2005 Mustang Torture Test

It's a strange feeling, getting into a Mustang and not recognizing anything. When you drive Mustangs for a living, write about them, photograph them, live and breathe them, you pretty much can get into one blindfolded and still find all the switchgear.

But here we were in Michigan, keys in sweaty palms, having to familiarize ourselves with a completely new ponycar. Not only was this the first all new Mustang since Jimmy Carter resided in the White House, by any stretch it's the first completely new Mustang ever. There is more unique, original content on this car than any of vehicle to ever wear the sacred nameplate, including the original back in 1964.

Oh, but familiarize ourselves we did. It's easy to do in this car. Everything is fairly logically placed. And once we did so, it was off to the races. We left the hotel parking lot in a blaze of squealing tires and, a few feet later, nailed our first-ever one-two powershift in an '05 Mustang. And it was good.Hey, can you blame us? Given the opportunity, wouldn't you have done the same thing? We were in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to bring you the report back on your favorite--heck, America's favorite automobile; we weren't about to pussy-foot around. Drive it like you stole it--that's how we treat our Mustangs and many of you do, too. To do anything less with the '05 would be short-changing you, the good folks who ultimately pay our salaries.

So, is this your next Mustang? If you like sexy, fast cars that handle extremely well, ride beautifully, and get every passerby jumping up and down with excitement, then yes it is. Is this first all-new Mustang in a quarter of a century enough to make us give up our beloved Fox- and Fox-4-chassis babies? Well, that's up to you and your accountant. Bottom line, however, is that Ford's engineers pretty much preserved everything we loved about the old car and got rid of everything we loathed about them. Ford has delivered the goods in a big way.

By any stretch of the imagination, the '04 Mustang was an old car. Consider that its Fox-4 underpinnings date back 11 model years, in which time most cars have been totally revamped at least once. Not so the Mustang.

Go back even further and mull the idea that the basic platform had been around since 1978 under the Ford Fairmont--development of which probably began in the last days of the Nixon administration. That's longer than many of the readers of this periodical have been alive.

In other words, it was time for a change. Change, though, can be pretty scary, especially given that the car being altered is not only a cultural icon, but the center of a billion-dollar annual aftermarket industry.

Our initial reaction is that there's nothing to worry about. While styling and interior-wise this is the most radical and aggressive non R-Code Mustang to come along since the '71 Mach 1, it shouldn't turn off the secretaries, AARP members, and others who purchase the car because they want something sporty, yet non-threatening.

When it goes on sale, there will be only one body style, a coupe, and two models to choose from: base V-6 and GT. A convertible will be offered a few months hence, while specialty cars like the Mach 1 and SVT Cobra are off in the future, to be unveiled at an unspecified date. We're guessing early 2006 for a Mach 1 and spring 2006 as an '07 model for the Cobra. And a sunroof--which can be ordered on virtually every other Ford, Mercury, Lincoln, or truck--is unobtanium. The thinking is it would cannibalize convertible sales.

Sad to say that while we got to experience the thrill of S-197 Mustang motoring on the thoroughfares of Michigan and the track at Gingerman Raceway, we were not afforded the opportunity to do instrumented testing. That will have to wait until we can get our mitts on an actual production vehicle.

Styling
Looks-wise, we were first unsure of the concept of a retro-style '05 Mustang; let's face it, the current Thunderbird looks as much like a '53 Corvette as it does a '55 T-bird. And the last time Ford tried this approach with the Mustang we got the Mustang II. Now, in the flesh and on the street, we can see the sense in it. Call it Son Of '69.

"The new '05 model features a classic fastback profile and timeless exterior design that evokes its strong bloodline," is how J Mays, Ford Group Vice President of Design, put it.

With the '05 Mustang, the Larry Erickson-led design team took the best of Mustang's past--the '69's nose and the '99-present's fender flares and roofline, and integrated it into a gorgeous package for the new millennium. Only in the tail section does the car seem somewhat off. They gave us a bold, in-your-face design up front, but a conservative, middle-of-the-road statement out back. It's not a true fastback, and the taillamps strike us as a tad plain, though we like the big, traditional emblem/faux gas cap between them. The obligatory rear wing tacked onto the GT seems just that--tacked on. A '69-70-era ducktail would have completed the look.

We are happy to see that the front end comes to a point and is not laid back, something you rarely see on today's "aero-at-all-costs" designs. It definitely gives the car attitude. While they were at it, Erickson's guys pushed the wheels out to the edge of the body, which not only enhances the stance and handling, but improves interior space. Talk about win, win, win.

