2022 Mustang GT daily driver (with bonus TVR content!)
Discussion
I've been a big fan of the S550 Mustang ever since they started appearing in numbers over in here in RHD, and a couple of years ago I started giving serious consideration to one as a daily driver. I have a 2004 Honda Accord estate which I've owned for over 7 years now and is pushing 180k miles, and really gets used as more of a van these days, so wanted something a bit nicer for daily use and long trips etc. I've never spent more than £2k on a daily driver before, and the 2004 Accord is also the newest car I've ever owned, so making the jump to looking at brand new cars was was quite the experience!
The thought process that led to ordering this was detailed here: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Collection day
But to summarise I wanted a fun coupe, new enough to use every day with decent reliability, and ideally with a V8- as I missed this the most since selling the Chimaera. My wife has a Mini JCW manual, and we also have a Mk1 Tuscan as a weekend car, so I wasn't fussed about getting anything too extreme- I wanted something with all the creature comforts.
Consequently I went for the 10-speed auto over the manual, simply because a lot of my day-to-day driving includes navigating the odd traffic queue and not the most exciting roads. It's the first automatic either of us have ever owned, but with the Tuscan for proper driving fun and the Mini JCW also being manual, I decided to prioritise comfort with the Mustang
It was a choice between 'eruption green' or 'intense purple'. I went with the 'purple' in the end as it's remarkably similar to the 'pirates black' I had on my Accord Type R a few years go. On a dull day it comes across as black, but in the sun the purple / blue really pops out.
My old Accord Type R
Mustang in the sun
Interior is dark tan- I loved the white/cream as a combo with the dark paint, but I foresaw endless stressing about marking it. Black was too boring so the tan was an ideal compromise, and looks great to me. Although I've just realised I've not actually got a picture of the interior yet- on my to-do list.
I collected the car just before Christmas and since then I've done just over 1k miles- I suspect I'll average about 7k miles a year. Economy-wise I've averaged 23mpg so far, which considering the use so far has been 99% short drives / commuting, I didn't think was too bad for a 5.0 n/a V8! Cruising on the dual carriageway sees the mpg jump up to the high 20s and I suspect 30mpg is achievable on a long steady motorway cruise, I've just not done enough of this to have much impact on the average yet.
Likes so far: Switchable exhaust (4 settings) is brilliant, combined with the 'quiet start' setting for early mornings makes it much more sociable when you live in a quiet cul-de-sac. The 10-speed auto is very good, with a big difference in the way it operates in normal vs sport. Not tried sports+ yet but the road conditions are still pretty ropey. Manual shifts on the paddle are also very crisp, although I must admit I've left the auto to do it's thing most of the time. Heated steering wheel is incredible, absolute must have for me on a car now! Digital dash is excellent, and the android auto connectivity is very good too. I went with the standard seats (rather than the Recaros) so that I could have the heated / cooling function, and to be honest I don't feel like I am missing much here- the standard seats are excellent. Space is also very good- with the rear seats folded I collected a 7ft artificial Christmas tree with no issues. Auto-dipping headlights are also great- never had these on anything before but another must-have quality of life improvement!
Dislikes so far: disappointed to discover the Mustang does not have a heated front screen unlike basically every Ford I've driven since about 1998. Not being able to press a button and drive off within 30 seconds on a freezing morning is a bit annoying, as even with the 'quiet start' enabled, I'd rather not be sat with the car idling for 5 minutes well the screen defrosts properly at 6am. Struggling to think of anything else on the dislikes!
I'm looking forward to the better weather to enjoy the car's performance a bit more, but even at the relatively moderate revs I've used so far it's certainly not lacking! It's also great to find a new car that feels properly exciting to drive even when cruising through traffic at 20 miles an hour listening to the V8 burble- some of the stuff I test drove just felt a bit 'ordinary' when not driving enthusiastically. We've got a couple of road trips planned for later in the summer which will be a good opportunity to get to know the car a bit better and hopefully get some better photos.
