2.3 EB Test Drives

[Timewarp]

Has anyone driven the EB on a test drive yet?

I believe no dealers have any demonstrators.

I've driven the GT, however I want to drive the EB for comparison purposes.

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[Manders Mustang]

I drove a 2.3L in the states whilst I was over there on Holiday as a test drive. I'm yet to a Manual version, but have sat in one to get a feel for the clutch and gear shifter etc. So if you want any questions on the EB answering, more than happy to.

I'm yet to drive a GT, however the comparrisons I can pull is that the GT is far punchier and under the wrong hands is a bit of a beast to control.

No dealerships, to my knowledge, will be getting 2.3Ls as test drive model cars, only 5L GTs.

[ame] is a fairly good review (Once you get past the initial cr4p) they begin driving the two cars at about 16minutes in, so i'd personally watch from there, the guy seems to throw the GT around at 26:20mins in, and just keeps losing the tail end.

 

[croyde]

Blimey! He doesn't appear to be pushing it at all and still losing the back end.

 

[v8nye]

Haynes Ford / Kent Mustang have multiple Ecoboost demos on order but none have arrived yet. Two are still in the states and one is still making its way across the pond.

1st wave of demos Ford were pushing the GT to all dealers, but second wave they are pushing the Ecoboost, so all Fordstores will have them but probably not until late Feb or March. I'm sure they will sell more once people can experience them :-)

 

[Big_G]

Has anyone driven the EB on a test drive yet?



I believe no dealers have any demonstrators.



I've driven the GT, however I want to drive the EB for comparison purposes.

I own a Ecoboost & had a GT on loan for 4 days. What would you like to know?

 

[Manders Mustang]

Haynes Ford / Kent Mustang have multiple Ecoboost demos on order but none have arrived yet. Two are still in the states and one is still making its way across the pond.

1st wave of demos Ford were pushing the GT to all dealers, but second wave they are pushing the Ecoboost, so all Fordstores will have them but probably not until late Feb or March. I'm sure they will sell more once people can experience them :-)

This I did not know, thanks! Hopefully can go rag one around... just before mine comes in :lol:.

Blimey! He doesn't appear to be pushing it at all and still losing the back end.

Yep, i'd been looking for videos for a while of the GT on wet/slippery roads, that's the best I found, literally a little bit of acceleration in a corner and the whole tail end swerves around, please GT owners, be careful

 

[Timewarp]

I own a Ecoboost & had a GT on loan for 4 days. What would you like to know?

Basically if I'd be happy with an EB after driving the GT. :lol:

 

[Jimboy2]

You think he had the traction off? He must have right? That wanted to go sideways so easily!

 

[Jimboy2]

Basically if I'd be happy with an EB after driving the GT. :lol:

Deep down I think you know the answer! :lol:

 

[Manders Mustang]

Basically if I'd be happy with an EB after driving the GT. :lol:

This is the sole reason i'm avoiding test driving a GT.

To be fair, i'd done a lot of research prior to my test drive, watched all the yanks tear pieces out of the ecoboost etc. But then, once you sit in one, the whole 'artificial noise' (There's a video online of someone debunking this), etc really doesn't matter, you see long over the hood, and rag the car, and it's an absolute beast, you kind of forget it's a 4pot with a boost (Until you hear the boost, and you really feel it kick!).

That being said, i'm comparing to a 2011 1.2L LE Corsa, and haven't driven the GT. I also got to absolutely rag the Mustang on a somewhat private road in Florida during the test drive and it gets to 100mph incredibly quickly.

All in all, i'll let [MENTION=8914]Big_G[/MENTION] take most the review of the comparison for you as his EB is his DD and GT was a loan whilst his bumper paint got fixed!

 

[Big_G]

Basically if I'd be happy with an EB after driving the GT. :lol:

That's a very subjective question and really depends on your personal requirements and circumstances. This is where i sit, my thoughts and my circumstances so i don't want to be flamed or berated for them.