We love the absence of fake side scoops, which have been supplanted by a tasteful indentation that is integrated into the ubiquitous C-shape down the car's flanks (a la '65, '66 and '68). We've heard already from some who are put off by the unadorned aluminum flat hood, which is shared by the V-6 model. Some would have asked for a different bonnet; we don't mind. A cowl-style hood would have made the GT stand out for certain, but a plain hood is a lot better than one with the typical tacked-on scoop(s) that often comes from the factory. Hey, you have to give Cervini's, APC, and the rest of the aftermarket something to do, right?

"We weren't just redesigning a car; we were adding another chapter to an epic," said Mays. "The new Mustang's modern design speaks to its technical advancement without losing the classic Mustang bad-boy image."

Said image is shared more by the V-6 and GT than ever before, so how do you differentiate the two on the road? First, the GT has large, round driving lights mounted in the grille, which can't be had on the V-6. The GT's front fascia is deeper, and there's that delightful rear wing we spoke of earlier.

Wheels also separate the duo. The base ponycar comes with16x7-inch Halibrand-style rims (with optional three-bar spinners), while at Job One, Bullitt-style wheels will be standard with the 17x8-inch five-spoke rims (seen on our silver photo car), the lone other choice. (The optional 18s announced a few month back will come on at an undetermined time.) The V-6 buyer gets a single exhaust outlet in the rear (versus a pair of cutouts for the dual exhaust on the GT).

We will say the side mirrors, while extremely useful, seem unusually large in person, like they could have been scaled down about 10-15 percent.

The greenhouse reminds us both of the '94-04 Mustang and '65-66 2+2 models, and the nod to the '66 Shelby GT350 with the rear quarter glass gives relief from what no doubt would have been the mother of all blind spots in the C-pillar. And unquestionably, there are a host of aftermarket companies working feverishly on fake roof scoops to cover this.

When we made pit stops and driver changes on the road, the '05 GT caused a stir wherever it went. People immediately identified it as a Mustang and wanted to know two things: How much was it and when would it be on sale? That's good news for Ford.

The downside is that this is a much larger Mustang than we're used to. It's 4.4 inches longer than the '04 model, and nearly an inch wider. For perspective, the '71-73 Mustangs were only 1.9 inches longer. And with size comes weight (rumors at one point early in development were that the convertible weighed as much as a Town Car!). Ford had to pull out all the stops to get the tonnage out of this automobile. That meant, among other things, an aluminum hood, engine block, and suspension pieces. (The aluminum block saves 75 lbs by itself.) Ultimately, weight was still more than in '04. At 3,450 lbs for a V-8, five-speed coupe, the new GT is portly, but that's something Ford could live with given the size of the vehicle.

Interior Motives
The cockpit of the new Mustang is as highly stylized as the exterior. There's enough flash optional to entertain even the hardest to please, including a charcoal and red color scheme and an instrument cluster that is almost infinitely adjustable, color-wise.

Entering the interior and planting yourself in the driver's seat, the first thing you'll notice in that you sit a lot lower than before and the cowl is higher. In other words, it's more like a true sports car and less like a Fox Mustang, where you sat high and had a more commanding view of the road. Some may have a hard time getting used to this; not us. We found it just right.

Also just right is the location of the shift handle. The Mustang now uses remote rather than direct linkage on five-speed models, and unlike in years past when you had to lean forward to grab gears, the shifter is now perfectly placed. It also works quite nicely and (miracle of miracles) the pedals were placed so that heel-and-toe downshifting is easily accomplished. Whereas early '05 photos and show cars had a chrome ball shift knob, the models we drove had an aluminum and leather combo.

Our initial impression of the front seats is that they are first rate (they can be had with side impact airbags if you're so inclined). One strange feature of the seats is the angle of the headrests, which meets upcoming federal standards. They are angled toward the occupants' head, which is fine for regular driving, but they can't be adjusted rearward and were somewhat intrusive while driving on track wearing a helmet. Otherwise, the chairs work quite well (in both cloth and leather). They're comfortable over the long haul, yet supportive enough for open-track gymnastics.

Power windows are standard, and while we like the one-touch auto-down feature found on the driver-side of '94-04 Mustangs, the new car trumps this with auto down and up for both doors. This is an especially nice touch that adds a measure of safety for those opting for a manual transmission.

