Rental, 2010 Mustang Convertible

The initial rental was a 2010 Corvette Convertible, the necessity of carrying three people brought that idea to a halt. The Mustang seats four fairly comfortably, provided those in the rear aren't real tall. This car had slightly over 1K miles at time of rental. I have never had a Mustang.

There have been slight body changes, which I think of as improvements from the previous iteration. The smoother sides and the more hooded headlights are more appealing to my eye.
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The tail lights have been changed, wrapping around in a more angular fashion and with larger barred backup lights. I think this emphasizes the shape of the rear end more and adds appeal - not to mention superior lighting for reverse.

The cabin is pretty comfortable and the forward angled headrests do make them more useful during driving. The controls are pretty comfortably placed. I do not at all care for the tilt steering activation. It is a latch/unlatch position mechanism rather than a self-latching mechanism. There is plenty of front seat foot room.

This is a 6 cylinder 4 speed automatic car. It has enough "butt" to get out of its own way, but isn't particularly impressive nor is it particularly easy on gasoline. I do not like the feel of the transmission shifts, there is a noticeable lag time in shifts and the initial gear engagement feels mushy. The lighting system is particularly annoying to a Chevy owner which turn their lights on with the ignition, the dash lights on the Mustang light on ignition but the headlights require switching, easily fooling one into thinking the head lights are actually on.

The car's handling and braking are crisp, but for some reason this car is prone to wandering in slight winds. I find this tendency very aggravating, on a smooth flat straight road I expect a new car to stay where it was pointed when my hands are staying still. I have checked the tire inflation and looked at the wear pattern (what there is at this low mileage) and I can see no evident reason for the wandering.

The power top mechanism is pretty simple and seems to latch securely and seal well. The top is pretty quiet, no noise from its material but no more sound proof that you'd expect from fabric. The top folds down into a well behind the rear seat, take note that anything carried back there will break the rear window if the top is put down. There is an unfinished look when the top is down because the front of the top does not rest flush with its well. According to the manual there is an optional cover of some sort. If you care about looks, it would seem a loss to not have it.

Over all it is a nice car. It is not something I'll rush out and buy but despite my general lack of Ford enthusiasm I have no problem recommending giving one a real look if someone is in the market for such a car. I have had the car 6 days at this point and have not had any difficulties with it and I have been impressed enough to write about it.