2021 vs. 2019. First impressions, subtle changes

[Pronichkin]

This is a very subjective list based on limited personal experience. I used to have a 2019 GT premium convertible with 400A and no Performance pack. I now have a 2021 GT premium convertible with 401A and Performance pack. (And MagneRide. And B&O sound.) It's interesting to spot tiny differences here and there. This list below will likely go on. I have just started exploring the new car.

1. Tonneau caps are still included. Which is confusing because the order guide said they're gone. Anyhow, I was pleasantly surprised.
2. Illuminated glove box is gone for real, which is a huge miss. In fact, I'm so upset I started a separate thread on that.
3. My 2019 GT did not come with wi-fi hotspot. Nobody could clearly explain why. Some people even said that maybe convertibles don't have an antenna whatsoever. However, the 2021 GT does have a hotspot. So, might be a 400A vs. 401A thing.
4. There's now a strange bulky plastic block in the middle of windshield. Must be some Safe & Smart tech. I think the camera is hidden there. I definitely did not have that on 2019 car.
5. My wife says that ambient lighting on 2019 car was brighter than on 2021 one, especially the “Mustang” letters on the doorsteps. I think I agree. The new one seems dimmer. Weird.
6. Overall upholstery of 401A is visibly better than of 400A. I'd say it's worth the money. (Even though I'll be missing the tri-bar stitching on the door. Dunno why it's gone.)
7. I like the digital gauge cluster more than the analog one. However, I agree it's probably a matter of personal preference.
8. Not a fan of the “Engine Spun” instrument Panel of PP1. I personally liked the “Angled Brush Aluminum” better.
9. Ironically, one of the primary reasons we went with 401A instead of 400A was heated steering wheel. But the button to turn on the heat is so weirdly hidden it's almost unusable. You cannot switch it on if you're the only one in the car and you're driving. Why could not they make a physical button for that?
10. Apparently, the driver's seat now moves back automatically once you park. Which is a nice improvement. Even though my wife complains it makes it hard for her to reach out for brake pedal to turn ignition on. But I'm wondering if it's 2019 vs. 2021 thing or 400A vs 401A thing.
11. I heard 2019-2020 PP1 came with Michelin tires from the factory. Our 2021 PP1 is Pirellis. Not sure if it's fair replacement. But we don't plan to track the car, so I guess it's fine.
12. Navigation came effectively for free (it's definitely not the reason why we went for 401A vs. 400A.) So, we tried it anyway, and it's hit and miss. The only subtle advantage over Wase is nice integration into the digital gauge cluster. This looks like a real tech which intends to massively improve people's life. However, we still prefer Wase because of superior search and traffic alerts. Too bad that CarPlay is still having issues. Sometimes the phone won't see the car no matter what. Honestly, I would expect them to figure it out already.

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[greymusky]

Regarding the seat moving back thing, you can disable it in the menu under easy access or something like that.

 

[friedmud]

This is a very subjective list based on limited personal experience. I used to have a 2019 GT premium convertible with 400A and no Performance pack. I now have a 2020 GT premium convertible with 401A and Performance pack. (And MagneRide. And B&O sound.) It's interesting to spot tiny differences here and there. This list below will likely go on. I have just started exploring the new car.

