Ford Mustang GT Convertible – long term test

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Got the Ford Mustang GT Convertible in on long-term test – make sure you following #BCGFordMustang and subscribing to this channel (switch on notifications) to see how I get on with it! #BCGLongTermer

18 Jun 2022 – Ford Mustang Long Term Test – Report 7 – FINAL REPORT!

The Ford Mustang has left the building. Okay it was never actually IN the building, it was in the car park outside, and if you’ve recognised that I’ve borrowed that from the famous line ‘Elvis has left the building’ it is of course, very deliberate. Because the gaping whole it’s left in its wake, does indeed feel like space vacated by the presence of a true rock star. Big, brash, the great sounds it made, the sheer magnetism and the charisma of the Mustang, are perfect analogies to the King of Rock and Roll.

In the three months I had the car, a brand new 5.0-litre V8 GT Convertible press demonstrator from Ford UK, I covered around a thousand miles, each one of those feeling like an action hero. It never missed a beat, with not a single fault or issue to report.

Despite a few long-trips, most of that was done around North West London. Over the course of this distance, it consumed about £350 of fuel – although that’s a skewed figure because petrol prices have increased so dramatically in the time I’ve had it.

To put it into context, it achieved an overall fuel-consumption figure of 23.8mpg, which may not sound like much, but was actually better than Ford’s own quoted combined figure of 23.3mpg, and way better than it’s low (in other words ‘urban’) figure of just 13.3mpg. At the top end Ford suggests as much as 28mpg, but I beat that too, achieving over 31mpg on one long trip.

But enough talk of fuel consumption. I mean who really cares, especially when you’re spending over £50k or nearly £54,500 with optional MagneRide Adaptive Suspension System (a must in the UK and definitely worth it for an extra £1650) and Custom Pack 4 (£2365) comprising the Sat Nav, heated and cooled seats, 19-inch forged alloy wheels and the magnificent 1000w 12-speaker B&O audio. You’re looking at about £900 a month in payments on finance. On the other hand, Ford Approved will sell you something like a 2018 convertible with 25,000 miles on it for just under £40k.

Should you get it then? Oh yes absolutely. Especially if you’ve even contemplated the thought of buying one. But you’d better do it soon. I’ve been saying it for years, but it’s truer now than it’s ever been. The time is almost up for beasts like these. The fun police are targeting drivers. They’re out to get us. It’s a fact.

It’s already getting too expensive to buy, tax, insure, run and especially fuel a V8 like this but it’s only going to get crazier – do it now while it’s still potentially feasible.

Emissions and sound regulations and legislations are working hard to deaden and mute the throb of such motors. From next month all new cars in the UK will have mandatory speed limiters. Manual transmissions and the clutch pedal are fast becoming obsolete. In eight years’ time you won’t even be able to buy a new petrol engined car, according to current government plans.

There will be a new Mustang, probably next year, and it probably will still have a V8 as well as a four-cylinder petrol engine, thankfully. It’s quite possible it’ll be hybrid, and it’s very likely an electric version of the two-door will be coming if not at launch, then soon after – don’t forget there already is an electric Mustang – that’s the Mach-E. To be fair, the Mach E really isn’t a bad drive at all, it’s actually quite enjoyable. So there is hope. But I can’t lie – I’ll miss the rumble of this thing.

Cars like these are special, they represent so much more than just being transportation. To the extent that for some of us they contribute to our mental wellbeing. Don’t take that away from us, don’t make it inaccessible. Don’t kill off a culture that’s been going over 100 years.

French writer and philosopher, Roland Barthes said: ‘I think the cars today are almost the exact equivalent of the great Gothic Cathedrals: I mean the supreme creation of an era, conceived with passion by unknown artists, and consumed, in image, if not in usage, by a whole population which appropriates them as a purely magical object.’

Magical Mustang, magical motors… magical… yeah that’s the word. Let’s keep believing in that magic for as long as they’ll let us.

