So i'm at the counter to pick up the car this week, and the lady says she has a Mustang for me. Almost like a gag reflex, I ask if she had anything imported that she can offer me instead. She says they have a Sonata, but in that time, i think of the blog, and the fact that the Mustang is a classic, the Sonata is pretty boring and good or bad, I should have something to write about. So I say I'll stick with the 'stang, take the keys and plod off to space #31 and the red 2008 Ford Mustang.
I drop my bags in the trunk and slide into the car and am immediately awash in a sea of beige plastic and polyester. Plastic here was far worse than any of the GM cars I had rented. Clearly the materials were supplied by either Hasboro or Mattel. Infact, i'm sure the dash in the Barbi version is exactly the same, only pink.
What was even worse than the dash was the ridiculous shift knob / lever thingy. The stupid design aside, the plastic used here felt like the handle of my super soaker. As a driver, there are really only three parts of the car you touch with your bare skin: the radio, the steering wheel, and the gear shift. If you have to use cheap materials, don't scrimp on those three items.
So a few minutes later I'm rolling down the interstate and I can feel the impressions of the Mustang flowing out like diarrhea. All the dials and vents have about an inch of chrome trim around them. The only good thing about that is that all that chrome reflects the sun into your eyes so you can't focus on how bad the rest of the interior looks. The view, the seats, the sound, the radio, the dash..... all so exceptionally bad they are truly exceptional.
The windshield is short and the hood line is very high which is cool in a chopped hotrod but for a practical car, makes you feel like you're steering a tank, looking out one of those little slits.
The Mustang has bucket seats, but they have absolutely no lateral support. It really just feels like a shorter version of the bench seat in my dad's 78 Impala. However, this is probably a good think because it discourages you from attempting any real cornering. You can feel the rear axle hopping over small highway bumps and you can easily imagine yourself facing the wrong way if you pushed the car in any way.
Of course, Ford has conveniently fitted the Mustang with a permanent traction control system. They've done so by giving the V6 absolutely no horsepower whatsoever. With your foot on the floor, you still can't squeek the tires.
The fact that you can't squak the tires is ironic because those very tires rolling down the freeway at 50mph are so loud, it sounds like you're in the bathroom filling up the tub. So with the roar of the tires, i turn up the Sirrus satellite radio to alleviate the noise. The radio, sounds awful. It has tons of treble and the plastic door panels rattle to the beat.
This car is so incredibly bad, it stands out among all others. In 2005 it was awarded Canadian Car of the year by some inebriated snowmobile drivers. How this is possible is beyond me. I guess the only question is how the copycat retro cars from Dogde (Challenger) and Chevy (Camaro) will fair.
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