When in Detroit....

As a few of you may remember I'm not an American. Nor have I ever really been a big fan of American automotive design. It's always seemed to me that the American auto industry has been edging closer and closer towards producing tanks in response to the public's fear of being hit by one of the increasing number of tanks on the road.

So I've driven stuff that's gone against the attitude of "Bigger is better" first with Lotus and then with the ultimate statement of driving for fun not fear - a Mini. But when my partner got a job in Detroit and my commute increased from 5 miles to 70 (round trip) along roads that seem to be disintegrating faster than Nicole Kidman's face post Botox it seemed like time to go local.

The Mustang was actually The Partner's choice. Originally we were looking for a Hybrid - but if you want to buy local the choices are limited and the waiting lists long. Besides after years in small, nimble cars being in an SUV, even the greenest on the planet, felt somewhat akin to tightrope walking, on stilts. We swayed, we leaned, we never quite felt in control. And besides the best of the Hybrids were only generating about 30mpg on the highway - and that's not great.

Having toured the local dealers we finally pulled up, weary, slightly greasy and smelling of bad coffee at a Ford dealer where parked up front were a bunch of Mustangs. No ford badge, plenty of attitude and priced lower than the resale on the Mini. We could trade in and come out ahead of the deal.

A quick test drive proved a couple of things. We wanted the upgraded interior, we liked the feeling of being low, we couldn't believe how upset bumps made the rear end but most of all this was a car that we wanted - rather than a car that merely ticked all of the boxes.

The salesman tried hard to figure out our pricepoint - rather than looking for our sensibilities but soon got that we were looking at the V6 not because it was cheaper (we'd load it up later) but because we could emotionally justify it. 26mpg on the highway was okay - and I always manage to get a little more than the estimate out of my cars - call it the Grandpa in me.

What was shocking to us was that both ABS and Traction Control didn't come as standard. It had to be bought as part of a Safety Package. We took it, along with leather seats, an interior upgrade, Pony Package and the Sirius Satellite radio (I love the Radio 1 breakfast show). Throw in discounts and we're in at around $23k. Not bad at all.


We're now 7,000 miles and 4 months in to the experience and thought that this was as good a time as any to share the experience.

The interior of the car actually looks quite nice. I like the 'silver' inlay on the dash and the 'revolve and rotate' air vents are both practical and stylish. Many of the materials are pretty good - though the radio console is cheap, shiny and nasty. There have been two rattles from the interior too. The first came from the join on the A pillar. It's not a one piece dash and somehow the thing was loose and right by my left ear. A trip to the dealer at 5,000 miles cured that. The second - a creaking from the leather of the gearstick (we chose a manual shift). A liberal dose of leather moisturizer fixed that too. Small details but annoying and enough to make you question the build quality overall.

Another minor point. The car is designed to be an auto. Place anything in the cupholders and you can't reach the manual shift stick. A small but significant point.

But they are about the only gripes so far. The leather seats adjust all ways, as does the steering wheel - making it very easy to get comfortable. The adjustable lumbar support makes longer journies easier too.

The Shaker 500 stereo system is plenty powerful and Sirius works as advertised.

Driving dynamics aren;t bad either. It's no Mini but the Mustang sits low and wide and feels well planted. Rear wheel drive and Michigan's snow shouldn't really get on but the traction control has saved me more than once and the car's response has always been predictable. There's enough power to make joining the freeway a breeze and the car cruises at about 2,000 rpm at 70mph making it a pleasant long distance companion. Sure it's noisier than other (more powerful) Fords - a drive in a Fusion recently showed me just how much Ford have improved their interiors and noise reduction - but then it's a Mustang and they're supposed to have a certain sound. The V6 doesn't match the sonorous beauty of the V8 but it makes a decent attempt at a low growl... versus the snarl and yap of my supercharged Mini.

Economy has been good. 80% of my miles are on the Freeway and there I'm averaging between 26 and 31mpg. Around town it's less good, but it doesn't really drag me down too much and I'm averaging between 25.5 and 27.0mpg overall. As I said I tend to drive for economy and have a lot of freeway miles so that's high, but it's doable and not much is coming past me.

The Mustang is pretty good on Smiles per Mile too. People want to talk to you about it. Most guys seem to have a Mustang story. And they seem happy that the Stang has its mojo back after a decade or so of not so handsome cars. In black the silhoutte really does shine and you can see the muscle in the arches. I'm not so sure about the rear treatment - but that's a personal choice.

In terms of practicality. The trunk is large and well proportioned. The back seats fold flat, giving extra space and those rear seats are surprisingly comfortable once you've managed to fold yourself into position. I might not take 4 adults across country on a road trip in it - but we've done a 100 mile round trip for dinner and nobody had to call a chiropractor afterwards.

So it's been a positive experience so far. It looks good, cruises well, is good for making small talk with strangers and has yet to let me down. If the 2009 upgrades the interior quality a little I'll have my money down for that too.