As a frequent traveler I frequently have the "privilege" of leaving my personal vehicle at Logan airport and picking up a (seemingly) random vehicle at my destination. Since this is the first review, and a review of a "sporty car" at that, I should mention that my personal vehicle is a 2002 BMW M5. Although it has superb handling, driveability, etc, there is always room for improvement so I would give that vehicle a solid 9 out of 10.
When I arrived at the JFK Hertz I had little expectation of receiving the "Pontiac G6 or equivalent" I had reserved. True to history I was not disappointed. After a brief debacle with a broken window actuator on my first vehicle I was behind the wheel of a 2008 Ford Mustang V6.
Luckily I don't tend to have more than 1 colleague with me, because the first observation I'll make is that this is really a 2+2: if you need to sit in the back and your legs will extend beyond the edge of the bottom seat cushion I'd suggest another vehicle. In a pinch I suppose you could carry 4 adults but otherwise they'd all have to be short (as in less than 4' tall). At 6'2" I had
at most 4" of room behind my seat. Hopefully this isn't a newsflash to many of you since pony cars have long had back seats bordering on non-existent, but I thought it worth observing.
For this rental period the weather was generally warm (70F+) and sunny. My driving conditions included open road as well as stop and go traffic, highway and city. I covered 240 miles in the course of 5 days.
So with that, let's talk about the key attributes. Before I forget, in case you stumble upon this vehicle at auction it is VIN#1ZVHT80N785207193. It had 9074 miles on it when I returned it Sept 19.
Exterior / Fit & FinishWhile certainly not as exciting as some of the higher end V8 Mustangs that sport 4 lights across the front (inc. 2 fogs), the base Mustang does maintain the same relatively aggressive styling. Since this particular vehicle was white I wouldn't say it was intimidating, but it could be if painted black or red.
Fit and finish was excellent. All panels had even gaps that were a consistent 1/8-3/16" all around. Compared to the Ford vehicles of old, this is a significant improvement. The hood closes with a satisfying thump (and hides a reasonably clean V6 in the engine bay).
The trunk, however, was a different story. Oh, it fit nicely, and closed with a thump -- but I couldn't figure out how to open it from outside the car without the key fob. Turns out that you can't. I know it's a small thing, but it can't be that hard to find a location for a lock and a handle. Once you do find your way inside, the trunk is quite spacious and looks like it would hold 4 sets of clubs (this would be helpful assuming you live close to the course or have friends who are midgets) or a complete set of luggage without too much effort.
The wheels were stylish, but surrounded by large amounts of rubber (215/65R16 are standard, but they look like 15's with those huge sidewalls). You'll want to upsize the wheels for looks and handling...
InteriorI've already touched upon the smallish backseat, but as we said, that is the price of entry in a vehicle like this. Requiring 5 years of Yoga training to be flexible enough to reach the driver's seatbelt, however, should not be. Be prepared to turn yourself 90 degrees sideways to reach your seatbelt - it will be hanging about 6-8"
behind your left shoulder. Sounds ok, but go ahead and reach 6" behind your left shoulder right now. Let me know how that goes.
Overall the interior is quite roomy. I had no issue getting myself settled in and had plenty of head room, leg room and shoulder room.
The shifter, while very stylish and comfortable to shift, is somewhat lacking in 1 key area of functionality - indicating what gear you are in. After carefully studying the instrument cluster to find the PRNDL markings, I finally concluded they weren't there. A large speedo, tach, and few other key gauges were right where they should be, and proved easy to read, but the gear indicator was nowhere to be found. It is, as it turns out, down next to the shifter itself and is actually quite easy to read -- if you are looking directly down on it. Unless you are sitting with your chest touching the steering wheel it is all but invisible.
Speaking of steering wheel, kudo's to Ford to putting a thicker than average steering wheel on a sporty car - it was comfortable to grip and helped the car say "drive me" in a way that thin little wheels don't. And for putting an Aux input for those of us who have portable mp3 players - minor points off for putting it at the
bottom of the armrest storage. Next time let's put the whole package together and also put radio controls on the steering wheel.
