DRIVEN: 2015 Ford Mustang GT

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While it’s great to see the entire automotive community improving their brakes, to see a 4-piston caliper on a $32,000 base Mustang GT (or optional Performance Package on the Ecoboost), and 6-piston 15” rotors on the front and BOSS 302 sized 13” rotors on the rear on a performance package GT is amazing.  Kudos Ford!

When you open the door, you immediately notice higher quality materials, soft touch surfaces, and a fresh design much like the rest of Ford’s new vehicles. While the interior is not ‘retro’ like the 2005 S195, it has reminders of its heritage such as the twin trapezoidal domes on the dash that are finally covered in leather. While it may not be the most exotic leather on the market, the use of stitched leather on the dash really improves the environment of the interior giving it a modern and higher class feel.

Our red test car was a base GT with the Performance Package “PP”.

Our base GT PP test car had cloth seats (left), while cloth Recaros are a $1,595 option.  The GT Premium Package has a wide range of leather options from the “50 Year” package (pictured right), leather seats, color-accent leather, or leather Recaros.

The seats have improved side bolsters over the previous generation with the Premium Package offering heated and cooled seats.  The cooled seats are quite interesting since it does not blow cool air but rather makes you feel like you’re sitting on an ice cooler.  Its like heated seats in that regard since seat warmers don’t blow hot air on your backside.  Thankfully Ford retains the optional Recaro seats that are similar to those found on the BOSS 302, saving weight but losing the heated and cooled feature.  While I’m not very wide and typically swim around in most seats, I was pleased with the lateral support of the base Mustang seats which are getting better with each generation.

Rear trunk room is about the same as the outgoing model at 13.5 cubic feet.

The rear bucket seats are very attractive and sporty looking.  But the lower roofline and fastback looks come at a cost, and that’s rear head room.  Where the S197’s rear seats could be used in a pinch, unless you’re a pre-teen or the headless horseman, the rear headroom is greatly reduced.  The Mustang is starting to become more of a 911 style 2+2 rather than a true 4-seater like a BMW 4-series coupe.