My Ecoboost is a daily driver, i simply couldn't afford to run a GT as a daily, at the minute i'm 70/80% town traffic and thats a killer in a V8. I know a lot of the GT owners are getting figures in the mid 20s for MPG (i suspect mainly motorway miles there though), i'm getting 28 at the minute. A lot of Mustang owners says sod the MPG that isn't what you buy the car for! Again, thats subjective. If you can afford to buy a V8 as a weekend car then great, scratch the MPG. If you can afford to run a V8 as a daily then you can probably afford the fuel irrespective. For the man in the middle who who broke the bank to afford the car (i've wanted a Mustang since i was old enough to know what one was) then the Ecoboost is a fine car.

If you're in it for the sound & having people ask you to rev it all the time then you'll regret a Ecoboost. It doesnt sound the same, it can't sound the same & no exhaust is ever going to sort that out. Does it bother me? Not a bit .. i'm still driving a Mustang.
In terms of drivability the Ecoboost wins hands down for me, the GT is heavy you can feel that straight away and the first thing you notice getting into a EB is how much lighter it is, the car is much easier to handle as a result, its nimble & reacts instantly. The engine is superb, it is plenty quick for our roads and will still get you to illegal in seconds. It's very torquey and will quite happily sit in 5th at 30mph, you rarely get caught out of gear.
Ford did a good job of making it sound meaty from the inside, from the outside it sounds like a performance 4 cylinder (the turbo is loud), again though I don't really care what other people i'm driving past think so its a moot point.

I'll be honest, the GT scared me. I've said in numerous posts if feels like it just wants to kill you every time you press that pedal, the back went on me once and that was it i took it easy from there on in. I probably need to get myself on some sort of performance driving course so i know how to get myself out of trouble. Granted when the back went it was raining & the tyres aren't the best but even in the dry i had it squirm around without even trying.
I'm a family man with 2 kids under 8, it does the school run (dad has the coolest car in the school by far ), it goes to work & does the shopping runs. Cost played a huge factor for me, i did a very rough working out (taking everything into consideration, fuel, insurance, maintenance, etc) and the EB over 5 years would cost me £9000 less than the GT. It's no less of a car, it just sounds different, its still a Mustang and if i had the choice again i'd still buy the Ecoboost.

 

[Big_G]

the guy seems to throw the GT around at 26:20mins in, and just keeps losing the tail end.

He's not throwing it around, thats exactly what its like in the wet. You don't even have to try and lose the back, it just does it. If you don't know how to handle that, its gonna be expensive! I freely admit that scared the pants off me & i don't know how to handle it.:eyebulge:

 

[Manders Mustang]

He's not throwing it around, thats exactly what its like in the wet. You don't even have to try and lose the back, it just does it. If you don't know how to handle that, its gonna be expensive! I freely admit that scared the pants off me & i don't know how to handle it.:eyebulge:

Well, he's putting pressure on the accelerator, knowing it'll do it surely you'd only hit that when wheels are lined up. I agree, it's hardly throwing it, but still, the car is an absolute beast and it's going to require some careful driving.

 

[jord79]

I suppose you can only judge if he's throwing it round going on what you're own driving style is - but by my standards, he is gunning it a bit. I'm a pretty laid back driver for the most part and I tend not to accelerate in corners regardless of road conditions. I test drove GT auto and it felt like a tame beast if you drove 'normally'. Maybe the auto box takes the heat out of it a bit.

 

[croyde]

As long as it holds as I take it into a corner and the tyres can deal with lateral forces whilst it's wet, I'll be happy. Years of driving RWD has taught me not to gun it out of corners.

Obviously 400bhp needs a much lighter touch of the throttle than 240bhp but if it goes as easily as with that bloke in the video then something has to be seriously wrong.

Hard to believe as there hasn't been a crop of accidents on the US forums.

I had a spirited drive for over 400 miles in stormy conditions in a 997S shod with Pirelli Zeros and the back end didn't break traction once. OK it's weighed down by the engine but Porsches are renown for being rear waggy.

Maybe the TC on the Porker is much better than the Ford.

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