Please help me choose a Mustang variant!

[jameslon]

Hello all,

First post.

So, to cut a long story short I currently have a BMW M2 - I want something different from the numerous BMWs, Mercedes and Audis on the roads and so looking at a Mustang.

Although I'm not sure which Mustang variant, age etc to get and would appreciate your feedback on my thinking below.

Starting with the low hanging fruit:

Engine, I guess it has to be V8, its a Mustang! What kind of mpg are people getting with the V8? (I know you don't buy a V8 for mpg but just interested).
Body shape - again coupe seems obvious choice.

Now with the choices that seem more difficult.

Age - pre-facelift or post facelift.

I prefer the design of the pre facelift, although I saw a new Mach 1 on the road and that looks great.
Do we think the additional costs for the post facelift were worth it? I understand it had more power but is it noticeable - do they not have the same 0-60?
Does the post facelift come with more safety bongs and bings, such as lane assist? - not a fan of too many nannies.
The adaptive exhaust is a definite plus on the post facelift - does it sound good in race mode or is it still quite silent?
Is the mageride worth it?

Transmission

I'm happy to consider both transmissions, but 10 gears just seems too many on the auto. Does it constantly change gear with the auto? Must be difficult to use the paddle shifters with 10 gears? I'm leaning to manual gearbox but happy to be persuaded.

GT or Mach 1

Can you still get hold of the Mach 1s or is it only the second hand market? Do we think the Mach 1 is worth the additional cost of the GT?

Colour

I know this is really subjective but you probably know which colours work on the Mustang?! I'm thinking yellow/green will be too in your face, while black will be too inconspicuous.

I know im rambling! But any feedback would be helpful as you guys will have much more experience with these cars.

Thanks

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[TrackMustang]

Hello all,

First post.

So, to cut a long story short I currently have a BMW M2 - I want something different from the numerous BMWs, Mercedes and Audis on the roads and so looking at a Mustang.

Although I'm not sure which Mustang variant, age etc to get and would appreciate your feedback on my thinking below.

Starting with the low hanging fruit:

Engine, I guess it has to be V8, its a Mustang! What kind of mpg are people getting with the V8? (I know you don't buy a V8 for mpg but just interested).
Body shape - again coupe seems obvious choice.

Now with the choices that seem more difficult.

Age - pre-facelift or post facelift.

I prefer the design of the pre facelift, although I saw a new Mach 1 on the road and that looks great.
Do we think the additional costs for the post facelift were worth it? I understand it had more power but is it noticeable - do they not have the same 0-60?
Does the post facelift come with more safety bongs and bings, such as lane assist? - not a fan of too many nannies.
The adaptive exhaust is a definite plus on the post facelift - does it sound good in race mode or is it still quite silent?
Is the mageride worth it?

Transmission

I'm happy to consider both transmissions, but 10 gears just seems too many on the auto. Does it constantly change gear with the auto? Must be difficult to use the paddle shifters with 10 gears? I'm leaning to manual gearbox but happy to be persuaded.

GT or Mach 1

Can you still get hold of the Mach 1s or is it only the second hand market? Do we think the Mach 1 is worth the additional cost of the GT?

Colour

I know this is really subjective but you probably know which colours work on the Mustang?! I'm thinking yellow/green will be too in your face, while black will be too inconspicuous.

I know im rambling! But any feedback would be helpful as you guys will have much more experience with these cars.

Thanks

This is all just my opinion, and much like assholes, everyone has one and mine stinks as much as anyone else’s. That being said…

Yes, you want a V8. The sound, the rumble, the vibration, the power, even the 5.0 badge. You want it, you know you want it. Anyone that says they don’t is lying to themselves or would be just as happy with a rice rocket.

I do NOT drive with any concern for gas mileage and get like 12. Little to no freeway and very frequent high revs.

100% fastback is the way to go. I don’t understand people that buy convertible sports cars. It has a negative effect on handling/aero. Why do that to a sports car?

As far as facelift or not, the benefits of the facelift are mostly seen at the track. Prefacelift is a great car, post is a little better. I like the facelift but if you don’t I promise you’ll be fine with the earlier version. I don’t care about active exhaust because I would never use it and now aftermarket exhaust is a lot more expensive. There’s tons of threads about people arguing why it’s the best and why it’s a pointless expense, gotta make that call yourself. As for Magneride, I don’t have it, alot of people love it. I’m doing a suspension swap to more aggressive stuff and knew I was going to when I bought the car so magneride was out from the word go.