The standard stereo gives you AM/FM and CD, while there are two upgrades, the Shaker 500 and Shaker 1000 Audiophile systems--the number of which refers to watts of power. On cars equipped with either system, each door has its own subwoofer in a ported enclosure. This allows the door-mounted woofers to produce more "thump" than if they were in a bare door. The 1,000-watt system adds a ported enclosure in the trunk that includes two more subwoofers. We only played with the Shaker 500, and the sound is extremely clear--the best we've heard on a factory Mustang. We can only assume the Shaker 1000 is for those who like to blow out their windows with pounding bass.

On the downside, we did find some rather strange oversights. The spokes in the steering wheel are too large, and we found the turn signal and wiper stalks (now on separate units on opposite sides of the steering column) to be too far a reach for those with small hands/short fingers. While the headliner material is far richer than the SN95 models, there are still hard interior surfaces on the doors and center console--exactly where you rest your arms when driving.

The biggest offense was committed to the instrument cluster, especially the optional one. While the speedometer and tach are huge, the ancillary gauges (temp and fuel level on the standard cluster) are rather small. Opting for the lovely aluminum dash panel brings with it two extra gauges (battery and oil pressure)--quite a good thing--but with it comes chrome bezels around the speedo, tach, and air conditioning vents. Yes, the chrome looks great, but the effect is that of driving a house of mirrors. There are reflections everywhere, to the point of distraction. It truly detracts from an otherwise fantastic driving environment.

If you opt for the upgraded instrument cluster, you get Ford's trick color-configurable instrument cluster. In other words, you can dial in any one of 125 colors (or combination of colors) for gauges.

Also available at extra cost is the Interior Color Accent Package, which gives you charcoal with red leather seats, red door inserts, and red floor mats, just like on the Mustang GT concept cars. This feature was particularly striking.

Suspension & Brakes
"Track time--at dragstrips and on road courses--was a critical part of development, as chassis engineers pushed prototypes to the limit in search of the perfect power and handling blend."

The above quote, believe it or not, comes from the Ford information packet on the '05 Mustang, and no one here can remember the words "dragstrip" and "road courses" ever finding their way into a mainstream Ford press kit before. Seems like they've finally gotten the performance gospel.

"We spent countless hours refining this car on development drives and at the track," says Mark Rushbrook, Vehicle Dynamics Supervisor. "The car has been to the Nelson Ledges road course in Ohio for 24-hour runs and has spent months on our own straightaways and handling courses at our proving grounds in Arizona, Michigan, and Sweden."

All told, the Mustang logged almost one-million development miles in all types weather and on all types of roads. The time spent in Sweden was used for honing the car's capabilities in snow. The result, according to chief engineer Hau Thai-Tang, is the most versatile Mustang yet, one that could truly be used for four-season driving. He noted that the car's improved 53/47 front/rear weight distribution went a long way in this area (the '04's weight distribution is a rather nose-heavy 57/43.

This is truly an all-new Mustang. Except for the short-block in the 4.6 V-8, 8.8-inch rear, and the five-speed manual gearbox, it shares very little with its predecessors. It is the only Mustang in history to have a unique chassis to call its own. While originally derived from the Lincoln LS/Thunderbird/Jaguar S-Type DEW98 platform, the only thing left from that trio in the Stang is the floorpan. The front suspension, rear suspension, etc. are for this package only.

While the aforementioned FoMoCo luxury models use coilover shocks and a short-long arm suspension up front, the Mustang eschewed this in favor of a traditional MacPherson strut design (as opposed to a modified MacPherson strut setup seen in the Mustang from 1979-2004. While there was a lot of support for a DEW98 front suspension, it was discounted for packaging reasons; the physically large 4.6 3-valve engine wouldn't fit. That left two choices: Change to something else or use the smaller 4-liter V-8 from the Lincoln. The former obviously won out.

The coilover MacPherson-struts rest on a reverse "L" lower control arm, and the manufacturing of these steel arms allows them to be even lighter than some comparable cast aluminum designs. A firm bushing is positioned where the shorter forward leg of the L-arm connects to the chassis to control lateral motion and quicken steering response. The fore-and-aft movements are directed through a softer, compliant bushing at the longer rear L-arm leg that damps road shocks.

Hydraulic engine mounts and rear control arm bushings on the L-arms reduce impact harshness, while the tubular front sway bar (34mm on the GT, 28.6mm on the V-6) uses what's called outboard mounting to improve roll control and steering response. Steering, by the way, remains rack-and-pinion with a 15.7:1 ratio.

