Otherwise the Mustangs are well-equipped, with entry-level 2.3-litre EcoBoost versions getting a limited slip differential, electronic stability control, 19in alloy wheels, xenon headlights, auto wipers and lights, and power-folding mirrors on the outside as standard. Inside there is a reversing camera, dual-zone climate control, ambient interior lighting and electrically adjustable front seats.
Opt for the 5.0-litre V8, which most Mustangs ordered have been, and you get Brembo brakes, Electronic Line Lock, Launch Control and lots of badging showing you bought the 5.0-litre version and not the EcoBoost. A recent addition to the range is the Shadow Edition, which is only available with a V8 an includes unique bonnet stripes, alloy wheels, paint job and badging, plus rear parking sensors, climate controlled front seats and a Shaker Pro audio system with sat nav.
Think the Mustang is bereft of power then Clive Sutton might have the answer as they will tune and improve all variants of the Mustang. They offer four 'power packages' - the CS350 is designed solely for the 2.3-litre EcoBoost Mustang and includes a cold air intake system and a remapped ECU which helps the 'Stang pump out 313bhp. Got a 5.0-litre V8 Mustang and fancy an upgrade then for £3605 Clive Sutton will add a cold air intake system and give the ECU a remap to help it produce 449bhp, while going to the CS700 pack sees a supercharger, intercooler, quad exhaust and active exhaust system to the big Ford helping it breach the 700bhp mark. Topping the range at an additional £19,185 sees the CS800 get a Stage 2 Whipple Supercharger, high pressure fuel injectors to the package allowing the engine to punch out a scarcely believeable 800bhp.
Our test car had the uprated audio system and, although it isn’t as magnificent-sounding as the latest equivalents being fitted by the likes of Mercedes-Benz and Audi, it makes a powerful enough noise to just about drown out the V8 combustion soundtrack, should you want to.
The Sync3 touchscreen interface is a bit overcrowded with fiddly buttons and isn’t the liveliest display. But it isn’t hard to follow its control logic, and connecting a smartphone, via Bluetooth or USB, is painless. The standard reversing camera is good enough to make the optional £295 rear parking sensors unnecessary.
There’s a broad beltline of metallic finish and a lot of vinyl, but the conscious mix of old and new isn’t handled particularly flamboyantly. As Ford is fond of saying, the Mustang is designed – not styled.
In the US, this credo helps to keep the car in contact with its blue-collar reputation. The occasional premium touch notwithstanding, the Mustang is still intended as a performance car for the working man, not a delicate or effete sports car.
Arguably, that leaves its finish and straightforward appearance some way short of the upmarket European hot hatch that the same money would buy you – a Volkswagen Golf R or BMW M2 owner would cringe at the rudimentary feel emanating from the Mustang’s toggle switches – but it also furnishes you with a robust sense of space not encountered in more familiar fare.
For those in the front, the model easily competes with any saloon you’d care to think of for scaled-up roominess. Its exterior width translates into an elbow-swallowing panorama of internal broadness and there’s no shortage of head room or comfort, either.
Rear-seat passengers – of which there can assuredly be only two – are progressively less well catered for, yet the Mustang remains a bona fide two-door four-seater in precisely the way a TT, for example, isn’t. Of course, the big Ford’s general dissimilarity to Ingolstadt’s preened coupé is both strength and weakness, as we’re about to discover.
