Drove my friend's 5.0 Mustang today.....

[monstertodd]

So yeah, I drove my buddies 5.0 grabber blue mustang. Gorgeous color, and I wish GM had something similar.

I guess his is equivalent to a 1SS Camaro in trim level? It was a manual trans.

I gotta say.....I just don't know what all the mustang guys are going on about. I'm just not impressed with it.

I'll start with my dislikes:

seats - I don't know how else to say this, but they just suck. Not comfortable, not much padding. Entirely too small. Seriously, they felt like truck seats. The Camaro's seats are way more comfortable.

shifter - way too small, just doesn't feel right in my hands, and sits too low. I think I may just be really used to my barton shifter though.

clutch - The camaro's clutch feels like it has tons of clamping power, but I just don't get that impression in the mustang. The mustang's clutch feels like the clutch you'd find in hyundai or a toyota. It makes the car so easy to drive in everyday traffic. I guess I'm just used to my Camaro's clutch. It just did not feel right at all.

interior - cheap, cheap, cheap, cheap, cheap. That's all I'm gonna say about that. Was not impressed with the dashboard. I don't understand when people say the Camaro's interior looks cheap. Have you taken a look at a 2011 Mustang interior recently?

steering wheel - Oh my god. You think the 2010's - 11's steering wheel is bad? Holy crap, this thing is terrible. Feels like the steering wheel on a 1983 Ford Ranger.

ride quality - terrible? bouncy, all over the place. Felt much rougher than my camaro with lowering springs. Couldn't believe what a difference it was.

Now here are my likes:

exhaust note - Now my friend had on a magnaflow competition catback, and I gotta say, what an incredible exhaust note. THIS is exactly how I want my Camaro to sound! It was deep, and you could feel it resonate throughout the car. Not like my corsa exhaust, which has a much "lighter" exhaust note.

exterior color - Grabber blue, what can you say? That is a gorgeous color. I don't care what you have to say.

visibility - better, but, didn't really seem like it was all that much better than a Camaro. Nothing to write home to mom about.

Overall, I'm just not that impressed by the 2011 Mustang. It did seem fast, but eh, I don't know. I guess I'm too used to my supercharged LS3.

After this test drive, I won't be "trading down" any time soon.

[Mikey193]

I loved the clutch in the 5.0s. You should drive a premium though the shifter is better in those. And the one I drive had a 3.73 I'm not gonna lie the car was quick. And the shifts were so smooth

[monstertodd]

Originally Posted by Mikey193

I loved the clutch in the 5.0s. You should drive a premium though the shifter is better in those. And the one I drive had a 3.73 I'm not gonna lie the car was quick. And the shifts were so smooth

Yea his had the lower gear ratio. I dunno man, I guess I'm just used to the Camaro's clutch. I didn't like the mustang's clutch OR the shifter at all.

[Mikey193]

Originally Posted by monstertodd

Yea his had the lower gear ratio. I dunno man, I guess I'm just used to the Camaro's clutch. I didn't like the mustang's clutch OR the shifter at all.

Yeah the shifter that comes in the base gt's is shit. The aluminum que ball shifter that comes on the premiums is pretty badass I loved it. I had a 2010 gt and I loved that car such a fun car to drive. And mine was only a 4.6 lol

[Rangore]

I've always liked the Camaro better. I've seen friends' mustangs and they don't ever stir anything in me.


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[monstertodd]

Originally Posted by Rangore

I've always liked the Camaro better. I've seen friends' mustangs and they don't ever stir anything in me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

For sure, my favorite things about it were grabber blue and the exhaust note.

[Mikey193]

I'm more of a chevy guy. But I can't knock the mustangs ford built a pretty good car. But my camaro is defiantly more badass

[The IOM Ninja]

I strongly disagree with the comment on the interior, the styling is subjective obviously but it cannot be denied that Ford used MUCH better materials in the interior, though it seems as if your friend doesn't have the premium interior so he wouldn't have MyColour Interior Lighting and if I'm correct the panels aren't aluminium I wouldn't know for sure cause I don't go near base cars when I'm shopping....

[goodtime]

Everyone is entitled to their opinions. I have owned both and there is a reason I currently drive a 2012 Mustang GT. I do agree the Camaro seats are more comfortable however the Mustang just simply performs better.

[hightower]

Interesting, a buddy of mine is getting a 2011 5.0 soon. I'll be interested to check it out when he gets it. Seen a ton of them, never bother to ride in one or look inside.

Nice overview though monstertodd. Thanks for sharing!

[zero]

mustang interior uses MUCH better materials, I gotta disagree about. Thats one thing where GM really cheaped out was the cheap hard plastic dash, they now cover it with suede and still looks terrible.

Shifting and clutch as with 3.73 the car I drove was quick and smooth.

[Scrappy Doo]

I like that color. Neighbor has a grabber blue gt500, with white stripes. Looks killer.

[Im_Fly_Like_A_V6]

Originally Posted by The IOM Ninja

I strongly disagree with the comment on the interior, the styling is subjective obviously but it cannot be denied that Ford used MUCH better materials in the interior, though it seems as if your friend doesn't have the premium interior so he wouldn't have MyColour Interior Lighting and if I'm correct the panels aren't aluminium I wouldn't know for sure cause I don't go near base cars when I'm shopping....

