On Wheels by Brooks Peterson

Saturday, February 3, 2001

2001 Mustang has 190 horses in its new V-6

George Gongora/Caller-Times

The 2001 Mustang sports a V-6 engine that provides brisk performance and more zip than some previous models.

Corporate public-information dudes are of necessity obliged to display their employers' wares in the most favorable possible light. Thus it comes as no surprise to read in the press kit for the 2001 Mustang that this particular vehicle has merely attained the stature of "a true American icon."
   In this instance, however, there's a crucial difference: They're absolutely right on the money. I mean, if the Ford Mustang isn't an American icon, what is?
   Its creators can claim fairly to have invented the ponycar: a (then) brand-new genre that splits the difference between pur sang sports car and carefree boulevardier. Hey: How many cars has the U.S. Postal Service saluted with their own commemorative stamps?
   Over the years, all the Mustangs I've tested have been of the rip-snortin', boot-in-the-lower-back variety, offering exhilarating performance and beautiful mechanical music. So, OK, thanks to their somewhat low-tech suspensions, they've tended to get jittery on rough surfaces - but in the performance-for-the-dollar equation, they're tough to top.

Ford Mustang Four-passenger rear-wheel-drive coupe Base price: $17,370 Price as tested: $18,745 Drivetrain: Single-overhead-cam fuel-injected 3.8-liter V-6, 190 hp; five-speed manual transmission Brakes: Front and rear discs, power-assisted EPA mileage: 19 city/29 highway Website: www.ford.com

   But of course we all know there have always been other, less belligerent Mustangs available to those who like the looks but shy away from the premium the V-8 versions have exacted - in terms of bottom line, fuel consumption and (lest we forget) insurance rates.
   The base engine in the original '64 ½ Mustang was a virtuous but unthrilling six; and, beginning with the (cringe) Mustang II in '74 and continuing through '93, your mouse-motor was a (groan) four.
   Beginning in '94, though, Dearborn decided to pep up the mix, and slipped a six back under the hood in the plain-vanilla 'Stangs. That was a big improvement - but more, and better, was on the way: In '99, when FoMoCo freshened up the current-generation Mustang with a big dollop of the New Edge look, the company decided to stir in more sizzle, too. The 3.8-liter V-6 now motivating the civilian-issue Mustang is good for 190 horses.

George Gongora/Caller-Times

Ford Motor Co. restored the V-6 to the Mustang line in 1994 and pepped the engine up even more in 1999.

   More good news: The newly assertive V-6 not only provides brisk performance; it also delivers a certain measure of musicality in its own right. Now, granted, it'll never stand up to comparison with the sullen, menacing rumble of the GT's 260-hp V-8 - but it has a little snarl of its own, and assuming you are willing to apply the lash, it'll move you right down the road.
   Inevitably, the V-6-powered Mustang lacks the urgency that the GT exudes. Still, its over-the-road comportment is impressively composed, if not overtly sporty. You've still got the live rear axle out back (only the ultra-high-buck Mustang SVT Cobra gets an independent rear suspension - for now), but this classic (or, if you prefer, primitive) setup has been massaged extensively. In most situations even this somewhat less than aggressive version of the Mustang can attack a curve without embarrassing itself.
   Improvements inside, too

George Gongora/Caller-Times

The trunk of the Mustang is shallow but roomy with a mini-spare nestling beneath the floorboard.

   Of course, looks have always played a part - a big part - in the Mustang story. It bears remembering, after all, that the original Mustang, with its daring-for-those-days long hood/short trunk profile, rested on the underpinnings of Ford's Falcon econocar.
   Our tester, turned out in a candy-apple red that took me back to my high school days, was undeniably handsome: The polished 16-inch wheels more than justified the 250 bucks for the Sport Appearance Group, and the spoiler out back was a nice fillip. Could've done without the tape stripe along the lower flank, but it wasn't seriously off-putting.
   Inside, the Mustang continues to show improvement: The extra inch or so of front legroom carved out for '99 remains welcome, and the restrained but eye-appealing interior appointments (in shades of beige medium brown) suggest that value-for-money has gotten into the equation.
   No lock for right-side door

George Gongora/Caller-Times

The one perplexing thing about the 2001 Mustang is the lack of a keyhole on the right-side door.

   As before, of course, the back seat is for munchkins only, but you could accommodate adults back there for short trips . . . under extreme duress. (You want practicality? Go look at a Windstar, for crying out loud.)
   In my time with this Mustang, there was but a single thing that genuinely perplexed me: When, seeking to fetch something from the car, I attempted to unlock the right-side door, I found it to be . . . impossible.
   Was ist los?
   I'm telling you - and I really mean it (I've got photographic evidence) - there is no keyhole for the right-side door. A lock, yes, but no keyhole.
   Uh . . . hello, Dearborn? We have a problem.
   Mustang is special
   I'm here to tell you that I've driven econoboxes and luxobarges, road rockets and estate wagons, sport utes and mini-pickups . . . and I have never, never, encountered this. Not on a Kia. Not on a Hyundai. Not on a Daewoo. Not even, if memory serves right, on a Yugo.
   This is not to suggest that it's really a big cosmic deal: It's easy enough to stroll on over to the driver's side, unlock the door and use the power mechanism on the driver's side to unlock the passenger's door.
   But why should you have to? This . . . does . . . not . . . compute.
   All right; got that off my chest. Now I feel better. That one foible aside, the Mustang in whatever flavor, V-8 or V-6, loaded or stripped, is and, I suspect, ever will be something special to American car buffs.
   It cannot, of course, be all things to all people, but it will always be the ponycar America loved first. And for a whole lot of us, that continues to be more than enough.
  

On Wheels is published on Saturdays. Brooks Peterson also sits on the Caller-Times editorial board and can be contacted at petersonb@caller.com

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