Oppo Review of My 2014 Ford Mustang

"Michael Maguire" (michaelmag25) 01/04/2015 at 16:11 • Filed to: Oppo Review, Review, Mustang, 2014 Ford Mustang v6, v6

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Intro

Hello Oppo. My name is Michael and I am a 20-year-old college student in Saint Louis, MO. I have always loved cars since I was just a kid with his hot wheels, but I had never really gotten into the car community until I bought my Mustang.

The first car I drove was a 2003 Ford Ranger. It is a great little truck that my family still has, but I wanted something smaller and sportier. I drove my dad's Honda Civic whenever I could because to me, it handled like a monster! I did way too much stupid stuff in that car than I would like to admit. If you are wondering, yes you can fit 7 people in a Honda Civic on your way to CoMo, or Columbia, MO for all who have no clue what I am saying.

I loved the Civic and was very gracious that I had wheels whenever I wanted as a teenager, but I always wanted more…More Power, Better Handling, I WANT IT ALL! That's when I decided that I would buy my first new car, A 2014 Ford Mustang v6! I had been umpiring since the age of 12 and worked a restaurant job since 16. I had saved up a darn good down payment and drafted up a 30-slide PowerPoint presentation on why my parents should let me trade in the Civic on a new car. (Background: Parents always gave the kids in my family the hand me down car in line after graduating college…That was the incentive to graduate. I am still definitely going to graduate, but did not want to wait.) Now, I know you all want to know, why not the v8! You shoulda got a v8, hahaha he's got a v6. Well, first of all, if you really criticize someone for a car choice, you should probably be taking a hard look at your life because it has no effect on you whatsoever. The reason I didn't get the v8 was a mix of money and I was 18…What 18 year old should have over 400 horsepower to deal with when he is still learning how to drive.

Now that you have listened to me blabber on about how I got to this point, it's time to get into what you are all reading for…the review.

Exterior: 8/10

I love the looks of my car. After seeing the 2015 Mustang, I still like the looks of mine better. I would love to change the wheels and tires, but there is always this little issue I run into called NO $$$. The front looks mean. The rear and sequential taillights are some of the coolest things I have ever seen. I always think at night, people must be staring at me every time I make a turn. The issues with the exterior are some of the same reasons I love it. It is black. When it is washed, clayed, waxed, and polished, it looks spectacular, for approximately 3 hours. No, but seriously, it is the hardest thing in the world to keep black cars looking clean and swirl less. If I did not go with black, I probably would have gone with Grabber Blue. I love the look of ThatDudeInBlue's Mustang on YouTube. Check him out because he makes some great videos.

Interior: 6.5/10

The interior of the Mustang is a nice place to be if you are in the front seats. They are comfortable and somewhat well bolstered. They keep you in place just fine. When comparing it to the last few generations of mustangs, there are much less plastics. Every button you need is easily reached and the steering wheel features cruise and audio controls. There are still some plastics to be seen on the door panels and the back seats are honestly unusable if you need to haul 4 adults around. Then again, you don't buy a Mustang for the back seats. I love the interiors on the new 2015's and would love that interior with my exterior!

Acceleration: 7.5/10

Obviously, this is the fastest car I have ever owned, but definitely not the fastest I have ridden in. The acceleration is very good and I have never felt I needed more power on public roads. I would just get into more trouble than I already do with speeding.

Braking: 7.5/10

The breaks on the stock mustang are pretty good. They do the job just fine for any daily driving you are doing. On a nice back road drive with heavy breaking, I definitely see some fade in the breaks, but they are stock pads and I think if I were to track the car regularly, I would definitely address the breaks.

Ride: 7/10

The Mustang is a pretty comfortable ride, but it is not a Bentley. Long road trips can be taxing on your back, but it is not unbearable in the least! I daily the mustang obviously and I love the ride. Many people have ridden in my car and commented on how smooth it is. I give it a 7 because it is good at handling and good at comfort, but not really great at either.

Handling: 8/10

This is the best handling car I have ever driven. You point where you want to go and it goes there. There is body roll, but you don't feel like you're going to fall out of your seat like I did in my Civic and Ranger. One thing that the mustang does not do well is sand…Don't drive in the sand! Just don't do it…

Gearbox: 6/10

Yes, I got the slush box. I bought this car before I ever really got into the enthusiast world and I look forward to learning to drive stick in the near future. As far as manual transmissions go, it isn't that bad. It knows when I want to go crazy and rev it out and when I am just cruising. My Mustang does have the select shift option, which lets me manually shift it based on an up/down button on the shifter. I throw it in sport mode and have some fun, but it isn't the same as a true manual. This would be a good spot to mention the only upgrade over the base model Mustang was the 3.31 gears instead of the stock 2.73's.