1. Tonneau caps are still included. Which is confusing because the order guide said they're gone. Anyhow, I was pleasantly surprised.
2. Illuminated glove box is gone for real, which is a huge miss. In fact, I'm so upset I started a separate thread on that.
3. My 2019 GT did not come with wi-fi hotspot. Nobody could clearly explain why. Some people even said that maybe convertibles don't have an antenna whatsoever. However, the 2021 GT does have a hotspot. So, might be a 400A vs. 401A thing.
4. There's now a strange bulky plastic block in the middle of windshield. Must be some Safe & Smart tech. I think the camera is hidden there. I definitely did not have that on 2019 car.
5. My wife says that ambient lighting on 2019 car was brighter than on 2021 one, especially the “Mustang” letters on the doorsteps. I think I agree. The new one seems dimmer. Weird.
6. Overall upholstery of 401A is visibly better than of 400A. I'd say it's worth the money. (Even though I'll be missing the tri-bar stitching on the door. Dunno why it's gone.)
7. I like the digital gauge cluster more than the analog one. However, I agree it's probably a matter of personal preference.
8. Not a fan of the “Engine Spun” instrument Panel of PP1. I personally liked the “Angled Brush Aluminum” better.
9. Ironically, one of the primary reasons we went with 401A instead of 400A was heated steering wheel. But the button to turn on the heat is so weirdly hidden it's almost unusable. You cannot switch it on if you're the only one in the car and you're driving. Why could not they make a physical button for that?
10. Apparently, the driver's seat now moves back automatically once you park. Which is a nice improvement. Even though my wife complains it makes it hard for her to reach out for brake pedal to turn ignition on. But I'm wondering if it's 2019 vs. 2021 thing or 400A vs 401A thing.
11. I heard 2019-2020 PP1 came with Michelin tires from the factory. Our 2021 PP1 is Pirellis. Not sure if it's fair replacement. But we don't plan to track the car, so I guess it's fine.
12. Navigation came effectively for free (it's definitely not the reason why we went for 401A vs. 400A.) So, we tried it anyway, and it's hit and miss. The only subtle advantage over Wase is nice integration into the digital gauge cluster. This looks like a real tech which intends to massively improve people's life. However, we still prefer Wase because of superior search and traffic alerts. Too bad that CarPlay is still having issues. Sometimes the phone won't see the car no matter what. Honestly, I would expect them to figure it out already.

Seat moving back is because you now have memory seats. You can set your seat, mirrors and steering wheel up how you want and then save it to one of the presets. You and your wife can each have one - and you can engage them before turning on the car (just press the preset button you want). As you noticed: it will automatically rerun back to the way the car was when it was turned off if you don’t manually do anything else.

My 2019 PP1 did come with Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires. I think most consider them better than the pirellis. I can say that when theroad is cold they seriously struggle - I may get something different after they’re used up due to it being cold in the mornings and nights year around here.

I wonder if the new Sync system is that much different: but isn’t there a button for your heated steering wheel in the climate control screen? Mine definitely works while I’m moving on my Ford Edge (don’t have it on my Mustang).

I believe you on the ambient lighting being brighter on the 2019 - I’ve had to disable quite a lot of it on my 2019 because I found it distracting while driving at night. It looks dang cool when you’re not driving though!

The bulky block is for Safe and Smart - and possibly for adaptive cruise (although I think that’s mostly in the grill upfront).

Thanks for sharing - enjoy the new car!

 

[Somepothead]

Can you explain, or take a picture, of where the button is for the heating steering wheel that you talked about in #9?

 

[JOEB]

Can you explain, or take a picture, of where the button is for the heating steering wheel that you talked about in #9?

It is hidden in the climate control functions. So you have to go into the climate menu and then fumble around for it. Every other car I have been in has a button on the steering wheel somewhere.

 

[speedup]

I agree the heated steering wheel should have been a button. On my 2019, it can be turned on from the home screen, or the climate screen. Not that big a deal to turn on when driving when your familiar where it is, but still would have been nice for an actual button on steering wheel like my camaro had.

Hows the ride compare with magnaride?

 

[Pronichkin]

I think there *is* a button for heated steering wheel on the Sync homepage. (Where the screen is divided into three areas. I'll post the pic later.) So, it maybe not too bad. At least it's not hidden deep in the menus, lol. But my point it that it *could* have been much easier. Like an actual physical button on the wheel, or among all the other climate control buttons on the central console. (Where there are 10-ish buttons, some of which we never use.) Heating steering wheel almost feels like an afterthought, and it's mildly annoying.

