LIKES
- Greatest-hits body
- V-8 sound and fury
- Finely tuned handling in top versions
- A performance model for every taste
- Newly standard safety features
DISLIKES
- We’re still warming to the turbo-4
- Cabin could use less glitz
- Tiny rear seat
- Comes with a reputation that doesn’t reflect its reality
BUYING TIP
The 2021 Ford Mustang flips its own blue-collar script with natural agility and searing V-8 performance.
What kind of car is the 2021 Ford Mustang? What does it compare to?
The Mustang is Ford’s touchstone coupe or convertible. With prosaic turbo-4 or earth-shaking supercharged V-8 power, it blends retro style with modern performance to fend off its long-time rivals, the Dodge Challenger and Chevy Camaro.
Is the 2021 Ford Mustang a good car?
We give it a TCC Rating of 6.0 out of 10. Back-seat comfort, fuel economy, and a spartan base model offset its performance coups. (Read more abouthow we rate cars.)
What’s new with the 2021 Ford Mustang?
Automatic emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, and automatic high-beam headlights are now standard. The GT500 gains a carbon-fiber handling package, and the GT350 and Bullitt have been retired in favor of the new Mach 1.
Most Mustangs have room for two adults, but base cars have manual front seats with little range of adjustment. Other models get shapely power front seats, even very snug Recaros. The back seat’s abysmal to get in and to sit in, but trunk space isn’t too small in coupes, at 13.5 cubic feet.
How much does the 2021 Ford Mustang cost?
Every 2021 Mustang has automatic emergency braking, even the base $28,350 EcoBoost coupe. It also has cloth upholstery, 17-inch wheels, and a dinky 4.2-inch audio display. We’d proceed directly to the $47,610 GT Premium fastback with the performance package—or the $55,510 Mach 1 Premium and its additional power, tuning and handling refinements, and heated and cooled cloth seats.
Where is the 2021 Ford Mustang made?
In Flat Rock, Michigan.
Styling
The Mustang gives a master class on becoming an icon.
Is the Ford Mustang a good-looking car?
Ford could teach other car brands how to mature a long-storied nameplate through styling seasons. Today’s Mustang is massive, no doubt, but it doesn’t look awkward like a 4-Series, and doesn’t have a stripped-down cockpit like a Camaro. Only the Challenger overtakes it in heritage themes. We give it a 7, with two points for the comely body.
So many Mustangs have stepped out of styling bounds, it’s easy to applaud the latest one. The rear quarter windows and roofline ape the cues of the fastback ‘60s Mustangs, with a front end that’s nearly as upright. Wide front-end flares give it a substantial but sleek stance, and character lines flow into a rear end with athletic haunches. This Mustang’s big, long, and wide, no doubt, but it’s also sleek and sensual, from its pony badge all the way back to its sequential taillights.
Performance
The Mach 1 showcases Mustang performance best.
The Mustang performance story comes in finely graded increments. Turbo-4 cars get basic suspension setups, with upgrades on the shopping list. The same holds true for GT V-8s, but they’re sold in high-tune Mach 1 and Shelby GT500 spec. More of you buy the GT than anything, and based on it, we’re giving the Mustang an 8 for performance, with two points extra for its drivetrain, and one for its ride and handling.
How fast is the Ford Mustang?
Even the turbo-4 Mustang is quite quick. The base 2.3-liter turbo-4 whips up 310 hp and 350 lb-ft of torque, while a high-performance version churns out 330 hp and a thicker torque curve. At its slowest, the Mustang can turn in a 0-60 mph time of less than 6.0 seconds; with the 10-speed automatic it’s good for the mid-fives, Ford says. So what if it sounds like it’s on a nebulizer? Order it as a convertible with an automatic; it’s good, too. This is a shame-free zone.
Ford Mustang GT and Mach 1 performance
We’re blending these V-8 Mustangs together though we’ve yet to drive the Mach 1. It’s a sort of greatest-hits handling package for the V-8 Mustang, and it all begins with the same 5.0-liter V-8. In the GT, the engine bellows out 460 hp and 420 lb-ft of torque, shoving the car through the 60-mph traps in under 4.0 seconds with the sometimes overly shift-happy 10-speed automatic. The 6-speed manual has rev-matching and fluid throws, but it’s a half-second slower to 60 mph.
