| |
ROAD TEST
MUSTANG II GHIA
2,800 c.c.
|
American manufacturers
woke up to the necessity
for smaller cars a while
ago as the imports into the
States of Japanese and European
cars began to grow alarmingly.
Their initial reaction produced
the Ford Pinto and Chevrolet
Vega, but neither car was
able to stem the tide of imports
to the desired extent. Both cars
gave the impression that the
Americans were unhappy at
producing economy small vehicles
and would much prefer to
build something bigger. The
second generation of new smaller
cars from the States is therefore,
not surprisingly, bigger
than the first and are obviously
designed to feel like a big car to
the driver, while meeting the
need for good economy by employing
quite small engines.
Ford are fortunate in having
European subsidiaries who produce
suitable engines which
can be installed in a small
American-built car, and the new
Mustang range uses two engines
developed in Europe and in use in cars sold there. The Mustang
II range includes five models,
which will be available for sale
in the United Kingdom. These
include a 2-door saloon, also
available as the "Ghia" in more
luxurious specification, and one
of these is the subject of this
Road Test. There are also three
versions of a "hatchback"
coupe the differences between
them being the level of trim and
equipment. All the Mustang II
models available in this country
will be fitted with the 2-8 litre
V6 engine produced in Germany
and an option on cars sold
in North America.
The Mustang II Ghia is the
top of the range in terms of
equipment and price and is similar
in overall dimensions to the
familiar Ford Capri against
which it sells on the British market.
Like the similar version of
the Capri, the Mustang earns it
"Ghia" designation from being
worked over by the Italian Ghia
concern, now part of the Ford
empire. The treatment is essentially
a cosmetic one, but in both cases includes a more luxurious
treatment of the interior trim
and seating as well as such
things as a vinyl roof, a full length
rubbing strip down the
side and pin stripes along the
tops of the front wings.
It is not easy to see exactly at
which sector of the British market
the Mustang is aimed, since
it is so similar to our own equivalent
Capri and a great deal
more money. It is, however, an
attractive design that attracted
great attention while it was in
our hands and is, perhaps, sufficiently
different in appearance
to appeal to a buyer who would
prefer a soft "American" ride,
and styling that is most definitely
non-European.
It would not be right to compare
the Mustang II with the
previous Mustang which had
grown into a very heavy, fast, and uneconomic car-a far cry
from the first Mustang I. However,
sales of the original 'Stang
have now passed the 3 million
mark, so if no other comparison
is valid, Ford are no doubt hoping
to sell as many Mustang IIs.
This Mustang is a close-coupled
2-door coupe with 2 + 2
accommodation. Although the
doors are wide, they give excellent
access to the front seats, but
only average access to those in
the rear. As the front seats are approximately in the centre of
the wheelbase, there is plenty of
room in the front of the car, but
space in the rear is limited, the
more so by the large transmission
tunnel dictated by the low
build of the car. The relatively
short tail means limited boot
space, which can be supplemented
by lowering the back
of the rear seat. However, this
assumes that only two occupants can travel with a lot of luggage, possibly ruling out this particular version of the Mustang as a family car.
Performance
Although the engine of the
Mustang develops 105 bhp, the
laden weight of the car is over
27cwt. As a result, performance
is disappointing for a car of such
racy looks. Acceleration from
rest to 60 mph takes l3sec if the
manual hold is employed in each
gear to allow the engine to reach
5,000 rpm. If the gearbox is
to its own devices, the 0-60
of the test car was arranged to
give automatic full throttle
upchanges at 5,800 rpm from
Low into Inter, and 5,400 from
Inter into Drive and at these
engine speeds, there are signs of
inadequate breathing. Acceleration from rest to 80
takes 27 - 2sec using manual hold
and again, 0 - 5sec longer when
override is not used. Acceleration
in each gear is steady rather
than impressive and there is
every indication of a flat torque
curve. This allows fairly rapid
progress to be made without use of the kickdown, but if greater acceleration is needed, it is possible to kickdown from Drive into Inter at speeds below 56 mph and Low can be engaged at speeds below 34 mph.
The automatic gearbox gives smooth part-throttle down changes and upchanges on small throttle openings are similarly discreet. Upchanges on full throttle are rather jerky, but with practice, the imminent approach of an upchange can be anticipated, and only slight
relaxation on the accelerator
wilt help to give a smooth change.
The gate for the handsome
gearchange lever allows free
movement from Low to Inter
changing up but the button end
of the T-handle must be pressed
to allow a change down. Similarly
for changes between Inter
and Drive, the button need only
be pressed to change down. If
Inter is engaged, it is not
possible to kickdown into
Low, and thus when
starting off from rest,
Inter remains engaged regardless
of the throttle opening
unless either Low or Drive are
engaged, in either case the gear
box selects Low below 34 mph.
