Score for the Mustang!

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NATALIE NEFF
Published Date: 1/10/05

Pontiac likes to lay claim to the title of original muscle car with its
GTO, and while that first 1964 model was more a big-engined Tempest
than a pure Goat, we're hardly one to quibble over the finer points.
What is definitive to our minds, however, is this: It would be at least
a year before the diminutive Ford Mustang, which bowed that same year,
would even come close to the midsize Pontiac's performance, and at
least four years before a Mustang had any chance of out-and-out beating
one. That first year, however, was no contest.

In its top-end form, a stock '64 GTO with a 348-hp (at the flywheel),
389-cid V8 was good for 6.6 seconds to 60 mph and under-15 in the
quarter-mile. Not until the GT350 debuted the following year would a
Mustang get close, and even then it still fell shy of the Pontiac-by
then up to 360 horses-by nearly three-quarters of a second.

Yet today when we think of muscle cars, it's the Mustang's paradigm
that persists, that of the pony car, the little car with the big heart.
The intermediate has long since disappeared, a point driven further by
the fact that today the GTO is not even two inches longer than a
Mustang GT.

So as we approach three years without a Chevrolet Camaro to throw down
with the Mustang GT, we thought it would be fun to pit the Pontiac
against the de facto reigning pony car champ, to see which has more of
what it takes to gallop home the winner.

The GTO may wear the Pontiac shield, but as we all know by now, behind
that kidney-shaped grille breathes an Aussie beast. No worries; its
V8-powered, rear-drive, two-door design gives it all the street cred we
require for a legitimate showdown with the best out of Dearborn.

When last we visited with the GTO, the brute from Down Under was
pounding out a dust cloud raising 350 horses and 365 lb-ft of torque,
grunting and growling and sounding every bit the frightening Detroit
iron its fabled name recalls. In its 2004 form the GTO was good for
5.49 seconds to 60 mph and a quarter-mile time of 13.82 seconds at
103.0 mph. Not bad numbers, to be sure, especially given the GTO's
none-too-buoyant 3700-plus-pound curb weight, though we're sure the
old model could have dropped a couple of tenths if not for the crazy
amount of wheel hop it kicked up at the line.
The way the Mustang sounds, feels and drives- from the ample grunt
under the hood to the exhaust rumble to the clearly improved suspension
and steering response-has made for many a happy staffer around One
AutoWeek Tower.

Today the ol' Goat has traded in its 5.7-liter LS1 V8 for the monster
6.0-liter LS2, complete with 400 hp and 400 lb-ft of torque all routed
through either a four-speed automatic or, more in line with our
purposes, an optional six-speed manual. Add to that a more obvious
performance-oriented look, including a more aggressive rear fascia with
twin tailpipes, bigger brakes with red calipers and a new hood with
functioning dual hood scoops, and there is plenty of new stuff going on
with the 2005 GTO.

Same goes for the Mustang. After 25 years of Fox-bodied cars, with
little of substance changing from one model year to the next, the folks
at Ford have finally given us an all-new Mustang with which to play.

The last Mustang GT we tested in 1999 turned out 260 hp from its
4.6-liter two-valve V8. On the track that translated into 5.88 seconds
to 60 mph, with the quarter-mile passing in 14.44 seconds at 96.9 mph.
Of course, the much more powerful SVT Mustang Cobra we ran through our
AutoFile tests in 2003 blew that away with a 4.85-second 0-to-60-mph
time, but the new Cobra has yet to come out, so we'll hold onto those
figures for now.

small-block and fling it into a corner, you know this GTO shares little
with its namesake other than you can have a bunch of fun behind the
wheel.

The new Mustang comes in two distinct flavors. The base model, a lively
six-cylinder churning out 210 horses and 240 lb-ft of torque, makes up
the bulk of Ford's pony car sales, a full 70 percent. It uses a newly
designed 4.0-liter engine with overhead cams in place of the aging
3.8-liter ohv V6 that made its home for so long underhood. For our
purposes, we turned to the backstraight-blazing, V8-powered GT, with
300 horses' worth of thoroughbred top-end married to 320 lb-ft of
clomping off-the-line grunt. It depends on a highly revised version of
the 4.6-liter, using three-valve heads now as well as variable-valve
timing.

Our first few experiences with the Mustang GT have proven Ford still
knows a thing or two about building a fun car, despite the blahness the
Five Hundred imparts. The way the Mustang sounds, feels and
drives-from the ample grunt under the hood to the exhaust rumble to
the clearly improved suspension and steering response-has made for
many a happy staffer around One AutoWeek Tower.

