Hey there Mis-shifted asshats, I’ve got something for y’all today.

Back in 2021, my mom had an ecoboost mustang convertible, with the 10 speed. It spun in the wet on i95 and was sold by the end of the year. Buckle your asses up, I’ve got shit to say about it.

Gonna start with the positives first, to balance out how much this car pissed me off. First off, the ecoboost engine was not a total let down. A lot of car for that thing to move, made an ok noise, and moved the car well. Better with a v8? Yeah, but honestly I can’t complain much about the engine. Better in a Focus RS? Yeah but I haven’t driven one yet so I can only say that with 90% confidence. Transmission was also impressive. Fairly quick shifting, smooth, and “drag mode” or whatever it was called would chirp 2nd and 3rd which was always entertaining. The interior quality was fine, and no one really complained about sitting in the rear (although whenever Justin and my friend group would go in the car, the top was inevitably down). Sound system wasn’t bad, we abused it.

Ok, so the rest of this mess. Seating position, shit never felt right, and you’re always looking out onto an endless expanse of hood. Better visibility than a camaro sure, but looking out of the front of a camaro, you get a better sense of where the corners are and where the car ends. With this Mustang, it just all slopes down and feels like it never ends. Pair that to a car that felt not 100% in control of itself around a corner and steering feedback that wasn’t fully up to then task, and you have a somewhat scary experience as you try to drive the massive car through the three fun turns south Florida has. My z3 when it had blown rear struts, inspired more confidence to the driver when you cornered. Had as much body roll too. The gauge cluster looked like it was designed for a goose or a deer, some animal with eyes on the sides of its head. And back to the size of the damn thing. I’ve driven a camaro many many times, and have driven the challenges and charger. Hell I’ve driven tundras and a Transit Van across the country before. All of those vehicles manage to give the driver better spacial awareness of the dimensions of the car. I don’t fully understand why this car just couldn’t fucking convey its size to me. Maybe its embarrassed. Maybe when I get in, my brain cell count nose dives to 2, and they’re both trying to focus on opposite ends of the gauge cluster.

I see how people manage to wreck these things as often as they do. I’d imagine a better spec’d ecoboost or a v8 would alleviate at least the letdown in handling that I felt.

All this being said, it does have a sweet spot. You’re not gonna going to pile your buddies in and play hillclimb driver. Sure the computers will save you, but I doubt the driver will get much from that, other than some nauseas passengers. However, pile 5 of your friends in the car, all dressed up like your typical new Mustang bro, blasting Miami by Will Smith, top down, all hands out of the car, keep it in drag mode between each stop light, and cruise your carefree ass out to dinner. In that moment, ya don’t really care much about how washy it handles or that it’s longer than the Chilean coast. Then after, y’all take turns dicking around with it, laughing at its flaws. But you don’t need a Mustang for that all that, it just helps a little.