You are looking at a 2018 Ford Mustang GT Premium coupe with a price tag in equal Audi A5, BMW 4 Series, Infiniti Q60, and Mercedes-Benz C-Class territory, folks.
Still, this Mustang remains a comparative bargain, because to come anywhere close to its performance capabilities with one of those luxury cars, you’re going to be spending 100’s of thousands of Rands more to get into an S5, an M4, a Red Sport 400, or an AMG C63. Sure, with the Ford you’ll settle for a downgrade in terms of interior materials, but the money saved can most certainly assuage any pain caused by the hard plastic digging into your left knee when you pitch a Mustang GT into a tight right-hand corner at well over twice the recommended speed.
Thinking that a new 2018 Ford Mustang is for you? Well then, you’ve got some decisions to make.
First, you’ll need to determine if you want a turbocharged 4-cylinder engine (EcoBoost), a V8 engine (GT), or an even more powerful and sophisticated V8 engine accompanied by a range of track-ready engineering upgrades (the Shelby GT350, which is considered a separate model).
Second, decide if you want to shift your own gears or purchase a transmission that will do that for you.
Third, select between 2-door coupe and 2-door convertible body styles.
After that, you’ve got paint colors, wheel designs, and numerous performance, safety, and technology upgrades from which to choose.
Prices start at R728 000 for a bone stock Mustang EcoBoost Coupe and rise to as high as R955 800 for a loaded GT Convertible.
For this review, Ford provided a Mustang GT Coupe dressed in Magnetic paint, fitted with the GT Performance Package, and equipped with the new 10-speed automatic transmission, the new Active Valve Performance Exhaust, and the new MagneRide adaptive damping suspension. With these upgrades and all the other equipment included here, my test car’s window sticker rose to nearly R1million.
Styling is updated for 2018, especially up front, where a lower nose and more aggressive face put visual distance between this car and last year’s model. In particular, I like the new hood and how it swells up and around the windshield to join the car’s beltline.
Around back, last year’s weird body-colour skid plate thingamabob is kicked to the curb in favor of a new diffuser panel between the exhaust outlets. Front and rear lighting is new, too, LED all around and retaining classic Mustang cues. Normally, I’m not a fan of dark wheels, but given the hardware upgrades that are also included with the Performance Package, I can live with them.
Inside, the 2018 Mustang isn’t much different than before, but with higher quality materials, exposed contrast stitching, and the aluminum carbon-pattern trim (Performance Package) to improve the ambiance. I’m also a fan of the new digital instrumentation option.
Despite the interior upgrades, there remain a few questionable bits and pieces of plastic that are tough to justify given the test car’s price tag. With that said, what you’re paying for here is performance and heritage, and in these areas the Mustang over delivers.
