Threw It Back in the Water - 2015 Ford Mustang GT Long-Term Road Test

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Threw It Back in the Water - 2015 Ford Mustang GT Long-Term Road Test

I took the 2015 Ford Mustang GT out for the weekend and regretted it 20 minutes later. Here's why.

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agentorange

Watch out, Ronald. I hear the mob gathering with a tar barrel and sacks of feathers. Cannot say I am entirely surprised by your comments. Driving a car that is remotely hardcore is not something I would even attempt in LA.

misterfusion

I get nauseated by heavy traffic as well, but not necessarily due to motion sickness. :P

sxty8stang

Interesting that the clutch action felt so different to you - the performance pack should have nothing to do with that and, if anything, the shifter/clutch have definitely been improved from the S197 to the S550.

banhugh

probably the clutch disk is toast! Does it engage high(er)?

socal_eric

The brake pedal being grabby and engaging in a non-linear manner was one of the bigger disappointments in the '13 Focus ST I had (biggest being MyFord Touch). Not sure if it was their tuning of the master cylinder, the ABS hydraulic control unit or a combination, but a slight touch of the brakes would yield way too much braking force at slower speeds (I suspect the brake system's tuning may in part be due to using the ABS pump and braking for the torque vectoring on the front axle and active understeer correction on the rear and having to keep the system charged and pads close to the rotors).

You sort of eventually get used to it and during higher speed, aggressive driving like at a track or auto-x it isn't bad but in the real world it was always something you had to remember and learn to drive around. That's might be okay for a track toy but it doesn't make for the best daily driver.

defyant15

I love the grabby brakes and am totally used to it. I love the brakes.

I hear ya on the clutch though, the shifter is brilliant but the clutch sucks. It's because of an assist spring in it that takes 1 min to remove. It makes the clutch far more linear to modulate (but 15% more effort). It works well for me now, but I can see it getting tiring in a ton of stop and go as its a bit heavy.

ctpaul

should have bought an automatic

boff

The brakes take some getting used to, mos def. Should only take a few days. For the clutch, yank that useless return spring Ford fits. Heavier but more feelsome clutch will result.

pblalock

The Performance Pack's 3.73:1 rear end gearing is your likely culprit. Short gearing can make it hard to drive a torquey car smoothly. Skipping the PP probably makes sense for most people. You can try avoiding first gear in traffic to smooth things out, but that may be tough on your clutch.

legacygt

It may be a bit more touchy in traffic than many other cars but these seem like the types of things you get accustomed to and learn to drive it smoothly after about a week.

socal_eric

I had no problem getting used to my ST's grabby, oversensitive, non-linear brakes and could easily drive it day in and day out. But every so often I'd apply just a bit too much, a bit too soon and would be reminded to be careful about the brake engagement.

I'm not saying you can't easily drive like that and with something like the clutch take-up or how much throttle to feed it's usually learn and forget, but with the brakes I'd always have to keep it in the back of my mind that they behave differently depending on how you're driving and how you're using them. To me that's poor brake system tuning when other cars have a linear, nicely modulated pedal with good feel and feedback that's consistent whether you're in stop-and-go traffic or carving up mountain roads.

mtnbiker8

+1 on taking out the clutch "helper" spring. You won't be cheating. Just do it. It's a feature - just turn it off. You can always put it back in.