Unrefined, Uninhibited and Devastatingly Quick
I was a kid in the '60s and a teenager in the '70s, so the Mustang has long been on my dream car list - excepting the forgettable Mustang II series. Powerful V8 fastbacks with names like Mach 1 and Shelby won over my impressionably young heart, forever creating the desire to one day own an example of the fabled steed.
While I've since had the pleasure of driving a variety of early pony cars, my favorite being a 1968 Shelby Mustang GT 500 KR, nothing has offered the total package of blistering acceleration and nimble handling as completely as the new SVT Mustang Cobra.
But 0 to 100 aside that doesn't mean much, you say? It's true that Mustangs have never been particularly agile around the corners when compared to more sophisticated imports sporting fully independent suspension systems, and also more or less true that the new model still features mostly the same dated chassis architecture that Ford introduced when the Mustang II replacement hit the scene over a quarter of a century ago, albeit much improved over the years. But all that goes out the window with the new SVT Cobra.
Say what? I know I was somewhat harsh on the same car in convertible guise in a previous review, but the coupe is an entirely different animal. Both lose the solid rear axle setup, replaced with an all-new independent multi-link rear suspension. Ride and handling is much better in convertible and coupe form, but the latter, with its higher structural rigidity, shows the most improvement.
I took a sunny afternoon to speed up a snake-like stretch of highway not far from my home, an excellent test bed capable of pulling the best and worst out of any car. The SVT Mustang coupe is tight, tracking well at high speed and quite predictably through the really sharp corners. I didn't feel as confident at its extreme limits as I would in say, Infiniti's G35 Sport Coupe, but then again nothing this side of a Porsche 911 fits my driving style quite as well.
I was a kid in the '60s and a teenager in the '70s, so the Mustang has long been on my dream car list - excepting the forgettable Mustang II series. Powerful V8 fastbacks with names like Mach 1 and Shelby won over my impressionably young heart, forever creating the desire to one day own an example of the fabled steed.
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| Not since I drove a 1968 Shelby Mustang GT 500 KR has a Mustang offered acceleration like the new SVT Cobra. (Photo: Shawn Pisio, Canadian Auto Press) |
But 0 to 100 aside that doesn't mean much, you say? It's true that Mustangs have never been particularly agile around the corners when compared to more sophisticated imports sporting fully independent suspension systems, and also more or less true that the new model still features mostly the same dated chassis architecture that Ford introduced when the Mustang II replacement hit the scene over a quarter of a century ago, albeit much improved over the years. But all that goes out the window with the new SVT Cobra.
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| The stiffer SVT Cobra coupe is a big improvement over the convertible model, handling the twisty roads noticeably better. (Photo: Shawn Pisio, Canadian Auto Press) |
I took a sunny afternoon to speed up a snake-like stretch of highway not far from my home, an excellent test bed capable of pulling the best and worst out of any car. The SVT Mustang coupe is tight, tracking well at high speed and quite predictably through the really sharp corners. I didn't feel as confident at its extreme limits as I would in say, Infiniti's G35 Sport Coupe, but then again nothing this side of a Porsche 911 fits my driving style quite as well.