When Ford offered me a V8 Mustang GT to test I thought… WHAT, that's not a family car?! Of course I said yes, for a bit of fun for a week, who would say no to a Mustang, right?! I wasn't expecting to be able to even fit my daughter in the back, let alone like it…
Well, I was right, the Mustang is a lot of fun and we had a FANTASTIC week! My husband and I had our first night out in nearly four years since having our daughter (sad I know!!) And we got to go there and back in the Mustang.
My girl and I cruised the coast road in this bright green machine, went swimming and for coffee dates together. Daycare and kindy pick-ups and drop-offs always took longer with the Mustang, with all the kids shouting “it's Ben 10's car” and wanting to look at it. I don't think we've had so much fun or turned so many heads since having the Subaru BRZ and Tesla Model S!
BUT, I was also sooooo wrong about it being useless as a family car! Yes, the Mustang is a fantastic and enjoyable car to drive but it very much surprised me by its family practicality and ease of use. Legroom is fantastic in the Mustang and with forward-facing child seats, my super-tall toddler had loads of legroom with my rather tall (186cm) husband sitting in front of her. On a really rainy day, I hopped into the rear footwell of the Mustang with the front seat folded forward to do up my daughter's harness and had plenty of room!
Two child seats fit really nicely in the back, with a comfortable amount of space between them.
There are some considerations like the depth of the child seat base and bulkier-based seats sit too high, causing the top of the seat to hit on the roof and rear window, whereas thinner-based child seats allow for more headroom.
You might think the V8 exhaust sound would not be family-friendly but you'd be wrong as Ford has thought of that too! You can change the exhaust mode from quiet, normal, sport and track mode and set a quiet start time too, which is perfect for not waking my daughter and neighbours when leaving the house every morning at 5.30am! Then after 7am I could have the lovely sound of the V8 again!
The Mustang is great to drive and I understand now why so many people love them. Living on the Sunshine Coast I am used to seeing fleets of Mustangs out enjoying the coastal roads and twisty hinterland roads at the weekends and never fully appreciated why, but now I can! It is great that every journey, however routine, is an exciting event rather than humdrum!
I thought it would feel cumbersome and impractical but found I forgot I was driving a Mustang, especially on motorways and the car really just shrank around me. It wasn't until I stopped at lights and people started looking that I'd remember.
The boot is cavernous! Despite the shape of the boot opening, I could fit thirteen shopping bags or twin, double or single prams and strollers fitted in there with shopping too. Oh, and even our toddler who does like to get involved in mummy's BabyDrive reviews!
Storage in the front of the cabin of the Ford Mustang GT surprisingly good, there are sufficient cup holders in the front and the central console box is a good size too. There's even a handy glasses case in the dash as well as a place for your phone. The door bins are too small though; they won't hold a refillable water bottle and let's face it everyone owns at least one if not ten now!
The media system is easy to navigate and use and it has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto too. I did find the position of the media screen is a litle low and so when looking down at it while driving, the glare makes it quite hard to see the reversing camera image and sat nav.
The reversing camera image does fill the whole screen and you can mute the parking sensors easily with the screen in front of the drver using buttons on the steering wheel.
The elephant in the room with the Mustang is its three-star ANCAP safety rating(According to ANCAP: This applies to right-hand-drive Ford Mustang (FN) models, supplied to Australian & New Zealand markets, built from December 2017 when production upgrades and changes to its safety specification were introduced. This rating applies to 5.0 litre V8 & 2.3 litre EcoBoost Fastback variants.)
Especially poor is the Mustang scoring only 32% for child occupant protection which of course is a major factor when choosing a family car.
Eight airbags come as standard in the Mustang, including dual frontal, side chest-protecting and side head-protecting (curtain) airbags are standard, as are knee airbags for the driver and front passenger.
BabyDrive Indepth
BabyDrive Indepth - Storage
How big is the boot of the V8 Ford Mustang GT?
The Ford Mustang GT has a cavernous size boot. From empty, I could fit 13 shopping bags in there.
The Duet twin stroller fits with two shopping bags.
The tandem stroller fits with three shopping bags.
The boot space and its functionality are really important. I like to have a big boot space and little side wells or areas I can divide things into. So something I don’t want to move around while I’m driving such as Tulsi’s lunch bag or her wet swimming gear can be sectioned off in a little well where it’s not going to spill or get squashed by the rest of the things in the boot.
Hooks for securing shopping bags to are also favourites of mine, I like being able to secure the bag containing more fragile things like eggs so they don’t move around on the journey.
I measure the boot space in freezer shopping bags, prams and dogs. Not because I think all there is to a mum’s life is food shopping, prams and dogs. (Although it can feel like it sometimes!!) But because these are visually mesurable items we can all associate with. For me, the car company boot measurement of litres is not an amount I can easily visualise and 400L in one car may differ in usability to that in another due to the configuration or shape of the space.
The single stroller fits with five shopping bags beside it.
The compact stroller fits with eight shopping bags beside it.
You can't fit a dog in the boot because the parcel shelf is fixed.
