EstMustang
Member
- Thread starter
- #1
Hi all,
Since I have been a frequent reader here for nearly a year, a short intro and first impressions might be in place. But let's start from the beginning
My first thought of the current Mustang was not mine. It was my son, young car enthusiast who pointed it out and got me interested. So I walked into local Ford dealer first time in January 2016 to see what they can tell me. Nothing much - they expected first demo car in Spring. Ok then. Next time was in April 2016 when a race red GT was standing in front of the dealer's showroom. A three hour test drive was all it took to convince me. Even though the demo car was with auto-box, still it was a lot of fun. In May my order went in. The promise was a delivery in Nov latest. Come November, no news. Me getting anxious, showing up in dealer's - them making sour faces. Well turns out that something had gone wrong with all the paperwork so the build date in November was confirmed to be... January! Ok then... delivery probably April! :doh: To make the double waiting period more tolerable a set of Michelin winter tires were added to my previously agreed price and so it continued. Waiting I mean. I already said that I have been a frequent reader - really big thanks to everyone contributing to the forums here, this made it easier, indeed. :cheers:
So just a few days back it was finally here. A shiny, Ruby Red GT with manual box as intended.
After 11 months of waiting (previous record of car waiting was some 6 months I guess) it has been really enjoyable now with all those last 2-3 days and 600 km of first break-in drivings. A couple of impressions, fresh from a newbie
- manual transmission, untested as it was for me - works just fine. Short throws, mechanical feel. Some complain it being notchy, not for me. Let's see how it feels when more agressive driving happens after break-in period.
- song of V8 - well, you all know that part :amen:, it is not easy to keep the revs from going all the way...
- very stable behavior in cold weather, we happen to have very chilly days right now, 1-3 degrees Celsius only. No issues with back end breaking loose unexpectedly or anything. Not even on the wet roads, but maybe being a driver in his 40ies helps here, too ;).
- at the same time we have had a lot of sun and oh yes, this car does shine, literally! It is pretty amazing how light sensitive Ruby is, in the dark cloudy hours it may even look nearly brown.
Some remarks of less positive have to be added, too.
- Tyre roar is quite remarkable. Of course, their size is significant but it seems Ford has spared from sound isolation a bit.
- There seems to be slight issue with driveshaft causing vibrations around 100 km/h and generating low rumbling sound into the car's interior. This rumbling does not show up in any other speeds and is most heard on best asphalt where tire noise is least present. I just found a lengthy thread about it in general forums and it seems to be a fairly common issue. I will keep my ear on it to see if this is something that would need to be dealt with.
- As many other's here in forums have described, Mustang has this special ability to make other drivers to behave silly around you. Seen that couple of times already... Gotta live with that, I guess.
Thanks for reading!
P.S. The obligatory picture is taken in front of the Ford showroom, final moments before rushing to the streets, just waiting for the numberplates.
Since I have been a frequent reader here for nearly a year, a short intro and first impressions might be in place. But let's start from the beginning
My first thought of the current Mustang was not mine. It was my son, young car enthusiast who pointed it out and got me interested. So I walked into local Ford dealer first time in January 2016 to see what they can tell me. Nothing much - they expected first demo car in Spring. Ok then. Next time was in April 2016 when a race red GT was standing in front of the dealer's showroom. A three hour test drive was all it took to convince me. Even though the demo car was with auto-box, still it was a lot of fun. In May my order went in. The promise was a delivery in Nov latest. Come November, no news. Me getting anxious, showing up in dealer's - them making sour faces. Well turns out that something had gone wrong with all the paperwork so the build date in November was confirmed to be... January! Ok then... delivery probably April! :doh: To make the double waiting period more tolerable a set of Michelin winter tires were added to my previously agreed price and so it continued. Waiting I mean. I already said that I have been a frequent reader - really big thanks to everyone contributing to the forums here, this made it easier, indeed. :cheers:
So just a few days back it was finally here. A shiny, Ruby Red GT with manual box as intended.
After 11 months of waiting (previous record of car waiting was some 6 months I guess) it has been really enjoyable now with all those last 2-3 days and 600 km of first break-in drivings. A couple of impressions, fresh from a newbie
- manual transmission, untested as it was for me - works just fine. Short throws, mechanical feel. Some complain it being notchy, not for me. Let's see how it feels when more agressive driving happens after break-in period.
- song of V8 - well, you all know that part :amen:, it is not easy to keep the revs from going all the way...
- very stable behavior in cold weather, we happen to have very chilly days right now, 1-3 degrees Celsius only. No issues with back end breaking loose unexpectedly or anything. Not even on the wet roads, but maybe being a driver in his 40ies helps here, too ;).
- at the same time we have had a lot of sun and oh yes, this car does shine, literally! It is pretty amazing how light sensitive Ruby is, in the dark cloudy hours it may even look nearly brown.
Some remarks of less positive have to be added, too.
- Tyre roar is quite remarkable. Of course, their size is significant but it seems Ford has spared from sound isolation a bit.
- There seems to be slight issue with driveshaft causing vibrations around 100 km/h and generating low rumbling sound into the car's interior. This rumbling does not show up in any other speeds and is most heard on best asphalt where tire noise is least present. I just found a lengthy thread about it in general forums and it seems to be a fairly common issue. I will keep my ear on it to see if this is something that would need to be dealt with.
- As many other's here in forums have described, Mustang has this special ability to make other drivers to behave silly around you. Seen that couple of times already... Gotta live with that, I guess.
Thanks for reading!
P.S. The obligatory picture is taken in front of the Ford showroom, final moments before rushing to the streets, just waiting for the numberplates.
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