I have a manual. It’s a V8 rear wheel drive sports car. You want a manual. Very much. It’s so damn fun. That being said the A10 is amazing. It doesn’t overshift, not too many gears, really well done transmission. Get the 6 speed.

If you get the Mach1 order it today, and even then it will be a long time before you get it. Mach1 is a bad ass car, more collectible, looks beautiful, is beautiful. I can’t afford a Mach1 and all the mods I’m doing so I got a GT so I can mod the car. If you’re not gonna mod the Mach1 is the way to go (even if you are gonna mod it’s the way to go if you have the coin).

My car is white. I love it. It looks beautiful. I want to look at it all the time. The black is dirty 4 seconds after you clean it. Yellow has no place on cars. Green is coo, so is blue, red, whatever else. FJG on the Mach1 is sick. Lots of choices, that one’s all you.

These are my opinions. I think they’re right, well thought out, with purpose and have proven correct time and time again. Plenty of people think I’m completely wrong. Gotta talk to some people and see what works for you. I leave you with this, ignore everything I said other than V8 6 speed.

 

[Eclipsar]

Hi and welcome

Mach 1 are still available to order but you should get a move on if you want one, they have the 6 speed Tremec, which is one of the reasons I have ordered a Mach 1 along with it having the engine oil cooler air cooled instead of water cooledw

Facelift models have more options than pre facelift, like digital dash, active exhaust, Magneride, working tri bars, hood vents

Only you can decide if each model is worth it, but in my opinion I found the MY19 was a vast improvement over the MY16 I had before

 

[v8hgt]

Try to spend some time with a Mustang if you have any mates who own one. Failing that, head to one of the regular meet ups to talk to owners and look at their cars. You have to understand that these are very cheap, disposable, American cars, they aren’t like the BMW you are coming from. You can forget about build quality, refinement, good dealers etc if you buy the mustang. I’ve owned mine 5 yrs since new and can only think of one good thing to say about it, and that is that the engine really is a cracker. The rest of the car literally is junk. Don’t be fooled into thinking they must be ok because a Ford Focus / fiesta etc seems fairly well built for the sort of car it is. Those are European fords and built to totally different standards to US fords.

hate to say it but your M2 is a far better car.

 

[MarkM]

I sold my M4 comp for a pre facelift two months ago, absolutely no regrets!
Race red V8, manual coupe. I didn’t like the auto box at all, the manual feels great to me and coming from DCT just feels so much more involving.
build quality, well, it’s poor but I’ve changed everything I touch to better materials, steering wheel, gear knob, pedals etc etc

 

[TrackMustang]

Your steering wheels on the wrong side…

 

[raptor17GT]

defo drive a couple. The Tremec in the Mach 1 is supposed to be an amazing gearbox but then so is the A10 in any version so find some examples and drive them see what you think suits you.

 

[Earlsays]

I had a 2015 Premium GT with Recaros and a manual and just about all the options - was a VERY nice, fast, fun car. Now I have a 21 GT with a 10speed auto and no other options.

Without any dount, I will say, the 21 is the superior car. Way more power, way faster, sounds better than a 15, and that ten speed is just amazing….too many gears? Never.

That said, I almost went with a 10 speed ecoboost. More usable powerband over a GT - not in 100 plus mph territory as quickly. But….you don’t get the rumbling V8.

so my vote

-GT
-Fastback
-Auto (or get a manual - but read up on the MT82 problems and keep that in mind.)
IMO creature comforts don’t really matter, and you can add most missing features later.

 

[Bulldog9]

I sold my M4 comp for a pre facelift two months ago, absolutely no regrets!
Race red V8, manual coupe. I didn’t like the auto box at all, the manual feels great to me and coming from DCT just feels so much more involving.
build quality, well, it’s poor but I’ve changed everything I touch to better materials, steering wheel, gear knob, pedals etc etc

I was coming off a 20 year love affair with an E36 M3 when I bought a 2020 Bullitt (Faster Black). I REALLY wanted to like the M2 or M4 COMP, but when comparing, the M2 felt too plain for almost the same $$, and the M4 just didn't warrant the additional $30K. And as I tend to keep cars 10-15 years or more, the long term cost of ownership and maintenance on the Mustang will be pennies on the dollar when compared to BMW/MERC/Porsche....

