The GT chassis has been upgraded and stiffened using parts and pieces from the 2009 Bullitt Mustang, which means it rides tauter, turns in quicker and has less pitch, dive and body roll than any previous Mustang, as much as 20 percent less body roll. The GT rides on 235/50R18 tires, with 245/45R19 tires optional. If the 19-inch tire and wheel option is selected, the car will automatically be built with a strut tower brace under the hood to connect the two front struts for more strength and better, more accurate handling.
The new tires, whether 17-, 18-, or 19-inch, have been chosen for their much higher levels of both wet and dry grip, and Ford says the 19-inch tires can produce skidpad performance exceeding 0.9g, which is very, very good for such a low-priced car.
ABS brakes, traction control and AdvanceTrac yaw control are standard on all models. For track work, both the traction control and the yaw control can be turned off (but not the ABS), and there is a Sport mode which allows higher handling limits before traction and yaw controls are called in to save the day.
With all of that as prelude, the GT V-8 is an absolute blast to drive. It's very quick off the mark, the manual shifter shifts more cleanly, and the engine sound is always brawny and throaty and beautiful, from its lumpy idle to redline at 6500 rpm. The clutch pedal is light and easy to use, even crawling through rush hour L.A. traffic on Sunset Boulevard.
In the canyons north of L.A., the Mustang showed off more new moves than the entire cast of Dancing With The Stars, extremely quick to transition from left to right and back again with a minimum of body roll, dive and pitch in the suspension.
Likewise, the brakes have much less slop in the pedal, work faster and work harder than the brakes on the outgoing model, very reassuring once you find out just how quick and how fast this new Mustang really is. Next Page