Maybe the exploding truck was a GOOD thing...

C

Copaup

Joined
Oct 7, 2004
Messages
122
Well, as many of you are aware on May 10 my Ford F150 exploded in my driveway. I was quite upset, at least until the insurance company put a suprisingly generous check into my hand. Faced with the dilema of what to replace my immenently practical and useful (if somewhat combustable) truck with, I began shopping. It needed to be safe. It needed to be sturdy. It needed to be able to haul a lot of crap. Then I saw this black on black Mustang GT on the lot and all that went out the window. I doubt that anything generating 300 hp could be considered safe in my hands, and the only thing I can haul in this monster is arse. It started with a simple test drive. Just for fun. Then the snarl of that V8 got into my brain and wouldn't come out. Out came the credit union application, and I return to the world of car payments. I've put 400 miles on it in 2 days just cruising around. This is the car I've wanted since I was 10 yrs old and they finally built it for me. Good lord, its like being 16 and in my first car again.

And so, my biased review of the 2005 Ford Mustang GT
Pros
Drop the clutch and the Hammer of Thor hits you square in the back. I've been in cars that have better acceleration, but not this side of 30K.
The snarl of the 4.8l V8 is like Mozart and Motorhead combined. I might cry.
Handling is suprisingly good for what is a big, heavy, muscle car.
Came with 17 inch alloy wheels stocked with Z rated Pirelli.
Better than average stock audio system
The car looks meaner than Mr T. on a bad acid trip.

Cons
Interior fit and finish could be better (still good for Ford)
Tiny trunk.
Draws crowds when parked and teenagers in riceburners who want to race at redlights.
Did not immediately make me as cool as Steve McQueen.

Overall (and in all seriousness)
This is a hell of a lot of muscle car for $27K plus tax. 300 hp, 320 ft/lb of torque, and it still gets 25mpg on the highway (better than my old V6). We'll have to see how she holds up, but for now I am whole again and am thoroughly enjoying the beginning of my midlife crisis.
;)
 
For $27k the specs sure look good. I don't know much about American cars but sounds like you got a good car there.

What's the top speed on that car?

I miss driving a good car. I drive a BMW 325 back home in Malaysia but where i am now i'm stuck with a 1.6 litre nissan almera. Everytime i go back home to malaysia for a holiday and come back here i get disappointed. Sometimes i just feel like not driving the Nissan. There's something about having your body pushed back into the seat when you've pushed the accelerator. The feel of the steering when it corners. Damn....my Nissan now is sounding real bad.

ANyway, how are you getting along with less storage space?
 
With all that horsepower he can tow a trailer to carry all his junk !!
 
"how fast can you do the 240 loop?"

I would never dream of violating the traffic laws. I am a safe and resposible driver on duty and off. But in a totally hypothetical and theoretical world where my evil twin resides, it gets around the loop PDQ. Its added a whole new level of enjoyment to the merge at Malfunction Junction and 240 @ 40. Not that I know for a fact, after all, I'd never drive like that...;)

As far as top end, I really don't know that. I start getting nervous when the spedometer hits triple digits on publicly travelled highways. I want to take it out to the motorsports park, but don't have the time right now. I can say that it will hit 120 with ease and doesn't seem to be straining at all. Not that I gave into temptation on a lonely stretch of interstate or anything. After all, that would be wrong. In this theoretical world however, the car can easily reach 100 without you noticing it on the interstate. It runs so smooth I have to keep an eye on the gauges to keep it from running away from me. No shake, no excess wind noise, no feeling of lift. At 100 it feels like my squad car at 75. I want one of these with blue lights.

As for the tiny trunk, easy, I bought a smaller gear bag. Time for the Rookie to pick up the slack and carry the extra heavy stuff. The trunk perfectly contains my gear bag, a change of clothes, fire extiquisher and first aid kit, and a 10 inch subwoofer with amp. There is enough room left to squeeze in at least 3 molecules of air. I suppose when I travel I will have to take out the sub to make room for luggage.
 
Copaup said:
It needed to be able to haul a lot of crap.
Click to expand...

How often do you haul a lot of crap?

If you haul stuff all the time, then a truck makes sense. For a lot of truck owners, the truck just turns into a rolling (and fuel-consuming) warehouse. Most of the time, you just don't need to haul all that stuff around all the time.

Keep in mind that Home Depot has really nice trucks set up for heavy-duty hauling that you rent for $15/2 hours. U-Hauls end up being like $25/day. If you need a truck a few times a year, maybe a home project, that sort of thing, then just rent it, instead of commuting in it everyday.
 
Copaup said:
Tiny trunk.
Click to expand...

Welcome to the world of Ford sports cars. I was helping a friend move a desk that had to be taken apart to even have a chance of fitting in either of our cars. As it turned out, her '99 Mustang had more trunk space than my '97 Thunderbird.
 
"For a lot of truck owners, the truck just turns into a rolling (and fuel-consuming) warehouse."

No lie there. Mainly I just need enough space to store my gear bag and other work stuff, but I tend to drag around way more gear than is really necesarry. I'll just have to re-evaluate just how much stuff I actually need to drag around in the trunk. I didn't know that about Home Depot. That would actually be even more convienient that making my rookie do by bidding, since there is a Home Depot within a block of my house. In truth, the trunk holds more than I thought it would, its really just the opeining that is ridiculously small. Since I was off yesterday, I got drafted to pick up the supplies for a party. You can easily fit $100 worth of beer into the trunk with space left over. It's big enough for 2 medium size suitcases laid flat, so I guess that is all I really need.

Incidently, still no buyers remorse. This car rocks.
 
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