Oh and a picture of the Tuscan- just because you can never have too many pictures when a car looks like this! It's a 2000 mk1 4.0 with approx 65k miles. Cosmetically it's not the best example out there, but it's had a Powers engine rebuild and was cheap by Tuscan standards. This suited us as we didn't have a garage when we bought it- now sorted. So this will hopefully get some cosmetic attention further down the line.
The thought process that led to ordering this was detailed here: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Collection day
But to summarise I wanted a fun coupe, new enough to use every day with decent reliability, and ideally with a V8- as I missed this the most since selling the Chimaera. My wife has a Mini JCW manual, and we also have a Mk1 Tuscan as a weekend car, so I wasn't fussed about getting anything too extreme- I wanted something with all the creature comforts.
Consequently I went for the 10-speed auto over the manual, simply because a lot of my day-to-day driving includes navigating the odd traffic queue and not the most exciting roads. It's the first automatic either of us have ever owned, but with the Tuscan for proper driving fun and the Mini JCW also being manual, I decided to prioritise comfort with the Mustang
It was a choice between 'eruption green' or 'intense purple'. I went with the 'purple' in the end as it's remarkably similar to the 'pirates black' I had on my Accord Type R a few years go. On a dull day it comes across as black, but in the sun the purple / blue really pops out.
My old Accord Type R
Mustang in the sun
Interior is dark tan- I loved the white/cream as a combo with the dark paint, but I foresaw endless stressing about marking it. Black was too boring so the tan was an ideal compromise, and looks great to me. Although I've just realised I've not actually got a picture of the interior yet- on my to-do list.
I collected the car just before Christmas and since then I've done just over 1k miles- I suspect I'll average about 7k miles a year. Economy-wise I've averaged 23mpg so far, which considering the use so far has been 99% short drives / commuting, I didn't think was too bad for a 5.0 n/a V8! Cruising on the dual carriageway sees the mpg jump up to the high 20s and I suspect 30mpg is achievable on a long steady motorway cruise, I've just not done enough of this to have much impact on the average yet.
Likes so far: Switchable exhaust (4 settings) is brilliant, combined with the 'quiet start' setting for early mornings makes it much more sociable when you live in a quiet cul-de-sac. The 10-speed auto is very good, with a big difference in the way it operates in normal vs sport. Not tried sports+ yet but the road conditions are still pretty ropey. Manual shifts on the paddle are also very crisp, although I must admit I've left the auto to do it's thing most of the time. Heated steering wheel is incredible, absolute must have for me on a car now! Digital dash is excellent, and the android auto connectivity is very good too. I went with the standard seats (rather than the Recaros) so that I could have the heated / cooling function, and to be honest I don't feel like I am missing much here- the standard seats are excellent. Space is also very good- with the rear seats folded I collected a 7ft artificial Christmas tree with no issues. Auto-dipping headlights are also great- never had these on anything before but another must-have quality of life improvement!
Dislikes so far: disappointed to discover the Mustang does not have a heated front screen unlike basically every Ford I've driven since about 1998. Not being able to press a button and drive off within 30 seconds on a freezing morning is a bit annoying, as even with the 'quiet start' enabled, I'd rather not be sat with the car idling for 5 minutes well the screen defrosts properly at 6am. Struggling to think of anything else on the dislikes!
I'm looking forward to the better weather to enjoy the car's performance a bit more, but even at the relatively moderate revs I've used so far it's certainly not lacking! It's also great to find a new car that feels properly exciting to drive even when cruising through traffic at 20 miles an hour listening to the V8 burble- some of the stuff I test drove just felt a bit 'ordinary' when not driving enthusiastically. We've got a couple of road trips planned for later in the summer which will be a good opportunity to get to know the car a bit better and hopefully get some better photos.
Oh and a picture of the Tuscan- just because you can never have too many pictures when a car looks like this! It's a 2000 mk1 4.0 with approx 65k miles. Cosmetically it's not the best example out there, but it's had a Powers engine rebuild and was cheap by Tuscan standards. This suited us as we didn't have a garage when we bought it- now sorted. So this will hopefully get some cosmetic attention further down the line.
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