2010 Ford Mustang GT

Twenty-one hundred rpm. That’s about the perfect engine speed at which to launch the new 2010 Ford Mustang GT — at least one equipped with the optional $1495 Track Package, which includes a shorter 3.73 rear axle, a significantly racier ratio compared with the standard 3.31 or even the available 3.55.

Spark the gas, and the 315-horsepower, 4.6-liter V-8’s 24 valves grumblingly sigh to life. A “Good Morning,” it seems from Ford’s significantly revamped racehorse.

Notch the Tremec 3650 five-speed manual into first gear, drop the clutch just right at 2100, and the rear 255/40 Pirelli PZero summer tires (also part of the Track Pack, along with 19-inch alloys) twitter for a couple beats and then spin in virtual silence until 40 mph, when a forceful one-two shift snaps another chirp from the mitt-size contact patches.

In only 4.9 seconds, the Mustang GT is moving at a speed of 60 mph. Compared with last year’s Bullitt, a car that donated its more potent powertrain and rear axle to the 2010 GT, that time represents a 0.1-second improvement, in other words, the quickest sprint Motor Trend has ever coaxed out of a stock Mustang GT. Less than nine ticks later, at 13.5 seconds, the GT eclipses the quarter mile at a speed of 104.2 mph, or 0.2 second quicker and 1.5 mph faster than the no-longer-so-bullet Bullitt. The landscape, ostensibly, is blurring out of focus.

Wait…is that a Smokey ahead?

Slide your right Nike from throttle to brake, depress with sufficient might to wake up the ABS, and the performance friction compound brake pads (another component of the Track Pack) will squeeze the four-wheel discs with enough fervor to erase 60 mph in only 108 feet-just as abrupt as a BMW 128i and 19 feet shorter than the Bullitt. Better yet, the cop proves a false alarm. Lucky timing, as the road is beginning to squiggle at a heart-pounding rate. A set of esses ahead, the steering rouses to attention, arcing right and left with fluid precision. The slightest dead spot resides on-center, but otherwise the helm and its 15.7:1 ratio communicate clearly. So does the Track Pack chassis, whose unique struts, rear lower control arm, and rear anti-roll bar, not to mention stiffer dampers and rear springs, minimize body movement to levels previously unseen in a factory Mustang GT. Maximum lateral grip is a tenacious 0.95 g. The Bullitt could muster only 0.87. The new GT still rolls more than, say, the 0.99 g Nissan 370Z, but its lateral limits are easier to approach and more rewarding to experience than in the Bullitt or GT500.

Technical editor Kim Reynolds, who shaved 0.9 second off the Bullitt’s figure-eight time (26.4 seconds at 0.52 g) in the new GT (25.5 at 0.70), says, “This is the most surprising and sure-footed Mustang I’ve ever driven. Mid-turn bumps don’t unsettle the chassis and understeer is minimal.” For spirited motoring, the track-tuned suspension is a welcome cohort. For cruising, though, its busy nature, certainly over uneven pavement, can grow tiresome.

Obviously, the 2010 Mustang hit the gym hard in the off-season. Whether moving north-south or east-west, the new GT is a swifter, more agile thoroughbred. The numbers don’t lie. Nor does the bulging body, whose sculpted sheetmetal appears leaner and meaner compared with that of the ’09 model. The look is as mature as it is menacing.

binders are easy to modulate and seem calibrated for your foot’s force.

Inside, the digs are more inviting than last year’s lower-rent accoutrements. The matte-finished soft-touch dash, cleanly executed center stack, and cool gauges with steel-blue backgrounds and high-contrast white arcs all signal a more premium portfolio. The freshly shaped door inserts are also more appealing, but their glossy, hard plastic facade is a bit of a letdown.

The Shaker 500 audio system and SYNC system with Bluetooth, however, are not, and help justify the $3000 pricetag for our tester’s Premium trim. Even at $34,330, which includes the $395 Safety Package (anti-theft system, wheel locks) and the $595 Comfort Package (power passenger seat, auto-dimming rearview mirror, heated seats), our GT Premium with Track Package still costs less than a comparably equipped Z.

Ford recently announced it lost $5.9 billion in the fourth quarter of 2008, bringing the total hit for the year up to $14.6 billion. At a time when the Blue Oval is hurting like a Madoff investor and its flagship coupe is up against such formidable competitors as the new Z and upcoming Chevy Camaro and (Hyundai Genesis)Coupe, at least it is offering a musclecar for which enthusiasts can proudly pony up. Burning cash and rubber never smelled so sweet.

Sourced via motortrend.com