On a particularly windy day
on which the car was tested, it
was not possible to get a mean
maximum speed greater
than 97 mph despite a
best one-way speed of
102 mph. It is not possible,
therefore, to call the Mustang a
genuine 100 mph car although
this is a speed which is attainable
under helpful conditions.
The maximum speeds in Low
and Inter at the start of the yellow
section on the rev. counter
at 5,000 rpm are equivalent to 37
and 64 mph, and at the start of
the red section at 5,500 rpm are
equivalent to 41 and 70 mph.
The Ford V-6 engine drives an air pump as well as all
the normal ancillaries and the
power steering pump in the case
of the road test car. As a result,
fuel economy is not the car's
strong point and it was only possible
to get an overall 20.7 mpg.
During the test period, all of
which was under the 50 mph
limit, it was possible on a
cross-country run to get 23 mpg,
but it is unlikely that this figure
could be bettered and on the
occasions that the car was used
exclusively in town, the consumption
dropped to around 18
mpg. As the fuel tank has a
capacity of only 10.7gal, the
safe range is a meagre 180 miles.
Ride and Handling
The ride is, not surprisingly,
to American standards rather
than European, ie softly sprung
and under-damped. This is fine
on good flat surfaces, but leads
to much wallowing and float on
undulating roads. Much of the
trouble stems from the marked
difference in spring rate at the
front and rear of the car. That at
the rear has to be firm as the
whole of the load of passengers,
as well as luggage, is disposed
over this axle. Thus only when
the car is fully laden is there
comparable wheel movement at
both ends of the car and, when
in this condition, the ride is
acceptable. When only the
driver is in the car, the firmness
of the rear suspension and softness
of the front leads to pronounced
pitching which is
inadequately controlled by the
front dampers.
Road shocks and irregularities
are well insulated, and
the car is completely free from
road roar. The steel-belted
radial tyres do bump-bump, but
the insulated front subframe and
the thick rubber insulation
around the rear springs effectively
prevents any noise or
shock from reaching the passenger
compartment. There are
no rain gutters at the windscreen
edge or roof sides, the absence
of which results in a low level of
wind noise at all speeds of
which the car is capable.
The Mustang is a strong initial
understeerer as might be
expected from the weight distribution
which places 56 percent of the car's weight on the
front wheels. At low speeds,
sufficient power can be applied
to balance the car, but at higher
speeds, the understeer cannot
be killed, and it is necessary to
get into the corners "early" to
avoid running wide. Body roll is
not excessive. Apart from a
tendency to lock one rear wheel
while braking at more than 0.9g,
the brakes behaved well and
showed no signs of fade or
inadequacy.
Fittings and Furniture
As the Ghia Mustang is the
prestige model from the range,
much attention has been paid to
the interior fittings. The thick,
heavy doors with frameless
windows swing wide to give
access to both front and rear of
the car, the front seat backs
pivoting forward to allow passengers
to reach the rear seats.
The front seats are generous in
size, giving good support to the
shoulders, the small of the back
and beneath the knees. There is
insufficient rearward adjustment
for tall drivers, compounded
by seat backs that are
not adjustable for rake. The
seats, like those in the rear, are
trimmed in leathercloth and
have a luxurious button-back appearance. The rear seats are disappointing as they are too
short in the cushion for the
comfort of an adult for a lengthy journey. For rear seat passengers of average height, there is
just sufficient headroom but
only sufficient knee-room if the
front seats are well forward on
their runners.
Both front and rear seats are
fitted with inertia reel seat belts as standard -
those in the rear being of the lap-only variety - and
all the belts are easy to attach. The front belts are carried out of the way of those
entering the back of the car by a
plastic loop on the adjustable
head restraint that is built into
the top of each front seat back.
Ahead of the driver is an
imitation rosewood-backed
instrument panel containing
matched speedometer and rev counter
with auxiliary instruments for fuel, amps and water
temperature towards the centre
of the car. The speedometer has
a total distance recorder, but lacks a trip. All the instruments
are clearly marked and their
wide white needles give steady
readings. To the left of the steering wheel there is a stalk for the
indicators but no means of
flashing the headlights in daylight
(this is not allowed in the
States). Beyond the indicator
stalk, on the facia itself, are the
controls for the lights (rotary
switch), the windscreen wipers
and washers (slide and push),
and below these two are the controls
for the heater and rear window
demister. There are two
outlet vents for fresh air at face
level at the two ends of the facia
and control for these and complementary footwell vents is
given by push-pull controls
below the facia rail on each side.
