CaptainRon

I just came back from a very long road trip in my 2012 Mustang. It is a base model with the standard 2:73 rear & manual 6sp. The car is entirely stock & I used Shell 87 octane the entire trip.

The road trip started out in deep south Texas all the way up to the western suburbs of Chicago. The speed limits in Texas and other states were raised up to 10-15mph over to what they were before. That made an impact in my times and also my MPG. I left south Texas at 4am and took hwy 77 north up to Corpus Christi connecting to I-37 towards San Antonio, Tx with the cruise control set at 75mph all the way.

Now, Texas has a new tollway, the SH-130 which was supposed to bypass San Antonio, Austin, and back onto I-35 in Buda, just North of Austin.... With its 85mph speed limit, I just had to try it... Well on the road map it was barely an inch east of San Antonio off of I-10, but as I found out, Texas is a large state. The tollway is about 50 miles east on I-10 and a bit out of route but I did get on it and set the cruise at 90mph. It took about 20-25 minutes to get north of Austin and I was back on I-35... I then followed I-35 up to Dallas then around to US-75 thru Plano Texas then Oklahoma. The speed limits in Ok for the most part was 75mph however the nasty weather slowed us down a bit.

When I got into OK. I hit some of the most horrendous thunderstorms and heavy rains. Wow.... But the Mustang held its ground very well. The strong cross winds barely rocked the car. Finally called it a day in Joplin, MO.

Next day! Missouri was a beautiful blue skies and a cool 60f. Jumped on the I-44 north and set the cruise at 70mph, jumped on the 255 into Illinois, then the I-55 north.

In Illinois again I had the cruise set at 70mph although the speed limit was 65, but I figured 5 over ya cant get into too much trouble...

Before I took off I reset my trip odometer & mpg. I drove a total of 3116 miles there & back and a average MPG of 30.5. Spent a round figure of $380 on gas and total of 2 nights at the motels jacked me another $150. Oh, mental note.... Dont go to motels run by East Indians, aka "india Palace".... The place stunk like curry, They jacked me for $88 bux for one night, were rude and all of them wore name tags with anglo names on them and I couldnt help but notice the Mgr's picture on the wall behind the main desk with an unpronounable indian name, lol.

The V6 Mustang in stock form is an excellent car for long road trips. The base suspension is tight, and on the long ramps and curves on the freeway can pretty much out handle the average passenger car. The ABS brakes work fine, although I would like to see a bit more bite, the car still stops very well compared to the average passenger car. And the traction control really came to the test in those heavy rains I encountered thru Oklahoma. The 305hp V6 is more than adequate. Very good balance of power & economy and can hold its own out there. Ford built a damm good car!

After my road trip experience I strongly feel that leather seats and a glass top should be mandatory on any Mustang that is used for long trips. The stock cloth seats are fine, nothing wrong with them at all, but leather seats would feel much better on extended driving, especially on a my 40 something tush. A glass top or even a convertible should be something to seriously consider if your considering buying a mustang for road trips and reason being, the coupe feels clausty after a long day driving and with a glass top, it would give the impression of being out more in the open, not cramped in. I was very comfortable though.
Now if money was not an option, I think the ultimate Mustang for road trips would be a Shelby GT500 convertible....

Dencon

Sounds like a great trip. I am hoping to take one in mine very soon.