Move to the rear of the car and you'll find a rear suspension that was as controversial to design as it is unusual in a Mustang. After much internal battling and sleepless nights, Ford decided to retain a solid rear axle, a nod to us, the knuckle dragging, hairy-palmed drag racing types. For much of the development program, the car was slated to get independent rear suspension across the board, from V-6 to Cobra and every Mustang in between. Of course, this didn't go over well with traditional ponycar purchasers, many of whom spend an inordinate amount of time doing high-rpm clutch drops on sticky concrete starting pads with sticky tires. They know the effects this combination of abuse can have on an IRS and made their feelings known.

"We talked to a lot of Mustang owners as we were developing this program," noted Thai-Tang. They are a very passionate group, and a lot of them told up--very strongly--that the all new Mustang had to have a solid rear axle."

This was unquestionably the most agonizing aspect of the car's development, and Thai-Tang's solution was to build what he called, "a state-of-the-art solid axle." This was quite a decision to make as the IRS appeals to a more upmarket customer and supposedly the IRS developed was lighter than the solid axle--just the opposite of the situation on '03-04 Cobras where the IRS is significantly heavier.

Thai-Tang noted that the advantages of a solid-axle play to a Mustang's strengths: It is robust; maintains constant track, toe-in and camber relative to the road surface; and it keeps body roll well under control.

While the current car has employed a four-link rear since 1979 (two upper control arms and two lowers), the '05 uses a three-link design with a Panhard rod. One control arm is mounted to the upper frontend of the differential to act as a torque arm, while trailing arms are located near each end of the axle. The Panhard bar controls side-to-side axle movement for better cornering improved steering response and stability. According to Ford, the bar also allowed them to tighten the fender-to-tire gap by 35 mm. In other words, the SN95's off-road ride height is history.

On the new suspension, the springs are mounted on top of the axle housing instead of the control arms, which enables the car to use a lighter spring for better ride control. Only the GT gets a rear sway bar, a solid 22mm piece.

The shocks are located on the outside of the rear structural rails, near the wheels, reducing the lever effect of the axle, and allowing more precise, slightly softer tuning of the shock valves.

Four-wheel disc brakes with ABS are standard on all models, and the GT versions get 12.4-inch vented front rotors with twin piston calipers (V-6ers get 11.5-inch rotors), and all models get 11.8-inch rears with single-piston calipers.

The tire lineup on the GT has been shaken up a bit. The 18s we showed in the March '04 issue will not be available at the car's introduction, and there's no word when they will be. Standard on the GT are P235/55WR17-inch Pirelli Pzero Nero tires on Bullitt-style five-spoke wheels. Shown in our photos are the optional 10-spoke, 17-inch rims, which get BFGoodrich tires. We especially like these wheels; they are a virtual twin to the design first seen on the Mustang GT concept roadster of 2003.

Powertrain
As we revealed in the March issue, the new powerplants in the base Mustang and GT are worlds better than their predecessors. The V-6 is propelled by a 202hp 4-liter single-overhead cam V-6 that's smoother and more compact than the 3.8 pushrod engine it replaces. Torque is 235 lb-ft, up 10 from the 3.8.

As for the GT, it gets the new 4.6-liter, three-valve-per-cylinder SOHC V-8. The aluminum short-block was pirated wholesale from the '03-04 Mach 1 Mustang. That means cracked powdered metal connecting rods and hypereutectic pistons. Bore and stroke is unchanged.

A dual-bore 55mm throttle body feeds the trick intake manifold, but don't look for throttle linkage. For the first on a Mustang, Ford used drive-by-wire electronics. Thanks to such features as dual intake valves, variable cam timing, and Charge Motion Control Valves, the engine makes plenty of torque (315 lb-ft) and 300 hp at a delightful 6,000 rpm. And it gets there in a hurry, too, thanks to standard 3.55 gears (manual tranny only).

The entire 8.8 has been beefed up with stronger axle tubes and 31-spline axles (hurrah!), and the whole assembly is balanced at the factory to reduce noise and vibration. (We can't vouch for how it'll feel when you swap in the 4.30s or 4.88s!)

While the five-speed manual is a carryover gearbox, slushbox buyers get a reworked version of the 5R55S five-speed automatic out of the Lincoln and Thunderbird. This box comes with a 3.29 First gear and a 0.71:1 Fifth-gear overdrive (Fourth is 1:1). We spent all of our street driving time with the Tremec 3650-equipped cars (not entirely by choice, just worked out that way), however we did sample the automatic on the road course at Gingerman Raceway, and shifts seems crisp and on-time. We'll reserve total judgement on the 5R55S until we can spend a significant amount of road time with it.

