Ford Mustang Mach 1 v GT track test and performance review
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TechTranscript
00:00Hey guys, Atko here and we're back at Queensland Raceway, our test track.
00:07Today we're going to do a bit of a different one, we've got two cars from the same family.
00:09We've got the Ford Mustang Mk1 and the Ford Mustang GT.
00:14Now the Mk1 is definitely more track focused, better suspension, gearbox, a little bit more
00:19power, same tyres.
00:22Now we're going to see if the $20,000 price difference between these two makes a big difference
00:25on the track or not.
00:27I'm excited to find out, so let's get out there.
00:34Alright, firstly the GT, my initial impressions, let's look at the seat, it's got a bit of
00:39movement there, it's a little bit lazy, it's something that would be comfortable on a long
00:43road trip but you can see there I'm sliding around quite a lot, so I would like a little
00:48bit more lateral support on the track and I'm not really getting that.
00:52Steering wheel is actually really nice, no complaints at all, really good size and yeah,
00:58really happy with that.
00:59So I've got the instrument set up on track mode and you can see the big rev indicator
01:06across the top and also the shift lights which are really cool.
01:09I'd actually like them to be a little bit brighter almost, I'm just not quite having
01:14them catch my attention, I'm having to look down a little bit so that just takes your
01:19focus away from the track.
01:21So being a six-speed manual, I've got a heel-toe but it's actually got a rev-match function,
01:27I think a lot of people enjoy that because heel-toeing is quite an art and if it's not
01:31quite working properly, it can be a real hassle.
01:33For me, I'm still heel-toeing but I'm also using the rev-match at the same time and I
01:38think it's helping me quite a bit there.
01:44Let's pick up the pace a bit and see what the engine response is like, as you can imagine
01:48with a 5.0-litre V8, 339 kilowatts, 556 newton-metres so plenty of potential there.
01:56It revs out pretty well, it just feels a little bit lazy like maybe at the top end but the
02:02bottom end is super drivable, actually more drivable than I thought, I can really manage
02:06the throttle there nicely, just the top end I'd like probably a little bit more but it's
02:14far from slow and sounds amazing, that V8.
02:20I'd say some of that engine feeling is coming a little bit from the gear ratios in the transmission,
02:25I think those middle gears are spaced quite far apart but it's not like you feel like
02:30you're ever in the wrong gear, it's such a wide power band that it's still useful the
02:35whole time and you don't feel like you're missing out but it does maybe reduce that
02:41impact performance that you expect that's short.
02:44Alright handling wise, as you can imagine it's a little bit lazy, it's a sort of muscle
02:50car obviously and you get a fair bit of movement but the impressive part is that it doesn't
02:54actually fall over in the middle of the corner so it supports there from the suspension so
02:59great support and it took me a little bit of time to really trust it but it actually
03:04just hangs in there and you can really add steering in the middle of the corner that's
03:08super impressive, better than I expected for sure.
03:11The brakes actually feel really good, I'm surprised, I've had no fade at all and for
03:18a pretty heavy car, over 1700 kilos, it stops well, nice and stable, it's a big car and
03:26I can really trust it into the corner, it just took me a little while to get the feeling
03:30of where the limit was so I'll try the differential out as well.
03:34Interesting, it's not locking maybe as much as I would have hoped so I felt like there
03:44was still a little bit of slip on the inside, I could drift it a little but there was just
03:48a bit of change of locking so locking, unlocking and not completely catching the slip so I
03:55feel like maybe it's not locking quite enough and not consistently enough.
04:00And it'll be interesting to see if the Mach 1 with the different LSD solves that problem
04:05because it just doesn't inspire full confidence when it's not consistent like that.
04:10So the tyres are the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S which is I think a really good compromise
04:15street track tyre, I'm actually amazed at how gentle this car is on tyres for being
04:21a big heavy V8, like I really feel like they've stayed nice and consistent, haven't dropped
04:25away barely at all and I've got great grip and I've got a real trust in the rear end
04:31as well, it's not really getting away from me, it's not as scary as I thought but...
04:40You can still light it up if you want.
04:42So the actual balance is much more neutral than I expected as well, I can chuck it in
04:47there and yeah I lost the rear there but I had balance all the way to that point and
04:51that's from me just messing around, being too hard on the throttle but I had balance,
04:55I had trust, I can really commit into here and the front, a little bit of understeer
05:00but it doesn't go to complete understeer and I like that about a car that you can push
05:04it to a point but it doesn't give way.
05:06Alright now time to get serious and the important thing, the lap time the GT does, I've put
05:11everything in racetrack mode, traction control off and I feel like that's the quickest setup,
05:17it's going to be tough for it to beat the Mach 1 but I'm going to give it a crack.
06:26Alright guys, now we're in the Mach 1, things that stand out, the gear shift is a little
06:43bit different, different gear knob and it feels like a bit sharper throw as well.
06:48The seat's different but still for me personally, not enough support, I want a little bit more
06:54side support, it's probably my size and stature but I've even found when I go into the corners
06:59fast my elbow can fit between the side bolster and my body, now that's not a problem for
07:04everyone but for me on a track I would like a little bit more support.