Interior Materials / Fit & FinishI would characterize the interior fit & finish as very good. Like the outside, the gaps were even and minimal with no unnecessary brakes. The gauges were easy to read and appropriately located while the radio, shifter, and HVAC controls were all located in easy reach for the driver.
The materials... well... Look, I know it is rental car. And rental cars take abuse. But there is no excuse for seat material that is completely stretched out and puckering at less than 10K miles. As a consumer I'd say trade the "Mustang" logo'd fabric for a higher quality material. Thankfully it did not give the usually static shock after exiting the vehicle, but it looked bad.
The only thing worse than the seats was the general lack of anything soft. Dashboard: hard. Door panels: hard. Door panel inserts: hard. Some places are ok - but those should preferably be places I'm not going to rest a body part for long periods of time. Door panels come to mind.
Handling / PerformanceAn interesting thing happened on the way to the office (ok, on the way out of the Hertz parking lot): I lit up the rear tires and swung the car sideways in the middle of the road about 50' from the guard shack. No, it wasn't a mid-life crisis moment or the fulfillment of a childhood dream. In fact, I managed to do the same thing again at the first stop light. Convinced that Hertz had labeled the keys wrong and that I had an 8 instead of a 6 cylinder, I made the turn onto the highway and got on the throttle to see what this "bad boy" could do.
This was when I realized that a) Hertz had indeed given me a 6 cylinder and b) Ford had loaded about 230 of the 240 ft-lbs of available torque into the first 1/16" of pedal travel. Luckily the engine guys warned the transmission guys -- the tranny kicks down smoothly and quickly upon request keeping you in the powerband to take advantage of the relatively anemic 210hp. This provides satisfying driveability, gives plenty of passing power (as long as you are in double-digit speeds), and more importantly, gives you the frequent opportunity to listen to an extremely well tuned exhaust that has a nice rumble and a deep tone bordering on throaty.
Once you get used to the throttle sensitivity and realize that the enormous aspect ratio (i.e. tall) tires are also narrow with limited grip, the car is pretty stable and easy to drive in a straight line. Chirping the tires is no big feat, but you will want to make sure you don't do so while next to someone who might interpret it as an opportunity to race. While gutsy, it is also heavy, and I'd guess that a Camry would probably give you a run for your money.
Sadly, the world is not a series of straight lines. Despite the engineers best efforts, the roads do occasionally turn. And while the steering was reasonably precisely it didn't provide a whole lot of road feel. Again, discredit the tires to some extent. The handling was also iffy, and in long standing tradition, bumps in corners can leave the rear end feeling a bit skittish and unsettled. The solution, of course, is to drive only on straight, freshly paved roads. Here's a suggestion for Ford: instead of spending money re-working old suspensions that still result in a compromise, how about an
independent rear suspension?
Fuel EconomyOver the course of the week I logged 240 miles and used 10.7 gallons of gasoline for an average of 22.4mpg. Given that my driving style is somewhat, umm, aggressive, and that I spent considerable time in Long Island commuter traffic, I'd say that most people should expect to get somewhat higher results.
OverallFor the ~$20K price tag that one of these cars carries you get quite a bit of car. You won't blow too many people away off the line, but the car looks good and drives ok. It does, however, have several areas that are in dire need of improvement (interior, handling) before it is a real competitor.
Exterior: 7/10 - good, but getting a bit long in the tooth
Interior: 5/10 - better materials would turn this "ho hum" into "let's go!"
Handling: 6/10 - live axles have no place on a sporty vehicle
Performance: 7/10 - good job making a low horsepower engine seem stronger
Fuel Economy: 7/10 - good results given the hard conditions.
Overall: 6/10
See you next week with the next installment:
Chevy Impala. This IS your fathers Oldsmobile...
Doug
This week, Ford announced that it will be introducing a new feature, My Key™, beginning with the 2010 Ford Focus next year. My Key™ allows parents to program certain safety features on a key-by-key basis. It is done using the vehicle's message center. These new features include: 
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