Toys: 4/10

There are not many toys in a base model Mustang. My favorite "Toy" would have to be the traction control off button.

Audio: 7/10

The audio in the Mustang is pretty good actually. I don't feel the need to upgrade it at the moment and it plays all my music with great clarity.

Value: 9/10

The value of these cars is truly astounding. I got a great car in the low 20's. It has power, handling, and even okay gas mileage. I have gotten 30.0 MPG once on a trip back from Mizzou to STL. Overall, I usually average low 20's, or worse if I can't keep my lead food off the gas. It does everything I ask of it and more. It is even livable in the winter.

The car is pretty awesome and has been an awesome first car purchase! I tried to do this review logically and without bias, but it is hard because I was a teenager with a 305 horsepower sports car. What's not to like?

Final Stats: 70.5/100

Specs

Engine Type: 3.7L v6

Horsepower/Torque: 305/280

Transmission: Automatic w/ Select Shift

0-60: 5.3-5.5

Quarter Mile: 13.8-14.0

Top Speed: Electronically limited to 113, due to driveshaft failure between 125-130. If you upgrade to an aluminum one-piece driveshaft, you can easily see 135-140.

Seating: 2 regular people and 2 midgets (I mean smaller individuals J…)

MSRP: $23,585

Feel free to ask any questions you want and I will answer every single one as best I can.

Thanks for reading Oppo!

jkm7680 > Michael Maguire 01/04/2015 at 16:30

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Good review, I enjoyed the read! Nice amount of detail and depth.

Mustangs in general have the absolute worst back seats. In a New Edge, If you are comfortable in the back seat, whoever is in the front seat is extremely uncomfortable and vice versa. Last time I rode in one of these, I even remember it being slightly worse for some reason :P

Michael Maguire > jkm7680 01/04/2015 at 16:31

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Thank you very much! Back seats in general kind of suck, but who cares about the ones in the back as long as you enjoy what you are driving...

jkm7680 > Michael Maguire 01/04/2015 at 16:32

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Haha, and as long as you are driving you'll never have to be back there!

Michael Maguire > jkm7680 01/04/2015 at 16:33

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Yep, and NO ONE drive my care except me...My mom cosigned the small loan on my car so I could get a better interest rate and she has only ridden in it once, never driven it.

jkm7680 > Michael Maguire 01/04/2015 at 16:35

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Haha, I usually avoid having other people drive my car. Especially if they're going to be doing something that I wouldn't normally do.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > Michael Maguire 01/04/2015 at 16:38

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Excellent review! I also fully agree about the bit of other people criticizing complete strangers' auto choices.

Do you plan on keeping it indefinitely?

TDogg > Michael Maguire 01/04/2015 at 16:38

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Commenting as I read here.

I'd go V6 for a DD, not even taking initial purchase cost into account. You're gonna save money on gas, insurance, and you get to drive it (slightly) closer to its limits than you'd probably ever get the V8. 0-60 in 5.5 is plenty fast. Granted, my main car is a Prius.... So, yeah. I'd kill for be very happy with 5.5.

As you said, I still prefer the 2014 style over the new 2015. And YES, for the record, the sequential taillights are probably the coolest thing I've ever seen and I will always stare when I see them.

I'm really glad they modified the shifter in the auto. The older one seemed so bulky and would have been a PITA to have to work with. How is the response on the select shift? You said the buttons are on the shifter itself - are they on the side? I haven't seen them on the shifter as buttons before.

Michael Maguire > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 01/04/2015 at 16:43

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To be honest, No. I would have a new car every 2 years if it were up to me. There is so much variety out there. I would love to have a truck, sports car, track car, winter car, jeep, and some random classics at the same time, but I need a really good job for that to happen.

I think once I learn to drive stick, I will fall in love and end up selling the mustang for a row your own option...Who knows what the future holds?

Michael Maguire > TDogg 01/04/2015 at 16:46

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5.5 is plenty fast especially for someone my age. I need to autocross or track it at some point to really test out the limits.

That makes me happy to hear that people stare. I can't even see the taillights, but just knowing they are going blink blink blink puts a smile on my face!