My daughter loves to test the boot of the cars I drive and this one got the thumbs up!! The opening of the boot is an awkward shape and although I did get all the strollers and prams into the boot with good amounts of shopping it definitely took a bit of lining up to post them in!
The boot floor is flat and would work for an emergency nappy change.
How good is storage inside the V8 Ford Mustang GT?
There is no storage for the rear passengers at all however storage in the front of the cabin of the Ford Mustang GT is surprisingly good.
There are two cup holders in the central console that would hold my re-usable Luxey Cup or disposable coffee cup.
The central console storage box is a good size behind them too.
The glove box would hold my iPad and wallet too, and the manual is tucked away in a little shelf at the top of it.
There is a small shelf in front of the cup holders I found useful for my phone and the USB and 12V sockets are there too.
The door bins in the front will NOT hold a large refillable water bottle and I was pretty unhappy about that! I don't want to cruise around in a cool car with a water bottle rolling around in my footwell!!
The glasses case is not in the ceiling, it's in the dash to the right of the steering wheel.
BabyDrive Indepth - Noise
How noisy is the V8 Ford Mustang GT?
The V8 Ford Mustang GT is a noisy beast of a car OR it can be a lovely quiet BabyDrive! It's up to you?! The V8 engine and exhausts make a hell of a racket when you start it up that would wake any sleeping anyone, however, using Exhaust mode.
You can change the sound volume to quiet, normal, sports or race track.
The best feature is being able to select a quiet start time for the Mustang.
So between midnight and 7am for example you can come and go without upsetting your neighbours or waking your family still asleep early in the morning! While still enjoying the sound of the V8 engine the rest of the day in normal or sport mode.
The media system in the V8 Ford Mustang GT is simple to use and easy to navigate. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which was great.
From the home screen you can see your map as well as the other functions which is good.
The media screen did beep with each touch when I first got into the car but you can turn that off easily within the screen settings.
The reversing camera image fills the whole screen but it is quite milky and because the screen is low down it gets a bit of glare which makes it harder to see the sat nav screen and reversing camera images clearly.
You can turn the parking sensors on and off on the screen in front of the steeringwheel easily.
The indicators are great fun, they are the sound of horses clip clop hooves rather than tick tock.
Becoming a parent I soon realised there are some noises and sounds I feel are unnecessary and I could happily live without if it meant my baby stayed asleep!!
That often the distraction of my screaming, distressed baby is more dangerous when driving than not having a lane departure warning for example.
If it is the lane departure warning beeping that creates distress with my baby then which is safest?
It’s where I think we need to be able to strike a balance and choose when we can mute the warnings or swap them to a vibration in the steering wheel or flashing light perhaps?
A lot of these noises come with the increase in technology and especially linked to safety features and alerts. For me these all have their place.
Another thing I have realised is I spend my time in a lot more places where small children roam, parks, beaches, play gyms, swimming lessons, daycare centre etc. I have become more aware that when I’m reversing or manouvering in the car parks I have to tripple check for small children running around behind me or being in my blind spot when reversing. For this I LOVE reversing cameras, I just don’t like their beeping sounds!!
I have become so much more aware of safety and potential accidents or hazards since having a child and so I love the peace of mind that I get from the cameras and sensors combined with my own vision from windows and mirrors as I don’t trust cameras alone.
The doors can be locked from the driver's door control panel. I found the doors aren't too disturbing when my daughter was asleep in the back!
You can't come to a stop with the engine still running and get out of the Mustang without sounding any alarms unfortunately which is annoying.
Since becoming a mum I spend A LOT of time parked up somewhere with a nice view while my daughter is asleep in the back! If it's hot I need to leave the engine running and the aircon on but I do like to get out and drink my cuppa tea in the fresh air while enjoying the fact my limbs are free from said dangling child!!
So this is a very important test as I have found that sometimes I have been held hostage by a cars BEEEEPING alarms when I have taken off my seatbelt or opened the door while the engine is still running!! (I only stand outside the car, I am not a bad mother!!)
BabyDrive Indepth - Car Seats
How many child seats fit in the V8 Ford Mustang GT?
There are two top tether anchorages in the back of the V8 Ford Mustang GT, in the fixed parcel shelf behind them. They are within little plastic cups and although the rear windows slopes down over them they are actually quite easy to connect to because the back is so spacious.
There are ISOFix points in both rear seats. They are within slits in the seat leather, they're not in plastic guides but are easy to connect to.
The rear seats were relatively simple to fit two forward-facing child seats into. The only consideration is the depth of the seat bases as I found that seat with big, deep bases are too tall to fit in the back and hit on the rear window. Seats with a slimmer base fit with a couple of inches gap to the rear window.
I did find that when the child seats are installed and bub is in they do need to wear a hat because their heads are under the rear window and the sun is on them fully.
Legroom is very good in the Mustang and we found there was plenty of room for our daughter behind a 182cm front passenger.
Reaching in to do up bub's harness is easy as there is plenty of space.
From the bac,k you can bring the front seats forward using the leavers on the seat backs.
