Review: 2010 Ford Mustang GT -- the most refined Mustang ever is more than just fast

The 2010 Ford Mustang adds a new level of refinement to its traditional power, but it doesn't win either the horespower or the value wars, and isn't a drastic departure from the 2009's styling. See more photos of the new Mustang in today's slideshow.

This year’s big news in the retro-muscle market niche isn’t the Mustang. Sure, it got a fairly significant overhaul for the 2010 model year, but the revised look is no radical departure from the hundreds of thousands of retro Mustangs that have been put on the road over the last five years. 

No, what’s turning heads these days is the new Chevrolet Camaro. The idea is as familiar as the Mustang’s: a retro-styled sporty coupe with lots of power, but the Chevrolet’s appearance is more distinctive and its ever-crucial horsepower numbers are higher. 

The problem is that it’s nearly impossible to get a Camaro. Chevrolet’s website lists just 11 within a 50-mile radius of Washington – compared to 14 Mustangs at Darcars Ford Lanham alone. And with few dealers having more than one Camaro – if any – in stock, you’re unlikely to get a much of a deal if you ask them to part with it. 

So these historical rivals aren’t really rivals at the moment, as you can’t really cross-shop a car that you can easily buy with one that you can’t. But where does that leave the Mustang? 

As noted, it’s left behind in the horsepower wars, with its main V6 and V8 engines each offering outputs that barely exceed competitors two cylinders down – the V8 Mustang GT driven for this review’s 315 horsepower is certainly sufficient for quick takeoffs, but the V6 Camaro and Hyundai Genesis Coupe bring 304 and 306, respectively. The Mustang is also the oldest of the trio – or quartet, if you include the powerful and retro-styled but decidedly unsporty Dodge Challenger – despite its recent upgrades. 

Updating existing cars instead of fully redesigning them is common at Ford, and the practice is frequently criticized by car reviewers to whom newer equals better. But an update done right can be as good as or better than a new design. Such is the case with several Fords, including this Mustang. 

The biggest changes wrought on Ford’s sportiest car weren’t toward giving it the biggest motor in town. Rather, efforts were focused on refining this sporty car, giving it a new level of chassis sophistication and interior quality. Ford eschewed recent muscle car tradition in its 2005 Mustang redesign by giving the car agility along with power, and it’s the handling that has improved further for 2010. 

It’s impossible to underemphasize, of course, that 315 horsepower is huge. Even if a V8 Camaro comes with a whopping 426, the Mustang GT’s 4.6-liter engine gets the car moving very quickly, and sounds nice as it does so. 

It’s also important not to discount the fact that although the 2005 Mustang made a great leap over the 2004 in its comfort and refinement, it remained a crude car by most standards. It was cheap-feeling and noisy, and acceleration remained its primary driving dynamic. 

It’s impressive, therefore, what Ford was able to do in its latest update to the Mustang. It retains its essential muscle car character while adding a higher level of sophistication. 

The changes start inside, where Mustang “Premiums” (the only version that seems to be widely available with a V8, starting at $30,995 in GT form) replace hard, cheap plastic on the dash with soft, rubberized material. As in the Fusion midsize sedan, Ford has equated soft-touch materials with quality – the softer the better! – but while a squishy dash doesn’t automatically lend the Mustang an ambiance of luxury, it’s certainly a big improvement over what came before it. Better materials on the door panels, some tightened panel gaps, and a smoother-operating console bin lid would help take the car even further. 

The overall interior maintains the exterior’s retro styling, in an overall design theme that carries over from the 2009 Mustang. Design flourishes are mostly kept from interfering with the functionality of the car, as most controls on the center stack are straightforward, if too low. The GT Premium without added options includes numerous “dummy switches” – blank spots where more buttons would fit on higher-spec Mustangs – which some might find inappropriate at $32,000, but which is not the fault of retro styling. Poorly marked gauges could be blamed on pat Mustangs, but many modern Fords have a similar issue. 

SEE MORE PHOTOS OF THE MUSTANG IN TODAY'S SLIDESHOW

The front seats remain comfortable and supportive, but not as snugly bolstered as in some sporty coupes. (To some, that’s a disappointment; to the larger potential customers, that’s a necessity.) Some may find the driving position a bit awkward, needing to move the seat closer than they’d prefer to fully depress the clutch. Some Fords offer power-adjustable pedals, a feature that could be helpful here. A telescoping steering column would also help. One nice touch is a plastic piece -- visible in the photo below -- that holds the front seatbelts within easier reach of the occupants; mounted behind the long doors, they’d be otherwise too far to quickly grasp. 