Speaking of the ride, I don't have a strong impression yet. There's absolutely nothing to complain about (it's a Mustang in its best after all). But I'm not yet sure if there are much noteworthy improvements due to MagneRide, etc. We only did some limited driving yesterday (maybe 10 miles of highways and about the same on non-highway roads.) So, it's too early I guess, will try to capture my feelings later.

 

[Pero]

Can you explain, or take a picture, of where the button is for the heating steering wheel?

Mine is here on Home screen and on Climate screen:

 

[Pronichkin]

Ok, we cruised about 150 miles today, and I think MagneRide is goodness. At first (maybe the first 50-70 miles) the car behaved a little weirdly. Every time there was even a slight bump on the road, it did a beep-beep. This was mildly annoying—as if I were not aware of the bump myself! I have no idea which component exactly did the beeping as there was no visual indication, or at least we could not find one. But I would *assume* it was MagneRide because, well, it's suspension business to deal with bumps.

After the first 50 miles or so, it suddenly stopped beeping. I have no idea what changed. We certainly did not change any setting, at least not purposefully. Maybe the car just learned to adapt to our local roads here and figured *this* amount of bumps is nothing extraordinary.

But I do think that the ride is smoother than it was on our previous 2019 Mustang which did not have a MagneRide. It does not fully absorb the bumps (and I don't think it should) but there's a lot less jiggle, assuming I remember the previous Mustang adequately. (It's been a while since it was totaled.)

That said, it's not the smoothest experience we ever had. I think some of the renal Kias were smoother. But once again, I would not expect the ride in a Mustang to be completely smooth. It's a sports car after all, and there should be a decent amount of road feedback.

 

[Pronichkin]

Also, if anyone considers non-performance/handling-related accessories, I cannot recommend this cargo space organizer enough. I was skeptical at first but was willing to give it a try. (When buying a 60K car, it's easy to justify $80 extra.) This thing fits nicely in the Mustang trunk, leaves a lot of space behind it, and holds groceries or just random junk perfectly.

 

[Gregs24]

Ok, we cruised about 150 miles today, and I think MagneRide is goodness. At first (maybe the first 50-70 miles) the car behaved a little weirdly. Every time there was even a slight bump on the road, it did a beep-beep. This was mildly annoying—as if I were not aware of the bump myself! I have no idea which component exactly did the beeping as there was no visual indication, or at least we could not find one. But I would *assume* it was MagneRide because, well, it's suspension business to deal with bumps.

After the first 50 miles or so, it suddenly stopped beeping. I have no idea what changed. We certainly did not change any setting, at least not purposefully. Maybe the car just learned to adapt to our local roads here and figured *this* amount of bumps is nothing extraordinary.

Magneride doesn't beep !

 

[kodioneill]

You know, I used to be a service manager at a Toyota Dealership in the 90's customer's like you is why I quit. Glove box light really?

 

[Pronichkin]

Dude, I'm not making a huge drama out of it. But yes, the glove box upsets me.

If there's car A from manufacturer X which has this little feature and car B from manufacturer Y which does not, it's probably not even worth mentioning. If these are different generations of the same car (such as s550 and s650 or whatever) than it's understandable too. But everyone and their dog are saying that 2020 MY and 2021 MY are identical. So, I thought it's worthwhile to notice those subtle differences. That's the whole point of this thread. If you don't care, just move on.

If that's not a big deal for you, that's great. It may be for others. I personally think it's more affecting my life than, say, different tires. Because tires are tires, as long as you don't track the car (and I don't.) And glove box light literally impacts how hard it is for me to reach out for a snack, or water, or garage key, when you're tired of driving at night. Or, you know, papers when stopped by a cop.

Yes it's not the end of the world if you'd have to scramble about for a little longer. But I like those little things which make my life easier here and there.

 

[Pronichkin]

Magneride doesn't beep !

so, who was beeping then?

 

[MaskedRacerX]

so, who was beeping then?

The voices in your head ... ?

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