The large bonnet flexes in the wind as the long Karoo road spools into the distant horizon. There’s no other car in sight and life is good. The V8 roars like a Nascar and the fat tyres whoosh loudly on the tarmac.
I’m at the wheel of the new seventh-generation Ford Mustang, which has landed in South Africa as a marriage of tradition and technology. The latest iteration arrives in Mustang’s 60th anniversary year and more than 10-million units have been sold since the pony car made its debut at the New York World’s Fair in April 1964.
The sixth-generation Mustang was the first to come to South Africa and has found more than 4,000 owners since its launch in 2016.
The newcomer reaches local showrooms as a Fastback GT two-door coupé powered by a 5.0l V8 engine (for now the four-cylinder 2.3l turbo is not destined for our shores) and in a month’s time it will be followed by the more potent Dark Horse V8 model.
In a car era that is being defined by hybrids, electric vehicles and smaller-displacement turbo petrol engines, the latest Mustang keeps it old school with its big-displacement, normally-aspirated engine. It is mated to time-honoured rear-wheel drive though a departure from tradition is that is has no manual gearbox; transmission duties are performed by a 10-speed automatic.
In other nods to modernity, a new digital dashboard offers two curved displays behind a single piece of glass angled towards the driver. The displays can be customised with video game-style interfaces, including an instrument panel that offers modern and retro-styled clocks. I mostly used the classic 1967 look.
Continuing the tradition-meets-tech theme, the fighter jet-inspired cockpit has an electronic handbrake styled like a traditional mechanical hand brake.
The cabin feels reasonably premium with stitched leather, soft-touch surfaces and metallic accents and has most of the regulation gizmos: including wireless charging, infotainment system with smartphone integration, 12-speaker B&O audio system including a subwoofer, partially electrically-adjustable front seats and dual-zone climate control.
A new race-inspired flat-bottomed steering wheel provides more space when getting seated. There is generous room in the front sports seats which are covered in Black Onyx leather and offer heating and cooling, but the cramped back seats are for toddlers. The boot is spacious but it’s no longer possible to fold down the rear seat backrests to fit bulky cargo, as in the old model.
The latest Mustang retains its traditional sleek roofline and short rear overhang but boasts an edgier new design with widened rear haunches and a more assertive front end with a more chiselled grille, larger air intakes and new tri-bar LED headlamps. Aerodynamics are optimised with new bonnet vents, redesigned front splitter and a race-inspired rear diffuser, while the tail lights are LED tri-bar clusters.
The R1.3m price brings appropriately swift performance, with a promised 0-100km/h sprint in 4.9 seconds and a governed 250km/h top speed. The normally aspirated V8 wields 328kW of power and 540Nm and feels punchy at sea level, with a free-revving nature and plenty of midrange torque. In high-speed tests the big coupé tracked straight and true with excellent directional stability.
Driving the Mustang is a visceral experience and it isn’t a car that ever fades into the background. The V8 engine provides a prominent acoustic soundtrack even in its quietest exhaust mode, and in the sports settings it’s a rousing heavy-metal assault on your ears. There is a loud hum that is wholly or partly caused by the wide tyres — 255/40 R19s up front and 275/40 R19s at the rear.
The 10-speed auto transmission felt a little laggy in the standard setting but perked up nicely in the sportier modes. It fired swiftly through gears and I didn’t feel the need to use the manual paddle shifters.
The standard Performance Pack adds track-focused features including a front suspension tower brace, Torsen limited slip differential, MagneRide active suspension and large Brembo brakes. There are six drive modes — Normal, Sport, Slippery, Drag, Track, and a customisable setting.
The Mustang’s a heavy machine and classified as a grand tourer rather than a full-blown sports car. That said, the big coupé swept proficiently through the Cape’s twisty mountain passes, masking its 1.8-tonne weight with a pinned-down nature and meaty steering that delivers the right sensations without feeling too light. A special nod goes to the grippy tyres, which kept the Mustang stuck to the rain-sodden Outeniqua pass like a wet shower curtain to skin.
The ride is firm but the active suspension takes the sting out of it and the Mustang made a relatively comfortable cruiser over the nearly 400km test drive. The car comes with a range of advanced driver assist features including adaptive cruise control, lane centring assist, evasive steer assist and reverse brake assist, though oddly no front parking sensor.
As a party trick, you can stand outside and start the car and rev the engine using the key fob. It perfectly summarises the car’s character. Whether or not you gel with the Mustang’s bourgeois, sports car-for-rednecks nature, it’s a blast to drive and taps into your inner boy racer. The blue oval’s iconic pony car retains its raw and racy character as it moves into the digital age.
The R1.3m price includes a four-year/120,000km warranty, four-year unlimited distance roadside assistance and a six-year/90,000km optional service plan.
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