In the back, the Mustang offers little leg or head room, but the two seats are nicely shaped. Getting back there is a challenge, and getting out requires someone to reach the fore-aft adjustment for the front seats – there’s no separate reachable handle for the rear passenger like on many other two-doors – but comfort is surprisingly passable once you’re in place. Two heads would almost entirely block the driver’s view out the back of the Mustang, which is already far from expansive. Forward visibility is fine, at least. 

But more impressive than the Mustang’s interior quality is the work done to its suspension, which isn’t as simple as choosing a different plastic. The Mustang isn’t narrow or light, but it does quite well for its size in getting around corners, and the Challenger and Camaro are larger still. The steering is neither too heavy nor too light, and it’s set up to let the Mustang track properly on the highway without needing frequent correction. Its response isn’t lightning fast, but the steering’s quickness is appropriate for the car’s handling capability. (Too quick and it would feel twitchy, not sporty.) 

Furthermore, the Mustang’s ride comfort is impressive for what it is. Too often, ride comfort is achieved by simply loosening up the suspension, or handling achieved by making things stiffer. The Mustang has a firm and buttoned-down ride that’s not at all uncomfortable. Bumps are felt, but not as hard slams, and the car recovers quickly after passing over them. Overall, the Mustang feels impressively poised for what it is: a big heavy rear-drive muscle car. It won’t take on a BMW, but it certainly holds its own among its own competitors. 

The Mustang is also quieter now, with cabin noise largely reduced to V8 rumble. The engine’s note is intentionally channeled to the car’s occupants, which left Ford free to make generous use of sound-deadening material to stifle wind and road noise without also isolating drivers from sounds they do want to hear. Some reviewers have suggested that the engine is merely drowning out other sounds; taking the Mustang out of gear at speed makes it clear that’s not the case. The V8 settles down nicely at cruise, too, so as not to become tiresome during a long trip.

Also impressive about the engine is its adaptability to different driving environments. The 2010 upgrades have erased a complaint about the 2005-2009 Mustang that its power wasn’t available at low speeds, while at the same time not jumping to go! go! when the speed limit is low or when you’re going up a steep hill behind a wheezing Metrobus. A rather abrupt clutch would keep the stickshift Mustang from being great company in stop-and-go traffic, but there are worse choices. 

The five-speed manual is short a ratio compared to several newer competitors, but the shift quality is acceptable. Throws are short but not especially precise, and you may need to double-check that you’ve found reverse. 

Of course, you pay V8 money for the Mustang’s 315 horsepower: $27,995 with no options, $30,995 for a GT Premium, and more than that for the average V8 Mustang on the lot. You can get similar output, if not the same sound, out of some V6s that go for V6 money. 

The V6 Mustang, at V6 prices with 210 horsepower, offers the character of a sporty car without the performance of one. The V8 Mustang, at V8 prices, is an impressive car to drive but far from a bargain. So the key question in any review is how it will conclude – having laid out a car’s strengths and weaknesses, will it say to buy the car or to pass? 

This review will ask potential buyers to be patient. 

At some point, pent-up demand for the great-on-paper Chevrolet Camaro will peter out, and dealers will start to collect decent inventory levels, like the Mustang already has. They will then be true competitors that you can truly cross-shop. At that point, it will be clear whether the Mustang’s lighter weight and added refinement can hold up against 100 extra horsepower. 

If you must have your new sporty car now, the Mustang is a fine choice. Dealers should be willing to deal – as a Darcars salesman noted, with EPA ratings of 16 miles per gallon in the city and 24 on the highway, the V8 Mustang isn’t eligible to be part of the Cash for Clunkers program, reducing consumer interest. 

But with the Camaro boasting lower sticker prices, more power, and a more distinctive appearance, you’d be doing yourself a disservice by not waiting – if you can – for a chance to see how it compares to the Mustang. 

Vehicle tested: 2010 Ford Mustang
Vehicle base price (MSRP): $20,995
Version tested: GT Premium
Version base price (MSRP): $30,995
Vehicle price as tested (MSRP): $32,240
Estimated transaction price as tested: $31,140
Test vehicles provided by: Darcars Ford of Lanham, Md.

Key specifications: 
Length: 188.1 inches
Width: 73.9 inches
Height: 55.6 inches
Wheelbase: 107.1 inches
Weight: 3,483 pounds
Trunk volume: 13.4 cubic feet
Turning radius: 18.8 feet
Engine (as tested): 4.6-liter V8 with 315 horsepower
Transmission: 5-speed manual
EPA city mileage: 16 miles per gallon
EPA highway mileage: 24 miles per gallon
EPA mixed driving: 19 miles per gallon