratio is a bit slow and the effort is a shade lighter than I'd like.  It is, however, quite accurate.  I prefer it to the Jetta's steering rack, which is just as numb, just as slow (if not a hair slower), but noticeably higher effort.

-I'm shocked that I haven't yet worn through the original brake pads given how I've driven the car.  Stopping power is pretty decent, too.

-Given the size of the car and interior, storage/cubby space is very limited.  The door pockets are tiny, as is the glove box.  There's no built in storage compartment for sunglasses as with many cars.  The dash volume is huge; there's no reason why the glove box is so small that it can barely fit the owner's manual and a pair of gloves.

-The latch release button for the arm rest storage compartment is horribly placed.  I frequently would hit it with my elbow while driving, resulting in the compartment door springing open.  I noticed they fixed that for the 2015s by moving the release mechanism.

-I really like the original SYNC1 system in this car.  I didn't use it to its fullest extent, but the functionality I did utilize worked almost flawlessly and I found it legitimately useful rather than a gimmick or an irritation that detracted from the car.

-The fact that the front seats don't slide forward when the seatback is tilted forward to permit rear passengers in and out of the car is frustratingly stupid.  My 1992 240SX had a release that allowed the seats to move forward when the seatback was canted forward.  I remember other 2-door cars of the late 80s to mid 90s doing the same.  Why, some 20 years later, a car wouldn't do this is beyond me.  You could argue that it's harder to implement with a power seat, as the Mustang's drivers seat is, but the passenger's seat mechanism is completely manual.

-The factory windshield wipers were awesome, but wore out way too quickly.

-I'm glad I didn't drive this car in the winter, because there are a number of "features" that make it ill suited to being outside in snowier climates that I discovered the few times we got a late or early season snow.  First, the windshield washers are on the underside of the hood in the pocket where the cabin fresh air inlet is at the base of the windshield.  If you live where it snows a lot and park your car outside, this is the same area were snow will collect, melt partially into slush, and then freeze into a solid block of ice.  I would note that the Mustang is not the only car guilty of this, as this seems to be the route many cars are going with washer nozzle placement.  My Jetta is that way, and to its credit, the washer nozzles don't get encapsulated in ice as often as I would have expected.  Second, there are troughs at the base of the door windows that will also collect water/slush which will freeze solid and jam the window mechanism.  This is not only frustrating when you pull up to a drive through window and find you can't roll your window down, but also puts stress on the window when opening and closing the door.  The frameless windows are designed to tuck into the door arch for a better wind seal and automatically motor down half and inch when the doors are opened and then motor up closed when the door is shut.  If the window mechanism is frozen, you end up stressing things and you basically force the glass past the hard rubber wind seal lip.

[CALL_911]

How are you not gonna tell us what you got

[Eye of the Tiger]

brum

[MrH]

How are you not gonna tell us what you got

Yeah seriously.   Fuck this guy

[MexicoCityM3]

Thanks for the long term review. I really like the Mustang.

Very impressive autocross results, too. That is due to the driver mostly so respect.

I say he's getting some sort of Cayman.

[CALL_911]

Yeah seriously.   Fuck this guy

Agreed, suspense on a goddamn car forum is silly

I'm gonna guess BMW 2

[MX793]

Agreed, suspense on a goddamn car forum is silly

I'm gonna guess BMW 2

It's only a couple of weeks (I hope).  I put my order in over 8 weeks ago, so imagine my anticipation.

[CALL_911]

228 or 235? Man, I'm actually curious to know what you got

[Gotta-Qik-C7]

My money says he's switching to a Camaro!!

[Eye of the Tiger]

Miata.

[Rich]

Mustang V8 is my guess

[Cookie Monster]

I would guess Miata but something tells me it's not... I'm going to guess 2 series as well, with a hope it's either a Cayman or Hellcat.

[AutobahnSHO]

Subie?