Warning - a long and picture-heavy post!
We’d had our hearts set on hiring a Mustang convertible, no
matter what the impracticalities. H is a
huge Mustang fan; I like them; it seemed fitting for the trip and it was
important that we did it with some style.
Under no circumstances would a Toyota Prius have been acceptable!
We were travelling from late October into November so the
chances of having the top down were likely to be few and far between we
thought. Additionally, we weren't sure
that we’d fit our luggage all in the boot.
H had previous experience of an earlier model and was hopeful but we still
had reservations. As we were picking the
vehicle up from the Los Angeles Alamo rental lot we had a good chance of getting
one compared to doing the route from Chicago so when we ventured out with the
paperwork to select a car our hopes faded when there wasn't one. We made enquiries, stuck to our stubborn
English guns and waited, eventually in the shade, until someone decided to
return one! In the end we waited about
an hour and a half but it didn't seem that long as we chatted until a freshly
washed black Ford Mustang convertible was brought round to the front for
us.
Big smiles! Well done Alamo!
I would say that I have more than a passing interest in cars
but I admit that I know very little indeed.
Therefore the following description is IMHO and my own personal view of
the car during our trip.
This vehicle was the latest 2012 V6 auto-transmission Ford
Mustang 2-door convertible in black, registered in Ohio. It had just under 20,000 miles on the clock
at collection and we were about to put a few more on it before we gave it back!
As I’d never driven on the wrong side of the car let alone
the wrong side of the road in an unfamiliar land I declined to have a go straight
away whilst I got over the newness of everything, my jet lag (yes I got it
going that way!) and familiarised myself with the road rules and local driving
habits. I don’t think H minded hogging
it for the first few days around Santa Monica too much...
The driving experience – I'm used to and prefer to drive a
big car that I can’t see the front or rear end of so this didn't feel overly
big to drive for me and manoeuvring it round tight roads full of traffic such
as in Santa Fe wasn't an issue. The
turning circle is excellent on it and what I’d want on any car. I did
enjoy the ‘laziness’ of the automatic again after several years of manual which
was a bonus as my brain refused to accept I couldn't change gear with my left
hand. I had a go with the cruise control
on the way up to Las Vegas to ‘save my knee’ but, whilst it was easy to use
once I’d worked out how many times to press the buttons on the steering wheel
control, I felt it detracted from my experience and I wanted my money’s worth.
I took it round the well-known steep and winding Black
Mountains pass out of California into Arizona through Golden Shores, Gold Road,
Oatman and into Kingman. Whilst there
were some hairy moments from unexpected sharp bends, the Mustang took them in its
stride in a way I can only describe as ‘neatly’ and responsively. Just as well really eh!
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| One of my favourite pics from the trip |
Boot - The boot was surprisingly roomy even with the
reduction for the vinyl roof and, with a little planning and ingenuity, H was
able to fit every piece of our luggage in that boot to the amazement of
Hotel doormen, valets, Alamo employees and
general nosey people along the journey!
Topless - Taking the roof down was extremely hassle-free
with two levers above the sun visor un-clipping whilst stationary and then the
control above the rear-view mirror, folding the top flush with the top of the
boot section. Putting it up was quicker
but got tricky as the passenger-side connector wasn't always obliging so there
was usually some shoving about and re-seating to do or the lever wouldn't click
in and it had a tendency to start letting air in as you drove along. It’s probably due to some earlier rough
mistreatment but wasn't more than an inconvenience. In the end we had lots of top-down time,
wrapping up and braving the wind or chilliness on cooler days or as the sun
went down. We could have had it down
quite a bit more at times but tended to err on the side of caution when we felt
it inappropriate or on the verge of rain.
I was impressed, when it was all closed up properly (which was most of
the time actually), with the relative quiet in the cockpit considering there’s
only thin vinyl between you and the wind outside. Visibility with the roof up was poor out the
back and rear sides almost non-existent but typical of a convertible soft top.
Interior – This was black leather upholstery, stitched
in white with black plastic trim and black carpeting. It’s a 4-seater which is great so long as the
rear passengers have long bodies so they can see about and no legs (I'm visualising E.T. here). There was enough
room in the rear foot wells to store water, camera bag, jackets, food, etc
which was fine for our needs. My first
impression was as a front seat passenger and this was disconcerting as, at
5’4”, I was looking at the dash, the wing mirror and the headrests. That’s actually how a lot of my photos came
out. The passenger seat on this model didn't have an option to raise the seat level and as you’re really sat ‘in’ the
seat I found it hard to reach anything.
Until we found a suitable cushion in Wal-Mart, I had to use my folded waterproof
jacket as a ‘booster seat’! The driver’s
seat had the electric adjustment to rise up and thank god it did! I had to have it raised all the way up and
nearly all the way forward to reach everything comfortably. It would have been useful to have memory seat
settings for ‘tall ‘n’ lanky’ and ‘short ‘n’ dumpy’ as every changeover was
preceded by much adjustment and I know I didn't always get it just right. The interior lighting had ambient blue lights
in the front foot well which reminded me of those under-lights on chav cars but
seemed acceptable and quite appealing in the Mustang. I tended to use this as a map-reading light;
the glove compartment light either didn't work or wasn't there in the first
place.
The centre console controls
layout seemed well-thought out although there was the comfort of access to
several controls on the steering wheel. The
central storage compartment was plenty big enough to store our essentials and
houses the iPod connector. The two- cup
holder between the seats was handy but set at two levels, one travellers drink
was bound to fall over whilst the other seated comfortably. Weird but must be a reason for that design.
The driver display and computer could be adjusted to show a huge variety of data to impress the greatest of car geeks and also a change of dial back- lighting colour (to suit ones mood?) The speedo’ and rev counter dials were stylishly white yet curiously off-set to the left which, I felt, made it hard to tell what speed I was doing. I found it easier to tell from the satnav in the end. Overall the interior felt robust and one of quality.
ICE – I had a go at reading up on the entertainment system as we had a few issues with the AUX and when we used the iPods we couldn't always navigate to specific albums, playlists or tracks we wanted to hear. Really frustrating! I couldn't get the gist of the Sirius system. It’s like DAB but via satellite and you can select separate albums or pre-recorded concerts to listen to. We mostly listened to the local rock stations which gave us a few amusing Sam and Dean Winchester moments...you had to be there really...
Looks – I'm not a fan of convertibles but even this doesn't distract from the great Mustang look and it is a subtle head-turner. In the UK it would be
a talking point but I was surprised at the looks and comments (positive) we did
get along the way considering they’re two a penny (dime??) over there in most
states. Only Missouri was noticeably
lacking. The design of the back lights
and the front end are pleasing with that slight 'meanness' but I prefer the solid,
‘in-your-face’ looks of the bigger coupés.
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| San Jon to Glen Rio, NM |
In summary we both really enjoyed driving the Mustang and
would do so happily again. It was a
drive that made us smile and H wanted to take it home. I think we were very lucky with the weather
and having the convertible added to the experience of the trip. I would recommend one for doing the route. It’s a more practical a car than one would
think with the drivability, acceptable storage and with about 33 MPG there are
worse gas guzzlers in the UK. If I had
the money to buy one of these and fuel use and cost wasn't an issue I wouldn't as there are others I’d rather have but if someone turned up on the doorstep
with the keys to one for free I’d take it, keep it and put up with it being a
left-hand drive on UK roads for as long as possible.
There now follows a short series of gratuitous Mustang porn pics, mostly taken by H. I thank you.
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| The Rock Cafe, Stroud, Oklahoma |
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