As we said up top, the do-it-yourself 3650 shifts with precision. It is silky smooth, and the clutch action is nicely weighted. You can bang gears to your heart's content and be secure that it'll withstand the abuse. It'll be interesting to see how quickly the aftermarket can deliver new-style shifters as this is one area that can always be improved upon.

The Driving Experience
So, you've read through all my tech tidbits and pored over my prose. You want to cut to the chase: How does the most technologically advanced Mustang in history drive?

Let's just say you should get ready to contact your loan officer at the bank because it surpasses all of our expectations. We got to drive '04 Mustangs and '05s back to back and, frankly, the new car makes the old one feel like an antique. The '05 is superior in every dynamic way. It delivers the goods in areas we never thought possible. Michigan isn't known for its fabulously smooth thoroughfares, and even though Ford kept us off the really atrocious ones on our drive route, the new chassis soaked up road imperfections like a car costing far more. It feels far more expensive than it is expected to be.

But this compliance doesn't come at the expense of tenacious grip. On the track at Gingerman, we worked up to the car's limits, and by the time we found them we were shocked at how high they were. For comparison, we drove an '04 GT five-speed, and it was like being with an old friend. The extreme body roll and imprecise steering we've grown used to accompanied us around the track, as did the heavy brake dive. At the limit we found the understeer ponycars are famous for.

All of the areas have been addressed in the '05 model (at least on the GT). The steering is much lighter--some might feel it too light--but damn if it doesn't go exactly where you point it. The steering wheel acts almost as an extension of your brain. There's no need for endless corrections like on the previous Stang.

Body roll is tamed to a large degree. Drive it harder and faster and the chassis works with you, not against. Thanks to the improved weight distribution, handling is fairly neutral. You can take the car to the limits and let it drift through corners. Unskilled drivers will find it very predictable, and experienced hot shoes will be rewarded. We found ourselves able to hammer through corners while steering with one hand--try that in your Fox-4!

Those in the six-banger market (70 percent of all Mustangs sold are of this variety) will be delighted by the look and feel of the base Mustang, but, typically, it falls way short of the GT in the performance department. Unlike its hairier-chested brother, the V-6 model is a real pusher through the turns. Its limits are noticeably lower on track. Guess that rear sway bar really does something. Surely the smaller 16-inch tires have something to do with this, too, as they howl in protest at the first hint at being used hard.

Certainly the power in the V-6 car is more than adequate, but it has a much harder time dealing with the extra curb weight than the GT. Our guess is that it's not much more than a tick quicker than the earlier model; the engine is, however, less appliance-like. And the look of the V-6 car may be equal to or better than the V-8. Ya gotta love those wheels, especially with the spinners.

Ford refused our request to get a car for instrumented drag testing until later in the year, but we'll tell you that this car feels stout. Torque is better than we expected (no doubt bolstered by the 3.38 First gear and 3.55 rear cog), and the engine pulls more like a four-valve Mod motor to redline than the old two-valve 4.6. Our best guess is that with a power-to-weight ratio similar to the '03-04 Mach 1, good racers should be able to get the new GT into the mid- to low-13s at over 103 mph at the strip in bone-stock trim. If it can accomplish this, it would be the quickest Mustang GT ever. Even if it misses by a tenth or two, it would still probably qualify for title. Top speed is computer-limited to 145 mph.

The good news is that while late-model Mustangs have always been known for their acceleration and grip, this time those virtues go hand-in-hand with refinement--quite an accomplishment in a car that stickers in base form for under $20,000. It'll cruise at 100 mph all day long and feel like you're going 60. The body structure is 31 percent more rigid than before, and we hear the convertible will be world class. Now, some of you will be aghast that we're using a word like refinement in conjunction with the Mustang, but why not? You're paying premium dollar for this all-new car, hell, it should be somewhat refined.

Just don't get the idea that it's lost its free-spirited nature. Put the spurs to it and this thing is still all Mustang. Ford sweated all the details that make it the kind of vehicle we lust after. The note coming out of the tailpipes is fantastic; it even comes with a 2.5-inch mandrel exhaust system, just like you'd order from the aftermarket. Excellent also are the ergonomics, at least for the most part.

Mash the throttle and it'll burn the tires down to the cores. Generally, it is just a blast to drive.

Obviously, we're very anxious to get our hands on a car for more than just a few hours. We want to put this "state-of-the-art" solid axle to the test of street and strip. Will bumps in corners upset it? Will the three-link be capable of harnessing the combination of sticky drag-style tires and 315 lb-ft of torque? That'll be a real test.