SA Road Tests

Welcome

It struck me one day that people who love cabriolets, convertibles, roadsters, drop-tops, sports cars - call them what you will - are probably less concerned with who made them than with how they make their drivers feel. It's rather like motorcycles; there is an indescribable unity with Nature, a one-ness with the road and a bonding with the elements - the sun on your skin, the breeze through your hair and the living sounds of the open road.

That's why I decided to copy and paste all my cabriolet reports into a single folder where drop-top fans can find them all without having to scrabble through endless menus.

I have to warn you that it took a while to warm to the cabriolet phenomenon - convertibles are mostly loved, hankered after and driven by women, so we guys find them hard to appreciate. For that reason, you may find some of the writing a little tongue-in-cheek, sceptical or even downright chauvinist. What can I say? I'm male and I can't help it. Just bear with me though, because I believe that the stories still contain valid information that will hopefully help you make an informed buying decision.


*To read one of our archived road tests, just go to the list of manufacturers' names on the left side of this page. Hover your cursor over the name, then follow the drop-down menu that appears.

*Please remember too, that prices quoted were those ruling on the days I wrote the reports, so even if you're looking to buy second-hand, you have an idea of what it cost originally.


Unisex: 2020 Ford Mustang 2.3T convertible

All the good stuff

Posted: October 9, 2020

The numbers
Base price: R928 800
Engine: 2261 cc, DOHC 16-valve, inline four-cylinder, turbopetrol
Power: 213 kW at 5400 rpm
Torque: 441 Nm at 3000 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 5.8 seconds
Top speed: 233 km/h
Real life fuel consumption: About 11.1 l/100 km
Tank: 59 litres
Luggage: 322 litres
Turning circle: 12.2 metres
Ground clearance: n/a
Standard tyre: 255/40R19
First aid: Pump kit
Warranty: Four years / 120 000 km with three years' roadside assistance
Service plan: Six years, 90 000 km at 15 000 km intervals

Ask any woman: A car is just a car but a Mustang is a Ride! And if it’s a droptop that’s a bonus.

There are two engine sizes; five-litre, naturally aspirated V8 and 2.3-litre, inline four with turbocharger. Both are coupled to ten-speed automatics and come in two body styles, coupé and soft top convertible.

A recent picture of Gail Wise with her (restored) 1965 Mustang convertible

Although some maintain that the V8 is the only engine worth having, that “itty-bitty” 2.3 turbo makes mean power - 213 kilowatts and 441 Newton-metres - enough to metaphorically blow the doors of Magnum’s Ferrari 308 GTS. It’s two seconds quicker to 100 km/h and seven clicks faster at the top end. And the must-have V8 accelerates only a second quicker.

Having established the turbocar’s street- and track cred let’s move onto those things that, apart from the roof, separate convertibles from coupés:
•    Convertibles weigh 45 kg more because the multilayer, waterproofed roof fabric isn’t exactly light and the droptop body needs extra reinforcement to prevent flexing,
•    Boot volume is 60 litres less because of the hidden compartment the roof tucks away into,
•    Its integral-link, independent rear suspension is fitted with twin-tube dampers rather than monotube and it uses a standard anti-sway bar,
•    Five airbags rather than seven; you can’t fit curtain bags into a convertible,
•    The backrests of those “Plus-what? you must be kidding!” rear seats don’t split and fold because of security concerns when the car is left unattended with the roof retracted,
•    The front brakes are 30 mm smaller and utilise four-piston, rather than six-piston calipers and,
•    Extra security kit for when it’s left open.

But all the good stuff is common to both body styles; bags of handling- and safety kit, dual zone automatic air conditioning, one-touch electric windows, ten-speaker B&O sound system, Sync®3 with 8” touchscreen, voice activated satnav, partial leather upholstery with powered adjusters and temperature control, tyre pressure monitoring and the same 3.55:1 limited-slip diff, wheels and tyres.

And if semi-matt, all-black, wheels make you choke in your feedbag, you can specify lustrous nickel-plated, forged aluminium rims as a no-cost option.

So how does it go? Suspension is firm and steering is weighted a little heavier than one might expect. Of three selectable settings, Comfort, Normal and Sport, Normal feels like most other cars’ Sport for example. And, set up to handle well, it was great - with just a hint of carefree attitude displayed by a wicked little twitch from the back end when provoked.

The ten-speed automatic shifts almost imperceptibly and kicks down readily when needed. Picture this: Ambling gently, at 100 km/h in tenth, moderate pressure on the accelerator caused almost immediate bump-down to fifth and blasted us deep into ticket territory split-seconds later.

As a matter of interest, 120 km/h cruising uses only 2000 rpm in top so there’s always plenty of surge in hand considering that maximum torque only arrives at 3000 rpm. The overriding impression is of easy and almost endless power so, we ask, who the Sam Hill really needs the V8?

Comfort-wise, some might feel the seats a bit hard although they hold you well when the going gets interesting and, unlike some convertibles, grownups enjoy a fist’s-width of headroom in the front chairs when the top is up.

Further, open air driving doesn’t require wind deflectors or air shields to keep freeway cruising acceptably quiet and relatively breeze-free. It’s in the original design; Mustang has been doing convertibles since model year 1965, so the engineers know what they’re doing by now.

And it's true that Mustangs appeal to women. Chicago schoolteacher Gail Wise was first in line to buy one, making a down payment from her initial pay cheque on 15 April 1964, a third of all female sports car buyers choose Mustangs and South African Jeanette Kok-Kritzinger set a women’s world land speed record in a heavily modified six-litre on 29 July 1999. Then there's Mustang Sally; she’s a legend.  

But lots of men love them too. Other motorists, teenagers, gate guards and traffic-light vendors whipped out phones or cheered enthusiastically. Some facetiously asked to borrow it - just for the weekend, you understand.

What can we take from this? Two things; Mustang is possibly the most Unisex sportscar on the planet. And ultimate power isn’t everything.


Test unit from Ford SA press fleet

What We Do

This is a one-man show, which means that every car reviewed is given my personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.

Every test car goes through real world driving; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.

I do my best to include relevant information like real life fuel economy or a close mathematical calculation, boot size or luggage space, whether the space is both usable and accessible, whether life-sized people can use the back seat (where that applies), basic specs of the vehicle and performance figures if they are published. In the case of clearly identified launch reports, fuel figures are of necessity the laboratory numbers provided with the release material.

If ever I place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with a very similar vehicle already, so you will be able to find what you want in another report under the same manufacturer's heading in the menu on the left.

Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. There are no advertisers and no “editorial policy” rules. I add bylines to acknowledge sponsored launch functions and the manufacturers or dealerships that provide the test vehicles.  And, as quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so you can see I do actually exist.

Comments?
Want to ask a question, comment or just tell me you completely disagree with what I say? If you want advice or have a genuine concern, I will be happy to hear from you. All I ask is that you write something in the subject line so I know which vehicle you're talking about.