THIS! The interior dash... And the speed gauges .. And lighted door sills i think are a step above the camaro interior

[The IOM Ninja]

Originally Posted by Im_Fly_Like_A_V6

THIS! The interior dash... And the speed gauges .. And lighted door sills i think are a step above the camaro interior

Lighted door sills, cup holders, front and rear footwells, door handles all customizable if you have Ford MyColour.

[monstertodd]

Originally Posted by The IOM Ninja

I strongly disagree with the comment on the interior, the styling is subjective obviously but it cannot be denied that Ford used MUCH better materials in the interior, though it seems as if your friend doesn't have the premium interior so he wouldn't have MyColour Interior Lighting and if I'm correct the panels aren't aluminium I wouldn't know for sure cause I don't go near base cars when I'm shopping....

Originally Posted by zero

mustang interior uses MUCH better materials, I gotta disagree about. Thats one thing where GM really cheaped out was the cheap hard plastic dash, they now cover it with suede and still looks terrible.

Shifting and clutch as with 3.73 the car I drove was quick and smooth.

Sorry gents, but I have to disagree with you! The interior on this particular mustang was definitely not "a step above" the Camaro's interior. It was just as much plastic as in the Camaro. And you're right of course, styling is subjective. But I've never really been a fan of the interiors of ford cars. From the door chime they use, to the font on the gauges, the whole package just doesn't do it for me. I went into my friend's mustang expecting to be blown away by the interior, and I was not, on the contrary, I was quite disappointed. That should tell you something.

[Crowley]

Having owned a 2010 Camaro 2ss/RS and now a 2012 GT500 I can comment on the Interior. The only problem is that the GT500 has the "Premium" Interior so it isn't apples to apples. What ford gives you though is options on the mustang, but you will pay for it. So you can upgrade to the premium interior which is a bit nicer, but it will cost you (at least you have the option though right)?

So as far as the dash, the GT500 has a padded dash which feels nicer since it isn't as hard, however IMO, they should have extended that to the top portion of the doors as well (but they didn't). I do think it is nicer than the 2ss/RS interior as far as components used. I like the center console area a bit better, but i has the nav screen etc so looks a bit better.

I'm not going to comment on layout since some of that will be personal preference. I didn't have any issues with the interior layout of the Camaro and don't on the GT500 either. I do like that the GT500 gives me options in regards to interior lighting color etc and the ambient lighting is a bit better looking (IMO).

Anyway .. just my 2 cents ...

Crowley

[The IOM Ninja]

Originally Posted by monstertodd

Sorry gents, but I have to disagree with you! The interior on this particular mustang was definitely not "a step above" the Camaro's interior. It was just as much plastic as in the Camaro. And you're right of course, styling is subjective. But I've never really been a fan of the interiors of ford cars. From the door chime they use, to the font on the gauges, the whole package just doesn't do it for me. I went into my friend's mustang expecting to be blown away by the interior, and I was not, on the contrary, I was quite disappointed. That should tell you something.

Clearly he bought the poor man's version of the car then, because the GT500 and 2SS equivalent do have a much better interior. Also the soft touch dash is standard so it is absolutely impossible that he has as much plastic as the Camaro. The dash inserts however if I remember correctly on the poor persons Mustang are plastic so he must not have the 401A premium interior option... Either that or he has a 2010 with 5.0 badges...

Does his interior look like this?



or this...

[The IOM Ninja]

Hey Crowley, I'm ordering a 2013 and my sister bought a 2012. So I did up a MyColour chart for her, has every colour combo. Hope this helps in anyway

[Crowley]

Originally Posted by The IOM Ninja

Hey Crowley, I'm ordering a 2013 and my sister bought a 2012. So I did up a MyColour chart for her, has every colour combo. Hope this helps in anyway

Thanks .. now to play with it .. LOL

Crowley

[ffrcobra_65]

You own a Camaro and your post is hugely laced with bias so, what did you think you were going to say about a Mustang? Geez.

[eolson]

Well again, the design "correction that was made on the 05' Mustang platform inside and out was a updated call back to the simple and spartan interiors and tough looking exteriors of 60's Muscle cars.

Light weight was the idea of the 05 interior, as possible with all the modern safety standards. It's not supposed to be plush. WTF. My 06' GT was delivered Premium package minus sub woofer at 3488 lbs. Even with my Supercharger and suspension change out with all the fixin's and some weight loss replacements, the cars only weighs about 3520 lbs, with the same or better front to rear weight ratio.

Luckily I can put the Mustang into context. It's a fairly cheap car you can turn into a fast agile beast. I love how the Magazines love to test Camaros and Mustangs against far more expensive cars, and then claim how they didn't handle great.

The Camaros have solved that problem with this new release year, and if Ford was smart, they would put a watts link in the rear and put real traction and launch control into every Mustang GT and the variable damper settings like the 2013 GT500. I think the next generation of Mustang will finally do that. Erik

[Mikey193]

Again the premium interior is a lot better then the standard on the stangs. This is what mine looked like.

[MauriSSio]

I like the interiors of both the camaro and the mustang. The mustangs was a bit nicer though. That and I absolutely hated the speedometer and rpm gage layout of the camaro. The squares the fonts and plastic around the squares didnt do it for me at all. The rest seemed fine though.

[MauriSSio]

The lighting tricks in the mustang also are certainly a nice touch.

[AZCamaroFan]

You mention the ride quality. Having not driven one i've wondered how good it can be. I mean it's live axle, and they're getting .95g out of it. That would usually mean a pretty stiff ride.