[darkpuppet]

So as i've mentioned before, my lease is coming up on my focus, and I thought I'd take the opportunity to go test drive the only car ford makes that I would be interested in buying... the ford mustang GT Convertible.

Now, please remember that these first impressions are coming from someone who has driven a focus for 4 years, and nothing but FWD's since 2001.

Holy hot damn!

first off, the convertibles look PIMP in black. The one I test drove had the 18" wheels, interior appearance package, including the MyColor dash... which adds a couple of buttons to your dash. I couldn't make much of the rest of the interior due to all the protective plastic on the 'appearance' package tidbits. but whatever..

First things first, convertible top operation...

Ford somehow found a way to make it more complicated than it needs to be.

Raise parking brake - standard fare
release roof clasps - standard fare.. or is it?

I've been in new-model convertibles where all you do is pull a spring-loaded lever on either side and you're done. Here, you have to pull down, then out on the lever, ease the roof back a bit, then fold the handles back down again. Lo-profile, sure, but it's not a convertible top my mom could figure out.
Hold button to lower top
Hold button
hold button
hold button
hold button
hold button

ok top's down, let's drive!

First thing I notice when climbing in the driver's seat is that not only do I feel like I'm practically lying down, but the pedals are somewhere in front of the front wheels, and the clutch, while I don't mind stiff, has the equivalent travel of walking up steps 2 at a time.

Not to mention that the clutch pedal is extremely close to the brake pedal, but miles away from the gas... if you turned your foot straight sideways, you couldn't toe-heel brake.

Ok, it's not that bad, when driving, the clutch and brake feel intuitive... they feel particularily light, which makes you suddenly aware of the shifter sitting straight ahead of you, instead of down and low. The lever's action was extremely short, and somewhat heavy..

it could be that I'm just used to a car with light action on everything that suddenly I feel as though I'm presented with a collection of victorian signal boxes. To say that everything felt stout is an understatement.

You are further reminded you're in an unfamiliar place when you first turn the key and the car comes to life. It doesn't just open it's eyelids and sigh like the focus does, it bolts upright, gasping for air and screeming... the automotive equivalent of a drowning victim being recusitated. It's startling, shocking, and impressive all at once.

Time to roll..

I would have to say once you're on the road the car feels quite manageable.. sure the cockpit is a bit unfamiliar, but everything settles in and feels natural. In the time it takes your foot to travel from the brake to the gas is about the same amount of time it takes your clutch foot to take up the travel, so everything shifts naturally and easily.

My only complaint is how surprised I was that the side of my foot clutch foot was getting caught underneath the brake pedal. I was wearing my square toed shoes, and have a slightly wider foot, and on a couple of occasions I'd mix clutch dragging with engine revving as I tried to get my foot from underneath the brake. Which would have been embarrasing if the sales lady hadn't done the same thing a few moments earlier.

On the street, on the gas, the car accelerates both the car and your senses. This is not a quiet car by any means. It's angry, pissed off at all the japanese cars around it and it's not afraid to voice it's displeasure..

While I would say noise is a bad thing, in this case, it may be a very good thing.. it let's you know just how hard the car is working. The problem I found is after getting used to the sound, and getting on the gas meant that taking turns aggressively meant the backend felt like it was wagging, begging to be let out. Without going sideways, I'd say the car was good at letting you know when you were approaching the limits.

But how does it feel as far as convertibles go?

it's good, but it's a tossup on rigidity. I'd have to say that this is the most rigid convertibles I've ever personally driven, but you notice the cowl shake in strange ways. In cheaper convertibles (ie, sebring convertible), cowl shake is immediate and uncompromising. You go over a crack, the front of the car moves with the crack. You know immediately and exactly what you just drove over. Once you're over it, your done.

The GT convertible spreads out bumps over a lifetime.

You drive over tracks, and you feel nothing, then a rumble, a slight dull shake that reverbrates, and 20 feet away from the tracks, it finally settles back down.

Is it rigid? yes.. but the cowl shake is odd at best, muted, but reverbrating...

But was the car fun to drive?

hell yeah..

sure I noticed a lot of things that I didn't care for, or made me uncomfortable, but just the feeling behind the wheel of this behemoth is amazing.. I could learn to love it's imperfections, because as far as convertibles go, this is tonnes of old-school fun.

but it also felt nice to climb back in my tiny, high perch, reach down into 1st and quietly exit with minimal mental and physical effort.