2009 Mustang GT With Attitude

When our 2009 Mustang GT came in last week with a hot Torch Red paint job, the first thing I thought to myself was, “Oh God, which one of us is getting a ticket first?” A week later, no tickets, a pile of rubber and a new found respect for Mustangs was born.

Continue reading after the jump!

My first impressions of the Mustang were undoubtedly biased due to my involvement with and love for the import car scene, but nonetheless they were positive. The 2009 Mustang has all the same looks as the 08, but can be optioned like our test car with a completely glass roof! From the outside the glass is tinted, with the remainder of the roof painted black from the front windshield to the rear windshield. The GT came with the signature six inch fog lights in the grill, but I’m not a fan of these in particular. They remind me too much of people trying to make truck parts work on their car. They look out of place and tacky to me but, hey that’s just my opinion!

The interior is very similar to that of the 08 Mustang. Complete with changeable foot well lighting and customizable instrumentation lighting. I found that my favorite set up was blue lights for the dash and red lights for the cup holders and foot wells. Once again the biggest addition to the interior is the all-glass roof that really seems to open up what would be an otherwise closed-in cabin.

Another interesting tidbit that Ryan and I found hilarious can be found in the trunk. Ford’s design team must have believed that it was necessary to let anyone who is trapped in the trunk know that they should pull this lever, jump out and RUN THE HELL AWAY. Like anyone isn’t going to know to run away from a car they were just trapped in but hey, I guess if your panicking because Mario is gonna chop you into little pieces then you may need this instruction.

Driving the Mustang lives up to its name: Mustang meaning “A small, hardy, wild horse.” I found that this car needed to be told what to do more then merely driven.

The first thing that I noticed about the Mustang is the shortness of the throw between gears. It would seem that the Mustang comes equipped with a short throw system, however, I did notice that the clutch has very little forgiveness during shifting. If you want this puppy to shift smoothly the clutch has to be depressed all the way or your gonna have to muscle it into gear. Personally I don’t find this annoying and I actually feel it lends to the cars raw feeling, but I could see it becoming tiresome for anyone not dedicated to shifting.

All week Rob has been asking me to compare how this car with “a true 300 ponies under the hood” feels like when compared to other cars I’ve driven with similar power. Honestly, it felt powerful but not quick. See picture for example. You can easily clutch kick this car with the traction control off if you want to lay down a smoke screen. (Closed road and driving complete with peace sign by professionals only.)

Although powerful, the chassis is lazy in the turns and I found the body rolled way too much. The suspension definitely needs to be tightened up immediately after purchase if you are looking for a spirited ride. The exhaust note is nice from the factory but I find that this car sounds much better with an aftermarket exhaust.

Now that I’ve finished bashing the little things that I don’t like about the Mustang, let me tell you that this car is really solid. I recommend this car for the weekend warrior or the suburbanite dweller, but not for the everyday city driver or those concerned with the cost of gas. I pushed the Mustang about as hard as I could and it didn’t seem to care. The car is pissed off in traffic and wants to get pushed hard. As long as you can open her up on the freeway every once in a while this Stang will serve you well.