The response is pretty good actually. It is definitely not immediate, but it does not hinder the driving. You put the shifter down into S mode and then there is an up/down button on the left side of the shifter that you push when you want to change gears. It lets you basically redline or do any 4-2 5-3 shift you want as long as you don't over rev. It won't let you do that, which is probably a good thing.

bryan40oop > Michael Maguire 01/04/2015 at 17:01

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"Oppo Review of My 2014 Ford Mustang"

Understeer.

Yup.

TDogg > Michael Maguire 01/04/2015 at 17:12

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Sounds like fun to me. 10/10 would buy. And if you get any kind of snow where you are, that's just one more reason for the v6.

Michael Maguire > TDogg 01/04/2015 at 17:19

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I can't wait for the first really good snow...soooo much fun! I go to my old high school which has a HUGE parking lot and hoon like there's no tomorrow

bootstrap > Michael Maguire 01/04/2015 at 17:45

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Nice review and thanks for sharing. I recognize the dealership, and I am a fellow Mizzou alum.

Michael Maguire > bootstrap 01/04/2015 at 17:49

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M-I-Z!

Sunset Ford...Why are you gray?

gamefreak32 > Michael Maguire 01/04/2015 at 18:16

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0-60 time you listed is not correct for the car you have. Motor Trend has 5.8 for a performance pack car which has the 3.31 rear end gear, but also has stickier 255/40R19 max performance summer tires. Sway bars fix the body roll. Put some aftermarket ones on and you will wish you got the Recaros. My ass slides out of the seat before I can break tire grip in mine with summer tires on. The stock BF Goodrich tires will break grip when your ass starts to come out of the seat.

bootstrap > Michael Maguire 01/04/2015 at 18:19

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I need someone to follow me in order to become un-grey. I have mostly been a lurker.
Exactly, I haven't seen the mustang display box at the other dealerships in STL.

Z-O-U!

Michael Woyahn > Michael Maguire 01/04/2015 at 19:14

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I really enjoyed reading this review! My family have a 2007 Mustang convertible that's a V6 auto too. It's cool to see how the new V6 Mustangs improved, but our Mustang still has a special place in my heart. I love that car. It's so much fun! It sounds great even on with a stock exhaust and I actually like the fact that it's pretty slow. Ford somehow only managed to get 210 hp out of a 4 liter V6. I don't know how they managed to get such a low power output out of a big V6 like that, but that's another story. It also means I can floor it a lot and it won't get me in too much trouble. Coming from a Lexus RX330 with a 195,000 miles on it, the Mustang drives like a dream! It's brakes and steering are so much more responsive and they just feel better. I'm jealous of your sport mode and sequential turn signals though!

The interior in our Mustang is very cheap and it has a ton of rattles, but that's to be expected on a convertible with 70,000 miles. The back seats are cramped, but it can be usable for rides that aren't too long. I wouldn't want to be in the back longer than probably 30 minutes though. Ours has the Shaker stereo and I love it. The bass is just ridiculous! I used to have it turned up all the way, but it got to be embarrassing to be driving along and having the bass shaking the mirrors so I had to turn it down.

I wouldn't trade our Mustang for anything, except maybe a newer Mustang! From one Michael to another Michael, I approve of your choice in car and drivetrain!

SlickMcRick > Michael Maguire 01/04/2015 at 19:40

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Honestly I've never driven a Mustang GT. Your car has more than enough power. As a matter of fact I Sony think I've owned anything over 140hp come to think of it. With that said your car is awesome and that 6 speed auto isn't a bad transmission at all. I rented one in Vegas.

Michael Maguire > Michael Woyahn 01/04/2015 at 19:48

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exactly, driving a slower car fast is much better than not being able to use any of the power you have!

Michael Maguire > SlickMcRick 01/04/2015 at 19:49

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That's awesome! Reminds me of all the Ferrari and Lamborghini rentals I saw in Florida recently. If only if only...

Idiot In The Garage Needs A New CGI Job... > Michael Maguire 01/04/2015 at 22:21

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That display box at the dealership... Is it intended to appear like its a full-scale (Maisto/Bburrago/DUB/AutoArt) toy car box, or something else?

Michael Maguire > Idiot In The Garage Needs A New CGI Job... 01/04/2015 at 22:30

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I honestly have no idea. It's just some dumb marketing gizmo

Alex B > Michael Maguire 01/19/2015 at 15:20

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Great review. I enjoyed reding it!