Slideshow: One Week Road Test: 2018 Mustang GT Premium
This is the Mustang 631 miles later.
2018 Mustang GT Premium
Reading about a Mustang is a good way to spend time, but driving one is even better. So we contacted Ford and requested a fleet car for a one-week test drive, and it landed in my driveway. This was a GT Premium loaded with everything, including that new 10-speed automatic gearbox everyone is raving about. The window sticker did not have a price, only a "Vehicle Not For Sale" stamped on the form. But after adding up all the goodies, we figured about $51K was close enough.
Computer Information Readout
The car's computer allows driving adjustments. You have a choice of normal, sport, track, snow, wet, are drag strip modes. A separate Track App records 0-60 mph and quarter mile times. One option is a "must have", and that is the computer controlled exhaust system. For daily commuting, the Normal mode is fine. If you want to impress your buddies at the burger stand, you can crank up the volume with Sport or Track setting, and they will hear you coming. So will the police! In that case, you might want to quickly switch to the Quiet mode, in which all anyone will hear is the purr on the engine. Your neighbors will appreciate it in the early morning.
631 Mile Trip
The first thing we wanted to do was take a road trip to see how it drives, and get the real world fuel economy. With the MagneRide suspension, the handling was brisk in tight corners, yet very comfortable. In 185 miles of city driving, we observed 17.1 mpg. In 150 miles of freeway cruising at 75 mph, it jumped to 24.7 mpg. In our one week evaluation, we clocked 631 miles. The overall average was 18.1 mpg, but that included a lot of brisk acceleration!
0–60 Times
Next, we wanted to see how quick the car was. Ford claims that to get the advertised 460 horsepower, you need to put 93 octane premium in the tank. I decided to use 91 octane, as that is what the typical driver will use in daily commuting. Tire pressures were factory set at 36 pounds, and at least a half tank of gas. So equipped, the three best 0-60 times were all 4.6 seconds. Naturally, using 93 fuel, lowering the tires pressures, and draining the tank will result in quicker times.
The Mustang GT is available with a "Launch Control" program that allows the car to leave the starting line at about 4,000 rpm with controlled wheel spin. Unfortunately, it is only offered with the 6-speed manual car. Too bad, as it is the automatic that really needs it to get off the line at the race track. But once underway, the 10-speed automatic is the king, especially in any of the Sport modes. It always finds the right gear, and shifts a lot faster than anyone can do manually! So, on the drag strip, the manual box will rule, but on the street, the automatic is a better choice, and well worth the extra money.
LED Headlight Evaluation
Before we turned the car in, I decided to test the LED headlights in the dark to see how powerful they were. On a wall 100 feet away, the beam was very bright, and a good height of about one foot high. On a building 300 feet away, the bright setting illuminated the entire warehouse, with an excellent spread. On low beam setting, the lights reached out to about 225 feet, more than enough. If you drive at night, these headlights will be just fine. For daytime driving, the performance of the Mustang GT is more than fine!
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