Of course, our first time behind the wheel of a GTO more than a year
ago proved more than fun, too. We thought the steering felt fine,
calling it "quick, crisp and responsive." We especially enjoyed how
well the vehicle handled, its "chassis almost unflappable over road
imperfections and through aggressively driven curves," its
"superior body control... particularly fine when hustled full-on
through tighter combinations of turns." We loved the notchiness of
the six-speed, and found the interior design fresh and exciting. The
skin? Well, we had nothing bad to say about it; we simply called it
forgettable.

Bringing the more-powerful-for-2005 model to the track opened some
eyes, to say the least. All the straight-line numbers hit right where
we had expected-5.15 seconds to 60 mph, 13.75 seconds in the
quarter-mile at 104.1 mph, trumping the Mustang's numbers across the
board-but the GTO didn't feel nearly as lively or as sharp as we
had remembered. The reason? Driving the car back-to-back with the new
Mustang GT.

The difference was most marked through the slalom course. The GTO's
steering, while fine on its own, felt hugely lumbering and slow
compared to the Mustang's. The Pontiac's handling style requir­ed
us to predict each cone by turning the wheel early, then waiting half a
heartbeat for the car to follow behind. Doing so made the car a breeze
to drive, as it could basically be steered on the throttle like that
all day long. Problem was, switching to the Ford almost always resulted
in a spinout the first go-through the cones because our hands would
instinctively try turning in early, only to have the car react in a
flash and loop. In other words, where the GTO's steering wheel-and
everything it's connected to-felt heavy, muddy, even numb, the
Mustang's had a sharp, immediate turn-in feel and bristled with
visceral sensations of the road at every turn.

The Mustang felt sharp throughout the test. Down the drag strip the
shifter made for quicker, more precise shifts than the GTO's, even if
it ultimately couldn't match the extra 100 horses the Pontiac's
increased displacement affords. The Mustang's brakes felt better,
too, even though both cars required 128 feet to stop from 60 mph. After
several deceleration runs the GTO's brakes started to shimmy on
application, indicating a warp or other negative wear pattern; the
Mustang's felt fine.

Overall, the difference with the Mustang mechanicals was you could
actually feel what they were doing; the GTO, in the immortal words of
one staffer, felt like it was wearing an auto-condom. A good set of
performance tires could put the Mustang into another league altogether.

As for style, the Ford looks cooler, inside and out, and cool counts in
this segment. Sure, the Mustang takes zero styling risks as it is
practically a carbon copy of the '67 fastback, but the '67 was a
cool-looking car. The GTO, on the other hand, is total blandsville. It
leaves absolutely no impression whatsoever.

Then there's the matter of the moolah. The pony car segment has
traditionally been a good one in terms of bang-for-buck deals. In that
regard, the 2005 Mustang GT is a hard-core traditionalist, making for
one heckuva compelling package when you consider it costs thousands of
dollars less than the Pontiac.

For our tastes, in the end, pure might doesn't necessarily prove
right. For all the GTO's brute power-its liter-and-a-half,
100-horse advantage, its quarter-second-quicker 0-to-60-mph time,
three-tenths- quicker quarter-mile time-not to mention the car's
hefty price premium, it simply cannot match the Mustang for feel, style
or value.

Overall, the Mustang backs up its looks with a handling performance
that puts to shame the GTO's. Any minor shortfall at the strip was
worth how brightly the Mustang took on the cones. Sound the bell,
it's no contest: The winner is the Mustang GT.

2005 FORD MUSTANG GT PREMIUM - SPECS AND ROAD-TEST DATA

BASE PRICE (INCLUDES DELIVERY): $26,330
AS-TESTED PRICE: $27,395
HORSEPOWER: 300 @ 5750 rpm

ENGINE
Front-longitudinal 4.6-liter/281-cid sohc V8
Output: 300 hp @ 5750 rpm, 320 lb-ft @ 4500 rpm
Compression ratio: 9.8:1
Fuel requirement: 87 octane

DRIVETRAIN
Rear-wheel drive
Transmission: Five-speed manual
Final drive ratio: 3.55:1

CHASSIS
Unibody two-door coupe

DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 107.1 in
Track (front/rear): 62.6/62.5 in
Length/width/height: 188.0/73.9/55.4 in
Curb weight: 3483 lbs

SUSPENSION
Front: Independent MacPherson struts, coil springs, antiroll bar
Rear: Three-link solid axle with coil springs,
gas-charged shock absorbers, Panhard rod, antiroll bar

BRAKES/WHEELS/TIRES
Vented discs front and rear, ABS;
aluminum 235/55ZR-17 Pirelli PZero Nero M+S
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Patrick
'93 Cobra