OP, I'd suggest a Bullitt or MACH 1. You get PP1 suspension and brakes with several other upgrades, plus they have the nicest and most unique interiors. Bullitt may be unobtanium for you, but MACH 1's are new and you can order if willing to wait. I'd definitely opt for the Manual unless an xtra second matters off the line in digs. The Auto is great on a track or in 0-6 or 1/4 mile full throttle racing, but for normal driving it is IMNSHO annoying and busy. Had a V8 GT with Auto as a rental and hated it.

The Bullitt interior is NOT premium Euro, but it is not poor. My wife actually liked the interior of the Bullitt to the BMW and she is a life long BMW devotee. Other than the plastic on the center stack and AV screen surround, I really like the Mustang, and I am NOT a Ford guy. This is my first Mustang and Ford.

Color is subjective, but my favorite color is the red metallic with black roof.

 

[WD Pro]

@jameslon - Just spend a little bit of time reading up and learning about the U.K. / euro specific specs. As a large proportion of answers will come from across the pond, they may not be totally relevant for the U.K. market.

For example, ‘Base’, ‘PP1’ or ‘Premium’ are common terms for USDM trim specs and there not applicable to the U.K. where we kind of get a PP1 Premium hybrid, but one that still misses out on some nice features.

Same comments for the Mach i.e. a U.K. Mach is a different (dare I say watered down) version of a USDM Mach and we can’t get the USDM Mach HP etc.

Also consider that if price comes into the discussion some comments may not transfer over very well e.g. the price jump from a GT to a Mach in the USA is considerably different to that same jump in the U.K.

It will all come down to how much you have available to spend and what options you deem important

Good luck and I hope you end up in a Mustang !

WD

 

[GregT]

Part of the reason I sold my 2016 S550 GT was the fidgety ride on our roads. I have a lot of B road driving near to me in Essex. Those tend to be more fun because less traffic. But the road surface imperfections unsettled the car on bends. That's why I would go for the Magneride, and why I now have a Mach 1 on order. I borrowed one for a long weekend and found the body control and steering are much better.

I did love the old style dials, and the unique bonnet lines on the original car. I thought the power was enough for our roads (although perhaps not if you drive an M2). I did a big trip round France-Italy-Switzerland-Germany-Holland and thought it was a most excellent long distance GT. It swallows a heap load of luggage, standard seats are very comfortable, you want to get back in it and drive each day, swinging round mountain passes is hilarious. 155mph on the Autobahns is not as reassuring as a German car though.

My old car was Ruby Red which I would still buy if available on the Mach1. (Getting Eruption Green this time). I had a Ceramic interior but it used to go blue with my jeans. Who doesn't wear jeans when driving a Yank - nuff said, go for black, or saddle if you are a contrarian! I'd swear the stripes on my car made people move aside on dual carriageways. But whatever finish on the car, it still draws attention and most people love the shape.

One last thing - the standard alloys are a bugger to wash

 

[Kristian87]

So, to cut a long story short I currently have a BMW M2 - I want something different from the numerous BMWs, Mercedes and Audis on the roads and so looking at a Mustang.

Welcome to the forum! And congrats on your decision, the Mustang definitely counts as "something different".

I'm a bit of a Ford fanboy, so can't compare with any of the German stuff, but I've been in it from the start - before Ford started production on the RHD stangs and have had the Ecoboost, and now have the GT (both pre facelift).

Gotta be the V8 - 100%. The Ecoboost is a fantastic engine, but it's not the V8. That's a simple as the argument needs to be. Took me 18 months to figure that one out!

Real world fuel economy is hard to answer as we all use our cars differently. Mine was sitting at ~25mpg for the best part of my 30k miles, but I have done a lot of motorway driving. I used to commute to work in it on occasion (80 mile round trip) and have friends that live a long way away, few road trips to Scotland too in there! Still, for my normal driving I still average in the low 20's. The tank is 60L and if you try, you can get 400 miles out of it which is impressive.

Manual vs auto - depends what you are used to. I've only driven the manual and I enjoy it, but you'll hear a lot of comments about the gearbox being a bit "agricultural" for the pre facelift which is a good word to describe it. It's not at all smooth and pleasant when it's cold or just pottering around town, but then that's not why we buy Mustangs! It's otherwise very enjoyable to use. I have a friend who has a 2017 auto and he loves the 6 speed.

Colour - go with your gut! I was torn at the beggining, gut said Magnetic, but I also entertained the race red and at one point called the dealership asking if I could change to black, but chickened out. Glad I stayed with my initial choice, so much so that both Mustangs I ordered were Magnetic.

