Shane D

I have been eyeing Mustangs since the new 5.0 came out and wanted to check one out. I was in Las Vegas last week on business and rented a GT for a few days. It was in my favourite color, Kona Blue. My thoughts were/are:
1) I LOVE the sound of an 8 cylinder
2) VERY easy to get the rear end loose (and with an automatic)?
3) It was BEAUTIFUL to look at.
4) I expected more power. My DD is a 6 cylinder that weighs 4,100lbs and I expected a lot more from the lighter, more powerful GT. Whenever I rent a corvette, and I floor it, it doesn't stop screaming until I lift off due to lack of road or *****.
Stomp the GT and it would wail for a couple of seconds and then ease off?
5) Stereo was not bad and I think it was just the base model.
6) Exhaust note is too subtle for me.

Overall impression was VERY pretty but needs a supercharger. This was a newish car with 3,700 miles on it from AVIS. Maybe just "boggy"?

Can't post pics but you have all seen it before.

Shane D

PS: Went out to Shelby America but missed the tour. However did get pics, t-shirt, Shelby magazines (didn't even know they existed), etc.

PPS: Went to Cars and Coffee in Vegas and saw a BEAUTIFUL Boss, Laguna Seca edition. Every Ford guy including Super Snake driver just stared. Very cool car.

BlackBetty

I take it this was a 5.0 GT? The stock tunes on the 4.6 are rather docile and I assume the 5.0 is similar. For the rental cars they may detune them even more.

X3xMONGOOSEx3X

Part of the issue is you were driving an auto. Get a custom tune and it will change the driving experience entirely. An exhaust note is something that can be changed rather easily.

Shane D

I wonder if it was that or the car had just "learned" with someone driving slow to moderate speeds. I really expected all hell to break loose as with the Corvettes. I know the Corvette has a few more horses and is a bit lighter, but the LS motor just screams. I will have to try out another GT somewhere.

Shane D

Shane D

I was thinking about that before I even got in the car.
The lady at AVIS said that they did not have a single stick in the place. Great selection though. GT, Camaro SS, Challenger and a Corvette.
A tune would likely make a big difference in the auto.

Shane D

Blacksmoke

Do you WANT a manual?

If so do not compromise and get an auto.
To me the manual is just SO MUCH MORE FUN to drive.
You are in more control of the car and how it acts.

Add some 3.73 or 4.10 gears to a manual and have even MORE of a blast driving it!

Mishri

I would suspect it was detuned by Avis, there is no way it should fall flat on you, the engine just picks up more and screams louder at 5000rpm, i believe stock it shifts at 6800rpm, if it shifted sooner then they detuned it which yeah, that would put you much lower rpm in the next gear and kind of ruin the car. Right now with my mods and tunes it shifts at 7300RPM I believe. maybe its 7500, i'm usually watching the road more than my tack since it goes by so fast

also when I went to avis in Phoenix all they had were the v6 mustangs, camaro, challengers, they did have the LS3 vettes though. are you certain you drove a v8 5.0? Did you pop the hood and look? because at the counter i was told they had v8s, then i went out at the lot and all they had were v6s. i still drove the v6 2011 mustang, but yeah, it was sort of gutless downlow and was slower than my modded 2007 GT. also, im very confident i would destroy an LS3 vette as my car sits now

MrSandman

One thing this car doesn't do is ease off. After 4000 rpm it feels like you hit a warp drive button

If you kept your foot to the floor, and it felt like it wanted to give up, I'd bet they programmed the key (MyKey) to make the car lazy. You can program the keys to limit top speed, radio volume, keep you from disabling traction control, etc. No tuner required...and I'd bet that's what they did.

Shane D

When I am a back road on a Sunday tearing it up I want a stick BADLY! However, as a daily driver I do NOT want to be shifting all day, every day. I also want to be able to let wife drive it, so a stick is out. I still think an automatic can have lots of power (and more if modified). Wonder if the mykey idea was the culprit (mentioned below).

Shane D

Shane D

It was definitely a GT. Even had the nice V8 rumble when you got on it. Just gave up too soon. Was not aware of the "mykey" powers. Maybe a clerk just dialed it down. High speeds were unaffected as I got well into triple digits.

Two points I am curious about:
1) How come the back end gets loose SO easily? Car only had 3,700 miles on it and lots of tread on the tires.
and
2) What is with speed bumps? No matter how slow I went, each was one was a hard, long bang. Is that a live axle thing?

Shane D