Enjoying the current great weather in the UK, going for a roof-down blast! Featuring the Long-Term test Ford Mustang GT Convertible 5.0 V8 that actually goes back this week after three months.

7 Jun 2022 – Ford Mustang Long Term Test – Report 6

It’s just another couple of weeks till the long-term Ford Mustang GT Convertible goes back to Ford. Rewind back to around 2010 and while living in Dubai, I was about to pull the trigger on a brand-new previous generation, 2005-2014, Ford Mustang. It would have been a kona blue coupe with a manual transmission.

Hesitation grew from recognising rumblings at work that did indeed result in a change in my work situation. As a result, I stayed my hand from signing on the dotted line, and never actually bought the V8-engined muscle car. Much regret.

The question then – would actually living with a Mustang for three months prove that ultimately it was just as well I never did get that Stang? Don’t be silly. I regret not buying it more than ever. The only downside would have been that as good as that S197 generation Mustang was, the current one is even better.

This style is honed to perfection – even if it took a while to grow on people initially (I liked it instantly though), the quality is a massive step up and the drive better than ever, aided by the introduction of fully independent rear suspension.

Even so, it’s predecessor was a beast. Reviewing a Roush Stage 3 spec edition – with one of the loudest exhausts available as standard on any car ever – you didn’t just wake up the neighbours each morning but most of Dubai and part of Sharjah too – I found myself besotted with it.

We produced one of our earliest videos with the car, pairing it with a highly modified SLP Camaro running outrageous horsepower. But while the Camaro felt a little unhinged and had a sense of built-in-a-madman’s shed about it, the Roush was as solid as anything out of factory producing cars that were meant to manifest mayhem.

It was brilliant. The video wasn’t bad either. But it received a lot of hate online. Oddly the hate appeared to come from America. Why would the American’s hate on muscle cars?

They weren’t, they were hating on the fact that two brown people in the Middle East were reviewing them. Insults ranged from ‘towelheads’ to ‘go back to driving your rickshaws’ with a one commentor claiming he was a GI and would come over to Dubai and bomb me, my co-presenter and all our families so we wouldn’t make any more videos.

Over a decade and around 2000 uploaded videos later I’m still producing content, more content than ever. And still driving Mustangs. The moral of this Mustang story? Haters gonna hate, don’t let that make you wait, get the car your heart truly desires, before it’s too late.

“Did you know?” Time for Trivia – facts about the iconic and legendary Ford Mustang.

Trivia Quiz on the Ford Mustang – can you answer these questions? Leave you answers in the comments. I will reveal the answers in a future video, so make sure you’re subscribing and turn on notifications so you don’t miss any videos.

24 May 2022 – Ford Mustang Long Term Test – Report 5

The Ford Mustang GT Convertible, features adaptive or automatic cruise control which is able to adjust the speed of the car automatically based on the traffic in front of it, which means that unlike normal cruise control systems, you don’t have to keep adjusting the speed. This is actually a fairly common feature available on modern well-specced cars.

However, I don’t much care for cruise control, only ever employing it for really long motorway journeys, or if I’m on a road riddled with cameras so I can ensure not inadvertently wandering over the limit – so easy to do in 5.0-litre V8 Mustang! Plus, I feel I can manage the economy better by my own more measured and gentle use of the throttle.

So is the system entirely redundant on the car? Considering it not only has the required software, but also the hardware such as radars to detect the distance to other vehicles and the speeds. Very often on these cars that might be the case with me driving. However, the Mustang has a digital illustrative display in the centre of the speedometer that displays a graphic of the lane, which also indicates when you crossover the lane markings.

Additionally, it depicts a vehicle in front when it comes into range. It then indicates whether you are a safe distance behind relative to the speed you are doing – and so can thereby stop in sufficient time in an emergency. It goes yellow/orange if you’re too close, going red if you’re in the danger zone. Who needs double chevron safe distance markings on the highway with systems like this?

