General Comments:

Starting off with saying I don't own the car, but I am a technician at a Ford dealership, and have had the opportunity to drive a few of the new 5.0L Mustangs right off the truck onto the street.

Now I've driven PLENTY of the old 4.6L Mustangs, working at a Ford dealership, so I have a pretty good idea what to expect from a Mustang. I've even had the privilege to drive a GT40.

OK, so I'm sitting in a brand new 2011 5.0L Mustang premium coupe with 4 miles on the odometer in the lovely grabber blue. It's equipped with the Brembo brake and 3.73 gears packages, and a 6-speed manual transmission. 2nd gear, roll out of the dealer lot onto the street.

I give it a light amount of throttle, and was surprised by the instant response of the engine. I was convinced the new throttle by wire would slow the response. Wrong. Lightly up to 40mph, just getting away from the dealership before I make some noise. Onto the back street, 25mph, quick heel-toe shift into 2nd and floor it. Almost violently thrown into the back of my seat as the Mustang takes off with a VERY pleasant exhaust note and NO hesitation. I just blip the clutch and mash it into 3rd, CHIRP, but the mustang's not complaining.

Before I know it I'm doing 60 coming up to a turn. Smash the brake and instantly get thrown from the back of my seat forward and the seat belt catches me. Quickly throw it back down to 3rd with no throttle, and get no complaints from the clutch or trans. Around the turn, very nice, car feels 500 pounds lighter than it is, and very nicely balanced. Doesn't feel front heavy like a lot of V8's out there. Just point the Mustang where ever you want, and it goes. Only complaint is the shocks could be a hair stiffer.

Throttle out of the turn into a long straight away. Barely touching the clutch pedal between shifts, and the clutch doesn't slip at all. Up to 90mph in no time coming up to a stop sign. Hit those Brembo brakes again and come to a stop in no time flat. The nose doesn't even dive that much, and you still have full control of the wheel. Very impressed. Now I'm practically shaking from the excitement.

Now back to the dealership at a normal pace. For handling as well as it does, the Mustang is surprisingly comfortable down the road. Good visibility, heated leather seats on my back, and you don't feel every imperfection on the road like you would expect. The clutch and throttle are very tame if you want them to be.

Overview:

I was VERY impressed by this car. I knew last year Ford had the chassis and suspension to take down the new Camaro, but not the powerplant. Now the Mustang accelerates, corners, handles, and brakes better than the Camaro and Challenger. Not to mention it gets better MPGs on top, and most importantly, COSTS LESS than both of em (base GT starts at ~$28k). The $40k+ Challenger SRT-8 can't even keep up with them. I just love this new 5.0 engine and the new 6-speed manual. Looks pretty sharp too, although I'm not too fond of the rear end. But overall, a very easy choice if your in the market for a sports car.

I STRONGLY suggest the Brembo brake package (it's not just brakes but suspension upgrades too) and the 3.73 gear package.

And have fun, this is the best bang for your buck Mustang Ford has ever made, and boy did they do it right.

Faults:

Nothing has gone wrong with the car.

General Comments:

Just a quick background. I'm 30 a year old mechanic, and my first new car was a Honda that I got 3 years ago, just to get back and forth to work. It was a great car, but I was tired of chicks saying, oh your car is so cute LOL, and plus, I've always loved sports cars.

Being a mechanic, I have begun to see the quality and reliability of Ford products really improve in recent years. So I decided to give American cars a shot. The Challenger 6 cylinder was too slow and big. So the choice was between the Mustang and Camaro. The Camaro looked great, but when I sat inside it, it's hard to see out of the tiny windows, and it felt to big for me. Also, the 6 cylinder didn't come with a limited slip differential. And for some reason they wouldn't let me test drive it, only sit inside it.

When I went to see the Mustang V6, they did let me test drive it, and I was VERY impressed. The car looked great, inside and out. It was easy to see out of the windows and over the dashboard, unlike the Camaro. It drove great as well, and had lots of power. I remarked to my friend with me on the test drive, this car feels like it was made for me ;p

After a couple weeks, I sold my Honda, and decided on the Mustang. I got financing thru my bank, and they gave me a check to take to any dealer. I called one on the phone that had the color I wanted in V6, and asked for the complete price of the car, taxes, title etc. He gave me a price, and I came in the next day. When I got there, of course he tried to raise the price $300; I said NO, I want the exact price you gave me on the phone or I'm going to go somewhere else. So he went back and got 50 bucks taken off the original over the phone price haha!

So owning this mustang over the last 6 months has been a dream! It is very powerful, as fast as the older V8s, and handles well too. It has dual exhaust, normally it's pretty quiet, but when I'm on the highway and mash on the gas, it sounds like a lion under the hood. It pulls hard from 60, and you're over 100 in seconds and still pulling. The fastest I've driven it is around 120; the computer cuts the fuel, but it feels like it could pull even more. I can only imagine how fast the new V8 is.

Another great thing about this car is the gas mileage; it's the first car that gets over 300 hp and 30 mpg on the highway. It does this by having 2 variable overhead camshafts on each head. They adjust the timing on the fly. It has a 6 speed auto trans, which keep the revs low at high speeds. And electronic power steering, which my Honda also had. See how American companies are learning ;p So if you drive it easy on the highway, use cruise control a lot, you will get great highway mileage over 30 mpg.

I change the oil myself, Mobil1 pure synthetic. The trans fluid doesn't have a dipstick, it says you don't have to change it till 100k, but I will change mine at 40k with the diff fluid.

It doesn't have a gas cap, which is cool, just once I was filling it up, and forgot and started the car, which caused the check engine light to come on, but I cleared it and it was fine.

Also, the car runs best on premium gas, but you can run regular.

It doesn't have power steering fluid, because it's electric power steering. With it being a V6, there is a good amount of space to work on the engine; that's good for me, because I won't let anyone else work on my cars LOL.

The trunk is a little small, but the back seats fold down, which helps. The stereo is pretty good, I don't turn the music up to loud anyway. I may upgrade the stereo system one day, but it does have an aux input for iPods, which is good.

Just one thing; if you live in a state with heavy snow, be careful driving in deep snow. I was slipping all over the place, but I put some concrete blocks in the trunk, and now it feels much better. But I knew this would be an issue when I got it, just be careful. I'll probably get some snow tires as well, and it should be fine.

The other, and perhaps best thing about this car, is its looks. It is DROP DEAD gorgeous! I got the race red paint, and got the windows tinted 20% all around. It is simply beautiful. In my opinion, the best looking Mustang ever, and its looks rival anything on the road, including cars that cost 4 times as much. I get complements and thumbs up all the time, from little kids "nice car mister!", thumbs up and questions from men and women of all walks of life. It's has truly been a joy to own; I worked 2 mechanic jobs, 7 days a week for 8 months to pay off the Honda early and get my credit perfect to get it, and it was worth every busted knuckle. Getting this car is truly one of the highlights of my life. Now chick don't refer to my car as cute, they say "Wow, can I drive it" haha "Nope! Just strap in and hold on tight!"

I may never sell it ;p.