Variants - I'm always going to be biased towards the pre facelift fastback, it's the one I fell in love with. At first glance I really disliked the face lift, the proportions at the front just didn't sit well with me, but it has grown on me a lot since it's release. I happen to really like the Bullitt and Mach 1, if I had the funds, there's a very good chance that is what i'd have.

The face lift GT's are more refined than the 15 to 17's, with a few more safety features and a touch more power. Looks aside, out of the box the 18+ models are probably a better buy.

Given you have entertained the idea of a Mach 1, that is the one I would recommend. It's going to be the most refined of all the variants available and might satisfy you in terms of build quality compared to the BMW. The other end of the scale, say a 2017 GT will probably feel cheap and cheerful in comparison. The advantage of a standard GT is it's a blank canvas to do what you want with.

I adore my GT, I've not done crazy amounts with it in terms of mods, mainly cosmetic stuff but I love the way it looks. I had bad luck with a warranty issue in the first 2 years which almost put me off, but it brings me so much joy that I just wouldn't want to part with it.

Good luck on choosing something, as others have said - get out and test drive some if you can. Feel free to share any potential buys here as well, there's a wealth of knowledge on this forum.

 

[wenklaw]

I came from 2017 M2 DCT which IMO is the better overall car than the GT I currently own.

Mach 1 - IMO the sum of all the changes just don't equal the cost. If you do get the manual tremec as the auto in the mustangs is way short of the DCT

Facelifted GT offers more horses, it felt noticeable quicker and is a lot louder than pre face-lift, add a marginally better cabin, hood vents, active quad tip exhaust and for me it starts stacking up. Some subjective some fact.

The M2 feels more premium, it handles better, has better fuel economy when you want it to and the OG M2 sounds bloody good too. It also feels considerably quicker upto about legal speed limits but I've heard above that the GT pulls harder, I wouldn't know honest

The GT manual has a nice throw but the clutch has to much travel so it's difficult to change quick. Don't like the 10 speed at all.

Would I swap an OG m2 for a pre face-lift GT, nope.

I go through phases of thinking I did the right thing and then thinking I should have kept my OG m2.
I did the deal as I got 0% APR and paid less than 40k new and got really good money for the m2, it all lined up, had the above not stacked up as it did I would still have the m2. I have however always had an itch for a GT

don't get me wrong though I love my GT it's just I've been fortunate to own both, it's not like I came from a focus St or something where the step up into a GT is a totally different proposition

Not been much help have I!!!!

 

[Gregs24]

So firstly, obviously a V8.

Where you drive it then makes a big difference. In London in stop start traffic fuel consumption will be pretty poor, but then so will a fast BMW. However once out of the city it is possible to get far better consumption than you might imagine. Over 12k miles I have managed 29mpg average, and mid 30's is possible on the motorway. Mine is a daily with not much town driving, not an occasional car to thrash, which may help my figures. 10 speed box helps a lot and the gear changing isn't an issue for me - it just does what it needs to do, why does it matter if there are 8, 9, or 10 gears? It stays locked up when changing gears, so there is no torque converter slush involved.

Magneride, big yes for a daily, or if you drive on country roads where the added body control, but comfortable ride really work. The ride will put many BMW's to shame.

Build quality - no problems with mine (post facelift). Material quality is OK rather than great. Adaptive cruise works well, lane assist is an easy on off switch on the left stalk.

Post facelift cars (especially post 2019 cars which have the latest version of Sync 3) are worth the extra, plus Magneride isn't available pre-facelift.

In standard form it is a GT car, and very good at that. Oh and you get a lot of positive waves and smiles which tends not to be the case with most German brands!

 

[jameslon]

Thanks all for your feedback!

Is this definitely the Mustang forum?? - You sure you're not all secret BMW fanboys! ;)

But in all seriousness, please don't fall into the trap of thinking a BMW or so called premium badge means the build quality is going to be good, maybe years ago but now everything is just mass produced. That the Mustang is the best selling sports car means they must be doing something right!

So ive test drove the new shape 10 speed and the pre facelift manual.

My thoughts are, yes they don't pull as hard as the M2, but the power is instant in the Mustang and you definitely get more approving looks in the Mustang, unlike a BMW! Plus I love that V8 rumble.

The 10 speed is really not to my liking, I understand why some will get it, but it's not for me.

I couldn't tell the difference in performance/handling between the new shape and old shape - in fact the old shape felt faster but that was probably because it was a manual.

I'm not sure the improvements to the new shape are worth the extra cost. Although I would love to test drive a Mach 1.

So i've decided I'm going to find a pre-facelift, coupe, V8 with a manual gearbox.

Thanks for your time all.

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