Australia being a country of weather extremes; blazing sun and torrential rain, mean you may find it easier to put Bub into their seat from inside the car sometimes. If it’s hot you can get the air-con going, cool the car down and not stand out in the sun while you fasten them in or shelter from the rain and not get soaked yourself whilst you’re doing it. So it is important to test whether Bub can be easily installed from either direction!
You wouldn't put rear-facing child seats into the Ford Mustang being a two door it would be too hard to post them into their seats and get them out again and the sun would really shine in on their faces through that big back window too.
There is plenty of room to feed bub in the front seats or back if you only have one child seat installed.
BabyDrive Indepth - Drive & Comfort
How comfortable is the V8 Ford Mustang GT? And How good is the V8 Ford Mustang GT to drive?
In the front of the V8 Ford Mustang GT, the seats are very comfortable, they are black leather racing shaped seats and I like the snugger fit and shaping, although you can't wear a ponytail with them.
I had spent hours styling my hair this morning to get this ponytail just right too… said no new mum ever!!!
For a mum travelling in the back with bub, the seats are very comfortable too. Legroom is good in the back and I had enough legroom behind a 182cm driver.
For the first year of Tulsi’s life when we would go out as a family, if I wasn’t driving, I would travel in the back with Tulsi so it’s important to check the back seat comfort as you may be spending a lot of time in them! They were never something I gave any thought to before but I definitely notice a good or bad back seat now!
The steering wheel was fully adjustable in/out and up/down.
Cruise control is quite accurate in the V8 Ford Mustang GT, it remains within about a 5km tolerance of the set speed but that is no good when it goes over the set speed and it does it in motorway driving as well as slower undulating roads. When using the cruise control the Mustang starts to speed up when you indicate to overtake which can be useful on the motorway but you do need to be prepared for that. The controls are on the left on the steering wheel and are nice and simple to use.
There are five air-conditioning vents across the front dashboard; three small circular ones, centrally located in the dashboard ones and a rectangular one at either end of the dash. We found this was enough to keep our rear passengers cool too as there are no vents in the back.
There are controls for the aircon within the media screen, they are nice and easy to reach and use while driving.
Or you can use the buttons on the dash below the media screen.
The Mustang projects the horse logo onto the floor at night which is rather cool for the kids!
Visibility in the V8 Ford Mustang GT is actually pretty good apart from the passenger side wing mirror just does not seem to move enough so that you can see in it properly while driving.
One thing I have noticed since being a mum is I hate it when I reach a destination or get home from being out and Tulsi has either done really well in the car or she is screaming her head off and I have done really well to keep it together for the entire journey (usually the latter!!) and it takes 10 minutes to park the car! It can be really stressful. Usually I dread parking new cars as they take longer in our tight apartment block carpark, but the Mustang, although it is big and long it was pretty easy to park.
Aesthetically the V8 Ford Mustang GT looks, feels and sounds like a very cool car, it is much nicer to drive than i as expectng and a lot more family friendly in terms of practicallity and ease of use than i was expecting too.
(As ANCAP put it: The Ford Mustang (FM) was first introduced in Australia and New Zealand in 2015 and awarded a 2 star ANCAP safety rating – see separate rating. This 3 star ANCAP safety rating applies to right-hand-drive Ford Mustang (FN) models, supplied to Australian & New Zealand markets, built from December 2017 when production upgrades and changes to its safety specification were introduced. This rating applies to 5.0 litre V8 & 2.3 litre EcoBoost Fastback variants)
Scoring a total of 72% or 27.66Â out of 38 for adult occupancy. Broken down into 4.67Â out of 8Â for the full-width frontal crash test, 6.91out of 8Â for the frontal offset test. Full marks for the side impact test and 6.88 out of 8 for the pole test.
For Child Occupancy protection the Ford Mustang GT scored 15.8Â out of 49 which is 32%. Broken down into 9.62 out of 16 for the dynamic front, 4 out of 8 for dynamic slide. Child restraint instillation scored 2.17Â out of 12 and onboard features score OÂ out of 13.
ANCAP said of the testing:Â In the frontal offset test, protection of the 10 year dummy was rated GOOD for the head and ADEQUATE for the neck and chest. The shoulder belt slipped between the clavicle and the upper arm and as a result the score for the dummy in this test was penalised.
Protection of the 6 year dummy was rated GOOD and ADEQUATE for the head and neck respectively, but chest protection was MARGINAL.
In the side barrier test, POOR protection was provided to the head of the 10 year dummy. The head bottomed out through the side curtain airbag, making contact with the trim on the C-pillar. Consequently, all points were lost for the 10 year dummy in this test. All other dummy readings indicated GOOD protection for both dummies.
Eight airbags come as standard; there is a driver’s and front passenger knee airbag as well as dual frontal airbags, front side chest airbags and side head curtain airbags for the front and the rear passengers.
Some of these safety features are also features that drive me crazy as a mum! Like the lane departure and forward collision alert or the parking sensor beeping sound. I want all the safety technology AND to be able to mute the sound when Tulsi’s asleep!
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