9 May 2022- Ford Mustang Long Term Test – Report 4

Recently National Tyres and Autocare surveyed over 2000 people to find out what turns them off (and on) when it comes to what you drive and how you drive. Without going through the entire report, there were a few major, and in this case, pertinent, takeaways from the findings.

Forget EVs, less than 30% found drivers of electric cars attractive, but petrol-powered cars still ruled with 41% finding them tantalisingly lusty. When it came to the type of car that was most appealing, two-seaters rocked, sportscars followed and convertibles were very close behind.

To establish which brands were potentially perceived the sexiest, the researchers trawled through social media looking for the brands most included with keywords such as ‘love’, ‘sexy’, and Heart emojis. Despite Tesla being only electric, it somehow came top in this list, but a close second and scoring higher when it came to keywords such as ‘beautiful’ and ‘hot’ was Ford (beating off BMW, McLaren and Porsche). Those seeking love were found to be enamoured by a clean car, particularly on the inside, and people weren’t keen on drivers going too slow.

All of which brings me back to the subject at hand, our latest update on our ongoing vroomance with the Ford Mustang GT 5.0 V8 we have on long-term test right now. It’s a petrol-powered convertible sportscar with a Ford badged and which is hard to drive too slowly (although not impossible when you’re keen to stave off too-frequent and financially painful trips to the petrol stations!).

Basically, what I’m saying is that if you’re looking for love, drive a Ford Mustang. There’s also another undisputable factor when it comes to this car, that wasn’t actually included in the survey, but should have been – the Mustang remains the coolest new production car from a major volume car manufacturer on sale today.

Not that you should infer that yours truly is on the hunt! Oh no, I’m happily married and had the family in this thing driving around on Eid day – catch that video on my YouTube channel (BrownCarGuy). But I do try to keep it clean… if you see what I mean.

Took the BCG Ford Mustang to a lunch meeting, ended up parking next to John Wick’s 69 Mustang and interviewing its owner!

27 April 2022 – Ford Mustang Long Term Test – Report 3

Mid-April marked the 58^th anniversary of the Ford Mustang and I was invited by Ford to take the convertible 5.0 GT we have on long-term test, up to Caffeine and Machine in Stratford-upon-Avon where they were hosting a small celebration. Along a spectacular line-up of the classic Stangs, including a sensational replica of the iconic Steve McQueen Bullitt Mustang, were current models such as the Mach 1 and the future of Mustang – an electric future of course – with the Mach-E electric family crossovers.

I was involved in the 50^th anniversary celebratory parade back in Dubai – gosh, how time flies?! – when we actually ended up riding in the lead car, a classic Stang, owned by the squadron leader of the UAE national aerobatics team. Do you get any cooler than being a fighter pilot doing sky-ballet with coloured smoke and powerful jets? Nah. So of course he drove a Mustang!

I maitain, that the ‘coolest’ car you can currently buy brand new from a major car manufacturer, is none other than a Ford Mustang – more the coupe and convertible, although some of that magic dust is certainly rubbing off onto the Mach E. And note that ‘coolest’ does not mean the ‘fastest’, ‘expensivest’, ‘most powerful’, or even the ‘best’, it means ‘cool’.

To be fair, ‘coolness’ can be a fleeting phenomenon, especially with cars, although sometimes that spins back around again as cars become classics, but the Mustang has almost consistently maintained the cache of coolness for well over half a century.

It stems from the Mustang’s plucky underdog done good metaphor. The car was created as an affordable everyman sportscar, originally constructed from bits of other products from the Ford range, to keep the price low, the practicality high and the fun factor engaging. These days it’s a dedicated, specifically engineered modern sportscar, that is not quite as affordable as its progenitor, with prices starting at £47,000.

It also helped that one of the coolest movie stars of the 1960s drove it in one of the most vaunted car chase sequence in celluloid history, acclaimed as much for its realism as for its excitement – Mustang Vs Dodge Charger in the movie Bullitt, piloted (partly for real) by car fanatic and part-time racer Steve McQueen. Since then (and before) it’s been in countless movies, TV shows and music videos – I’d safely wager it’s probably the car with the most pop-culture appearances than any other.

