Ford Mustang rental car

[DJ_57]

Don't flame me. Believe me, it takes a lot for me to go out of my way to praise a Ford, much less a Mustang, but I have to give credit where credit is due.
Business travel to SeaTac area this week. We arrived and on the shuttle to the rental car facility we were passing several lots filled with Priuses and looked at each other and thought "this blows." We get to the rental facility and Avis suggested a Prius for $294 over 3 days. Asked what else is available, selection was a minivan or a Mustang. The rep said "I think it's a V8 too" and I thought well I don't actually want a V8 because if something should happen, the V8 is just an excuse to pin some blame on the driver. We asked how much and they said $274.
...what did you just say? This is less than the Prius? And it's not a Prius?
Ok, had him verify any of these vehicles were actually available and the Mustang was, but he didn't confirm it was a V8. Figuring it was a basic V6 when we walked up to it, loaded luggage and time to go. Upon leaving the facility we were hearing this odd noise and thought this is a pretty peppy V6. Then I recalled the new Mustang released a turbo 4 Ecoboost and got excited, we lucked out with a better car than expected. Later popped the hood and verified it only had 1 cylinder bank.

Here's the scoop. After looking into it that is a 2.3L engine, which is not small by 4 cylinder standards. It is rated at 310hp/320lb-ft engine. That is nuts.
Inside it sounded like a Subaru Boxer engine.
Outside whisper quiet.
With the new IRS it stuck to the road.
6 speed automatic with paddle shifters which were annoying at first to get used to gripping the wheel without accidentally hitting one of them. Once I got used to them, very cool.
This thing was a finely tune machine. EDIT: OH, AND IT'S STILL A RWD CAR. NO FWD BS.

Interior was nicely laid out, everything ergonomic.
Heated and cooled leather seats.
Spacious for a coupe. I'm 6-foot plus and was extremely comfortable with lots of foot room for my size 12s.
Massive trunk space.
Minimal blind spots, good visibility. Drivers side a little difficult to see over the shoulder but Ford integrated blind spot mirrors on each side.

With a combination of city driving, highway commuting, and driving it like a rental it took 6.5 gallons to fill it up after using less than half a tank over 130 miles. Approx 20 mpg
If I drove like that with the G8 I would have gotten less than 15 and it never would have felt as agile even though that's an excellent driver with tight suspension too.
Thoroughly impressed, Ford!!

[Chewy]

If I sold the G8 today, I'd have a HARD look at the Mustang. No flaming here! I'm a car guy, not a badge guy!

They pipe that noise in from the air box, and remember, not that many years ago, the 4.6L V8 was making those numbers!

[Mussin]

Love the new mustang.. just not as much as my 89gt.

[Zodiac]

Love the new Mustang. I sold my 2015 GT in January. It was a badass car. I'm sure some have seen pics here. I'm not brand loyal (obviously) but I get bored and jump around.

[TonyKarter]

My cousin with the Boss302 rented a turbo4 Mustang while on a business trip in Florida. He said he got into a freeway race with a V6 Camaro and beat it. Insane. He too was very impressed with the 4.