DRIVING A FORD MUSTANG ALONG THE French Riviera isn't as romantic as it sounds. Not because there's anything especially wrong with the car or the roads, rather that neither was made with the other in mind. On the right there's a foot-high stone wall separating me from a long, painful tumble into the (admittedly stunning) scenery, and on the left the big 'Stang is bulging out of its lane as the local Berlingo vans and battered Peugeot hatchbacks whizz past within a whisker of the driver's door mirror. The windows are down, the shades are on and I should be enjoying myself, but I'm having to dial the speed right back. Nailing the point home, a Renault Modus driver lunges past through a gap I've left at the inside of a hairpin; he has one hand on the wheel while making a gesture with the other. He must have been tailing me for a while, but I was concentrating too hard to notice.
With versions like the track-prepped Dark Horse and the unhinged GTD road-racer, Ford clearly wants us to take the latest, S650generation Mustang seriously, but it's equally keen to stress that this - the new Mustang GT - is absolutely, positively not a track car. It does without the Dark Horse's beefed-up transmission, more focused damper tuning improved cooling package and uprated 447bhp V8, cutting the price from £67,995 to £55,725 to make this by far the most affordable Mustang, one that's best-suited for the road. We first drove the new Mustang in Dark Horse form in the US last year (evo 314), when deputy editor James Taylor concluded that it was 'as charismatic a road car as ever'. Here we'll find out if that remains true for the GT on the more ragged, technical roads that Europe has to offer.
This story is from the July 2024 edition of Evo UK.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the July 2024 edition of Evo UK.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
RENAULT SPORT MÉGANE R26 R
It's possibly the greatest hot hatch ever made, but it took true dedication and extreme measures to create it. This is the story of how the Mégane R26.R came to be
THE ART OF THE ESTATE
Fast estates have always been cool, but today they can take many forms. We pitch Peugeot's updated hybrid 508 PSE against Skoda's more conventional but equally compelling Octavia vRS
HYBRID WORKING
Bentley's new Continental GT will be its most powerful and most advanced road car to date. A drive of a pre-production example provides our first taste of its new V8 hybrid powertrain
THE LONG GOODBYE
After powering Bentleys for more than 20 years, the magnificent W12 engine has finally ceased production. We go for a farewell drive in the model where it all began - and look forward to the new Crewe generation
A DESIGN FOR LIFE
As a star of the very first issue of evo, Audi's design icon is a car entwined with this magazine's history. But now it's no more. We drive an early Mk1 quattro alongside a late Mk3 RS to find out if it enters retirement with grace
BACK ON TRACK?
After the slightly under-achieving M4 CSL, could the new M4 CS be the sweet-spot in the M3/M4 range?
FAMILY AFFAIR
Thirty years ago, the McLaren F1 set new benchmarks with its speed and purity; now Gordon Murray's latest supercar, the GMA T.50, promises to do the same. We drive them back to back
Aston Martin DBX707
Much-needed interior overhaul, plus other mid-life updates, ready the DBX for its second act
Radical SR1 XXR
Radical's entry-level racing car has been re-released in enhanced XXR guise. We find out just how good it is in the most revealing way - by racing it
VW Golf R
The Mk8 Golf R has never really wowed us. But can the Mk8.5 change all that? A drive in a prototype version provides some clues