And all of this rubs off on the owner/driver. People love the Mustang, they’re not offended by it, the way they would be by some overtly extravagant exoticars. And they all seem to want to hear it rev. I fear my neighbours might issue emails complaining about the noisy American car, but the last time one passed me as I was sitting in it waiting, he urged me to fire it up and let rip. Actually, I get that a lot from strangers.

It’s not surprising that Ford have now stopped selling the perfectly sensible, but entirely unsuitable 2.3-litre four-cylinder Ecoboost engine – you wanna hear this thing. I guess we need to make the most of it, as brand-new petrol V8s won’t be in our lives for too much longer. And if you really want to be cool – you gotta drive a V8 Mustang.

17 April 2022 – On Global Mustang Day, attended a Ford UK celebration of the 58th Anniversary of the Ford Mustang at Caffeine & Machine with members of the Mustang Club GB and other owners. Here I interview Oliver Rowe from Ford UK, Sham Shah (Mustang owner and car designer), James Mann (photographer and classic Mustang owner) and Jason Thiel owner of the classic replica Bullitt Mustang. A must watch for all Ford Mustang fans!

Ford Mustang Long Term Test – Update 2 – 10 April 2022

Three-weeks in with the Ford Mustang GT Convertible and it’s time to get serious. Let’s try to look past the glamour and romance of cruising top-down in America’s most iconic sports car; ignore the evocative deep rumble of a throbbing motor that telegraphs its power down the road causing heads to turn well before you’ve arrived; and dismiss the fact that such an impossibly cool car endows even your humble servant with instant ‘star status’.

Journalistic integrity is at stake here, analytical objectivity is called for, criticisms must be brought to the fore, potential future buyers have to be forewarned of foibles, failings and flaws with Ford’s mighty Mustang convertible. With my credibility on the line then, herewith issued is a litany of concerns.

Starting with the seatbelts for the driver and front passenger that always twists in the leading loop on the seatback and have to be straightened before engaging, and even then, only if you’re slightly OCD and like them to be flat and conformed.

Wow, that’s a deal-breaker… not. Anything else?

The roof mechanism has to be manually released by hard labour – that is you have to pull down a handle and twist it to release the canvas canopy before it can be lowered by pressing the button near the rear-view mirror. To close the roof, once again, after it’s been electronically raised, you have to yank down the handle and twist again. For weaklings like me, this might sometimes be a two-hand job, for most others, it’s merely a tiresome tug.

Moreover, the front and quarter-light rear windows descend once you press the button to lower the folding top. But they do not raise up again, when you restore the roof. Instead, you have to tax yourself by reaching down to the door console, and pulling up the single button for the two rear quarter-lights and then the two buttons for the front windows. Sheesh – what an effort! To be fair, the only downside is that I once, almost, nearly, just about, forgot to close the rear windows before locking and leaving the car.

I didn’t though, because I looked back. And you will look back. It’s that sort of car. Sitting in the sun, or brooding in a rough end of town, urine-soaked multi-storey car park, it’s attractive charisma and magnetism remains undimmed and captivating as ever. You HAVE to look back at it.

What else then, now that we’re here at the bottom of the barrel chipping away determinedly? Oh yes, you can’t turn off the lane-keeping system. You can decline the assistance that pulls you back from your meanderings off course, and you can reduce the intensity of the ‘you’re moving out of lane alert’ from a frantic wobbling of the wheel forcing you awake from your action hero daydreams to mild vibration.

What else? Well, you can set up your driving mode preferences in ‘My Mode’ but have to activate them each time as the car reverts to default when you start it.

And with that, I’ve reached 500 words of valid opprobrium. With that out of the way, let’s hear no more of this for the remainder of our tenure with the Stang. After all the sun is out, the stereo is pumped up and there’s still fuel in the tank. Let’s ride!