It’s the power we love, but we’d spend more for the handling we crave. The base GT setup bounds over bumps and gets too loose in corners. With the available Performance Package, it’s tightened up for better handling and gets adaptive dampers to smooth over the ride so it’s tolerable on public roads. This Mustang steers and rides well enough to be a daily driver, but ultimately, there are two other Mustangs with better track credentials.
Ford Shelby GT500 Mustang
With the flat-plane-crank GT350 retired, a supercharged 760-hp cross-plane-crank V-8 powers the insanely explosive Shelby GT500 Mustang. It’s extraordinarily grippy, even when it tries to put down all its power. Zero to 60 mph runs in the three-second range give it the kind of power the Mustang’s never had. It’s unforgettable. Drive one if you ever get the chance, or read more about our drive in Motor Authority’s review of theShelby GT500.
Is the Ford Mustang 4WD?
All ‘Stangs are rear-wheel drive.
Comfort & Quality
Mustang rules: Don’t ride in back, don’t plan on bringing much with you.
The Mustang’s appeal lies in what happens in the front seats. They’re good; the back seats aren’t. The trunk’s small. It’s a 4 for comfort and utility.
Please spend extra for any seats other than the base buckets. They’re only 4-way adjustable for the driver, 2-way for the front passenger. Premium editions get power seats in front and leather upholstery swapped in for the cloth; they’re the ones you want, unless you strap into the GT cars and opt into marvelous but tightly confining race-style Recaro seats. In any of the driver’s seats, the Mustang offers good head and leg room and a swell driving position.
There’s not nearly enough head or leg room for adults in the back seat, and getting there presents its own obstacles. The seats flip down to make the 13.5-cubic-foot trunk more useful. Convertibles are even narrower in back, and trunk space gets cut back to 11.4 cubic feet.
Safety
The Ford Mustang earns good NHTSA scores and gains standard safety equipment.
How safe is the Ford Mustang?
The 2021 Mustang adds lots of safety tech this year, including standard automatic emergency braking, blind-spot monitors, active lane control, and automatic high-beam headlights.
It also returns with a perfect five-star safety rating from the NHTSA, though the IIHS doesn’t give it a Top Safety Pick award due to an “Acceptable” front-impact score.
The Mustang’s crash data and equipment earn it a 7 here.
Features
The Mustang requires a steady hand on the configurator.
The 2021 Mustang has it all, from a convertible turbo-4 edition to an insanely fast supercharged track monster. We give it a 7 here: Its extravagant options list generates great value when ordered correctly, but the 3-year/36,000-mile warranty is mediocre and the base infotainment system’s antique.
Hang with us here through the maze of Mustang configurations: coupes come in EcoBoost, EcoBoost Premium, GT, GT Premium, Mach 1, and GT500 trims; the GT350’s history. Convertibles come in all but Mach 1 or GT500 spec.
Base $28,350 Mustang coupes get cloth upholstery, 17-inch wheels, a line lock for smoky burnouts, manual front seats, and a 4.2-inch audio display. It’s a stripper, and not the kind we’d tip generously.
GT Mustangs get LED headlights, rear parking sensors, and a power driver seat; the $41,315 GT Premium gains leather upholstery and heated mirrors, in addition to the other Premium features listed above.
Which Ford Mustang should I buy?
We’d spec out a GT Premium fastback with the performance package for $47,610—but since that doesn’t have all the go-fast goods of the previous Performance Package 2, we’d slip into a $55,510 Mach 1 Premium with those tuning and handling bits, along with heated and cooled cloth seats and aluminum pedals.
The $74,095 Shelby GT 500 tops the list with its 760-hp V-8, 7-speed dual-clutch transmission, massive brakes, 305/30 and 315/30 Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires, wide 20-inch wheels, and extravagant bodywork.
Fuel Economy
The Mustang doesn’t try to hide its appetite for octane.
The Mustang has an enormous variety of models, and the EPA probably goes to bed exhausted from having to rate all of them. We give the car a 3 for gas mileage based on the most popular V-8 models.
Is the Ford Mustang good on gas?
No. Well, not really. Base turbo-4 cars are better. They start at 21 mpg city, 32 highway, 25 combined with the 10-speed automatic. Convertibles rate 20/28/23 mpg with the automatic. The manual transmission drops those ratings as low as 19/25/21 mpg.
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