07:07On the road I think that'd be a pretty comfortable Touring sports seat.
07:12Pedals feel very similar as well, no problem with the heel-toe and I actually feel like
07:17with the slightly different engine I can pop the revs a little bit quicker and that helps
07:23with those downshifts.
07:25So the engine and transmission is when we start to see some real differences and even
07:29if the power number's the same, we've got basically 6 kilowatts difference, the feel
07:35of the top end of the engine in the Mach 1 is amazing, it's so much sharper and more
07:40reactive as well and part of that comes back to the transmission, we've got a different
07:46gearbox, different 6 speed with the Rimac in this one versus the Getrag in the other
07:50one and the gear ratios are much tighter so basically the performance of the engine
07:56feels a lot stronger when you get on the throttle.
07:59Now there is a negative to that on the track is that it's adding an extra gear in a couple
08:04of spots, so that does hurt it a little bit but overall I feel like as a package together
08:13this just feels more suited to a track, more responsive, more reactive and a lot more than
08:19the 6 kilowatts that's on the paper.
08:24Now brakes I can't say there's a huge difference but just a lot more stable in this car, just
08:30more planted, you feel the movement in the GT where in the Mach 1 you don't see it squirming
08:36around as much, it's just straight planted and more short footed under braking.
08:41One interesting thing is that the tyres, although they're exactly the same tyre, just in this
08:45car it just seems to be putting a bit more energy into the tyre and the tyre drop off
08:51just seems that little bit higher so that's the only thing that I'd say is hurting this
08:57car but in terms of outright grip then this car has it over the GT for sure.
09:06Alright time to talk about handling and this is where there's a huge difference between
09:12the two cars and I didn't expect it.
09:14The support in this car is so much better, so much more controlled, more dialled, I'm
09:20just supported here in the corner, I can add the throttle, it doesn't fall over, the corner
09:25speed I'm carrying is much higher.
09:28Also notice when I come up to the kerb here the reaction is not as bad, the rebound control
09:32is tighter, it stiffens the car across the axles and it's just much more planted on the
09:37road and I really didn't expect that big a difference, I thought they'd be quite similar
09:42and it's almost like two completely different cars, this is a huge step up in handling and
09:48suspension.
09:49This does have the MagnaRide which you can option on the GT but I think it's more than
09:53that, I think the way they've done the geometry changes, the suspension, the spring rates,
09:58as a whole package this just completely transforms the car on the track and I think even more
10:05than the engine and the gearbox, the chassis is going to make the difference in the Mach
10:091.
10:10It's an interesting one, like at normal speeds and like nice smooth application it feels
10:15actually really good and not aggressive at all, really smooth and much more controlled
10:20than I expected.
10:21The only negative is that when you start to be a bit more aggressive and start to throw
10:27it around a bit more, I can just feel that slip again from the inside rear wheel and
10:34I want that little bit more connection when it's slipping across the axle and try and
10:38hold it a little bit more consistently.
10:41Now balance wise when you're really pushing, I've noticed this does have a slight tendency
10:47to understeer on the slower speed corners but that, in the high speed corners is where
10:52you get the support so for sure the GT wins a little bit, just in the mid corner of some
10:57of these slow corners you can add a little bit more steering without the understeer but
11:02the Mach 1 is by no means bad in that area, just a slight difference between the two cars
11:08Alright, it's time to get serious guys, I've got everything in track mode, suspension race
11:12mode with the MagnaRide, I feel like it's going to do a pretty quick time, it feels
11:16like a good package, so let's see what lap time the Mach 1 can do.
12:08So there you go guys, I think there were two big surprises in there for me, first I didn't
12:37expect either car to be so good on the track, they really performed exceptionally and were
12:41great fun to drive out there.
12:43The second, I thought they'd be really similar, really close, I had expectations of the same
12:47thing for both cars and the Mach 1 exceeded them and blew them out of the water, that
12:52is a completely different package to the GT and that really surprised me.
12:56Now the lap times, 59.99 for the GT, so cracked a minute just and a pretty respectable time,
13:02quicker than the Stinger, up there with the Audi RS Q3, so a quick time, but then 58.4
13:09for the Mach 1, so that is an impressive time on the leaderboard, just behind the A45.
13:14And when you think about it, it's only a second of the M550i which is double the price.
13:19Now we came into this thinking, is 20 grand difference enough or too much?
13:25And for me, for 1.5 seconds of lap time, 20 grand is cheap, especially in racing terms,
13:31so that is impressive and you think for another second, you've got to double the price of
13:35the M550i, so really impressive from both cars, the balance and the handling was beyond
13:40what I expected, the engine was excellent and the overall package was really a joy to
13:44drive on the track.
13:45Hope you guys enjoyed the video, if you did, give us a thumbs up and don't forget to subscribe
13:49to the Car Expert channel, something different with two cars from the same family but a fun
13:53test nevertheless, and let us know what else you want to see on track and we'll see you
13:58guys again soon.