Pro Racer Billy Johnson's reviews of S550 GT and Ecoboost

Here are 2 very good reviews of the S550 Mustang GT and Ecoboost, from professional Mustang driver/racer Billy Johnson.

Billy has competed in the former Grand Am...now IMSA...Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge GS series, racing a Ford Boss 302R Mustang for Roush Racing and now Multimatic Racing...for many years. He has also driven for Turner Motorsports in the Rolex series GT class for many races including the 24 Hours of Daytona and for Doran Racing in a Ford powered Daytona Prototype during the 24 Hours of Daytona.

Billy also has a background in import tuner cars, which give him a great overall knowledge of several different perspectives in the general auto and auto racing world.


His position with Multimatic Racing, will probably see him as being one of the very first to put the S550 on a race track.

GT review:

http://www.motoiq.com/MagazineArticles/ID/3697/DRIVEN-2015-Ford-Mustang-GT.aspx

Ecoboost review:

http://www.motoiq.com/MagazineArticles/ID/3777/DRIVEN-2015-Ford-Mustang-Ecoboost.aspx?4

I only read the GT review, but that was one of the better reviews I have read.

I'm a fan of MotoIQ and Mike Kojima. Very interesting builds for the street and racecars. 24 Hours of Lemons is hilarious. Nerd's Eye View always has automotive porn to drool over.

Reviews on the Ecoboost tend to reflect the authors bias against turbocharged 4 cyls. This Johnson review is one of the fairest I have read--he likes the V8 and T4--here is a pro road racer stating he doesn't want to drive a race car as a daily driver--this guy clearly drives what he wants and doesn't car what the masses think

Of course I went immediately to the Ecoboost review. Very well written, and how he compares with turbo cars past & present is great.

When you open the door, you immediately notice higher quality materials, soft touch surfaces, and a fresh design much like the rest of Ford’s new vehicles. While the interior is not ‘retro’ like the 2005 S195, it has reminders of its heritage such as the twin trapezoidal domes on the dash that are finally covered in leather. While it may not be the most exotic leather on the market, the use of stitched leather on the dash really improves the environment of the interior giving it a modern and higher class feel.

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Um...am I missing something? I'm 95% certain my dash is rubber or soft plastic and the stitching is molded into it.

Great write-up!! Love all the details that he covered.

IndustryLeech said:

Um...am I missing something? I'm 95% certain my dash is rubber or soft plastic and the stitching is molded into it.

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Did you go Premium and/or get the 50 years or Premier Trim?

JoeDogInKC said:

Did you go Premium and/or get the 50 years or Premier Trim?

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I got the Premium without premier trim. Does Premier trim add leather to the dash brow? I had no idea, I thought it just affected the door uppers.

IndustryLeech said:

I got the Premium without premier trim. Does Premier trim add leather to the dash brow? I had no idea, I thought it just affected the door uppers.

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Yes, it adds it to the dash. I have 68B and mine is the leather dash with actual stitching.

And this is why I wish Ford weren't as vague and ambiguous as they are when describing option packages. I would have gotten it for sure, but I thought it only added accent stitching and slightly softer door card uppers.

IndustryLeech said:

And this is why I wish Ford weren't as vague and ambiguous as they are when describing option packages. I would have gotten it for sure, but I thought it only added accent stitching and slightly softer door card uppers.

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Agreed. Ford is very vague.

I wasn't going to get it when I ordered - but a dealership near me had the car I wanted optioned exactly but with Premier trim. I completely lucked out, because I had no idea what all it entailed but am glad I have it now.

Those were great reviews. It is becoming increasingly difficult to not pull the trigger on one of these. It's winter right now so my car is in the garage for a couple more months anyway...:tsk:

Todd15Fastback said:

Yes, it adds it to the dash. I have 68B and mine is the leather dash with actual stitching.

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You're kidding me?!
Argh! That's the second item I'm not happy with. I would've definitely taken that if I would've been told.
Like the other poster I was sure it only changed stitching and door cards.

That doesn't make me happy in the least. :(

68B completely changed my opinion of the Mustang. I wrote it off after spending some time in a GT Premium without it, but then went back after I learned of the option and fell in love.

I agree that Ford's description is incredibly vague. IMO, it needs to be standard on Premium models and an option on the others.