Check out my review of the Ford Mustang GT 5.0 Convertible which I actually have on long-term test – so keep following how I get on with this car by search #BCGFordMustang on here (subscribe and turn on notifications) and other channels such as Instagram.

Ford Mustang GT Convertible Long-Term Test – Update 1 – 27 March 2022

Stay tuned for long-term updates on my experience running this Ford Mustang GT Convertible over the next couple of months! It’s a 5.0-litre V8 with 460bhp and a six-speed manual gearbox, capable of 0-62mph in 5.1 seconds and a top speed of 155mph.

While emissions are 276g/km for CO2, the combined fuel economy figure is given as 23.3mpg, but you’d be lucky to see in that in normal around-town driving. Having said that, the top end fuel economy is given as 28mpg, however on a 200-mile round-trip from London to Birmingham I got fuel economy to well over 31mpg! And the proof of that is in a short video on my channel: YouTube.com/BrownCarGuy – just search for #BCGFordMustang on YouTube and Instagram for regular updates.

What most people don’t realise is that a V8 is barely stressed at motorway speeds, for example if you drive at a constant 70mph, you’ll be doing around 1700rpm, try that in a normal four-cylinder and it’s usually between 2500-3000rpm. Smaller engines are working much harder in that scenario. Having said that, when some modern economy cars can do twice as much on a long wrong, 31mpg is good only in a relative context.

Relative in the sense that when you’ve spent over £80 filling up the tank and painfully returned your wallet to your pocket with trembling hands, once you get back in the car, start it up, hear the bark of a beast awakening, and the thrum of its reverie settling to the bassy throb of indiscreet potency, your silly grin will wipe away the grief of money departed, and it will take every inch of self-control to fight off the temptation to pull a massive burnout right out of the gas station – sorry I mean petrol station, but you see how the Stang makes you go all American!

This is priced at around £50,500, but it has the optional – and must-have – magna-ride switchable clever suspension that keeps the ride stable on most surfaces, though it will express annoyance at speed bumps and deep ditches. Fork out £1650 for that.

And you know what, dig a little deeper for the Custom Pack 4 fitted to this pony car finished in Iconic Silver. For another £2,365 you get a 12-speaker B&O 1000w stereo (which is thumping by the way and retains clarity and bass even with the roof down), sat-nav, cooled and heated seats (which mean you can drive it with the roof down even when it’s cold!) and the 19-inch forged alloy wheels.

I do miss the cue-ball white gear knob and the Torque Thrust style wheels of the Bullitt edition. And maintain that the Coupe body is overall a better-looking car than the Convertible, until that is, you drop the roof. It folds complete flat into a cavity behind the rear seats and does rob a little bit of boot space and you lose the flexibility of extra space from folding rear seats, but there’s still very useful cargo space. The rear seats are for kids or small people. The front is perfect for six-foot plus long-legged me.

I’ve always loved classic and modern Mustangs, but what’s it like to actually live with one? Stay tuned to find out!

#AirportRun! ✈️🛫🛄 Review drops at 4pm today on my YT channel 👉🏽 link in bio 👈🏽 BTW Did you know there’s now a £5 charge to drop-off and pick-up?! 😲

The roof on the Ford Mustang #BCGFordMustang is one smooth operator, you can leave a water on it, with no spillage! Can you do that with your convertible? Send video!! Keep following my experiences with this Ford Mustang Convertible GT 5.0 V8! Maybe I’ll try balancing fuel on the roof next 😜

Driving the #BCGFordMustang back from Birmingham yesterday, with a tank just over half empty it was still showing me a mileage range of 170 miles, despite having drven nearly 200 since tankful yesterday – that’s a motorway range of 370 miles! On a 5.0-litre V8 Ford Mustang convertible with a manual gearbox. That was 30.7MPG. However a little later I got that figure even higher – watch the video to see how I beat Ford’s own high MPG figure by 3MPG!!

Got the Ford Mustang GT Convertible in on long-term test – make sure you following #BCGFordMustang and subscribing to this channel (switch on notifications) to see how I get on with it! #BCGLongTermer