To the right of the facia panel
are a bank of warning lights,
which in addition to warning of
expected items like oil pressure
and ignition, also includes a light
that warns that a door is ajar. This light on the test car was a little over-sensitive, lighting on
occasion when the door was
properly closed. Also on the
right-hand side of the facia along
the bottom rail are the controls
for the offside mirror, a cigarette
lighter and a Ford pushbutton
radio.
Leg-room for the front seat
passenger is generous and there
is adequate room for ladies to
cross their legs if they refer to
travel like this. Directly ahead
of the passenger is a digital clock
and beneath the facia is a dropdown
glove locker.
On the top of the transmission
tunnel there is a useful oddments
console surrounding the gearlever
and handbrake and containing
a quite generous compartment
at its rear end which has a
hinged padded top that
doubles as an armrest. At the
extreme rear of the centre console
is an ashtray for rear seat
passengers.
The general feel inside the car
is one of the restrained quality,
from the deep pile carpets to the
imitation rosewood inserts in
the rear quarter panels. The
whole effect is more European
than American, and doubtless
owes something to Ghia's general
influence on Ford styling
and design.
Living with the
Ford Mustang II Ghia
On cars delivered by Ford
Personal Import-Export in Britain,
the cost of delivery and
seat belts is included in the retail price. Thus with Road Fund
Tax and number plates only to
pay for, a buyer could have a
Ghia on the road for £9.98 over
£3,000. Optional equipment on
the model is confined to a
limited slip differential, a
leather-rimmed steering wheel.
a sunroof, special metallic paint
colours and an uprated suspension
package that includes stiffer
springs and dampers and a
rear anti-roll bar.
The design is obviously
intended to give the driver the
impression that he is driving a
big car. This is accomplished by
sitting him low down with relatively
high body sides around
him and concentrating the bulk
of the car ahead of the
windscreen beneath a wide long
bonnet. This gives attendant difficulties
in manoeuvring as both the end of the boot and bonnet are just out of view. The low
position is more
reminiscent of a sports car than
a saloon car and therefore introduces the occasional problem of
excessive difficulty in getting
out of the car when it is parked
against a high kerb.
The car starts first time when
either hot or cold and the
automatic choke goes off pro-
gressively without leading to
stalling during the warm-up
period. The ease with which the
car can be manoeuvred is
instantly noticed even on first
acquaintanceship. For some
tastes, the power-assisted
steering might be considered to
be too light, but most people
will find it satisfactory. The
accelerator and brake are both
light in action, as is the movement of the gearlever in its gate.
The heating and ventilation
arrangements are entirely adequate,
and it is possible to distribute
air in the right quantities
where required. The fan is
helpful in slow-moving traffic
to keep the air flowing, but
is noisy on its highest speed.
The water valve heater control
is less subject to variations in
engine speed than most of its type and the slide control gives
good progression.
The novel arrangement of a
lowering back to the rear seats
allows very generous luggage
space in the lowered position
although there is limited height
available between the floor of
the boot and the base of the rear
window. If the seat back is in the
raised position, luggage space is
severely limited by the high
floor to the boot beneath which
the spare tyre and petrol tank
are located. The bootlid itself lifts wide to give good access to
the carpeted luggage area.
Beneath the wide bonnet
there is adequate access to most
items requiring routine maintenance
and there is a lamp to
illuminate the space at night.
The heavy bonnet is not self-supporting
and requires a prop.
There is a large capacity bottle
for the windscreen washer
which is conveniently placed for
topping up, as is the battery in
the opposite corner of the bay.
The oil filter is buried away
beneath the left-hand cylinder
bank, but from previous experience
of the similar Capri engine,
it does not prove difficult to
remove.
Service on the car is required
at 6,000-mile intervals, at which
time, both the oil and its filter
are changed, and the contact
breaker points and sparking
plugs require renewal at
12,000-mile intervals. Useful
information as to tappet clearance,
timing, tyre pressures,
etc. is given on various decals to
supplement the information in
the owner's manual.
Conclusions
It is fashionable to criticize
American cars for their unsuitability
for European conditions,
but unfortunately the manufacturers
rarely take notice of the
comments. This is regrettably
true of the Mustang II which
promises much but falls short in
the event. Part of the trouble is
due to the strangled engine
which in complying with
American Federal emission
requirements, has limited power
left to drive itself along. Admittedly
the car is not slow, but to
compete with European domestic
cars of its ilk, it would need to
be substantially quicker.
The petrol economy is also
disappointing as, if performance
is not available, then economy
should be.
On the credit side, the car is
well finished and has a feel of
luxury inside, while its external
appearance attracts a great deal
of attention. The absence of
road- wind- or engine-induced
noise is excellent and much
attention has been paid to the
minor details.
For a buyer requiring a stylish
car, without too much need for
practicality, the Mustang II
Ghia certainly attracts a great deal of attention.
|
|
