Born in 1964 as a sporty car aimed at America's burgeoning Boomer generation, the Mustang defined the "pony car" segment of midsized sporty coupes. Soon, the Mustang will be the last pony standing. Dodge has already ceased producing the Challenger, and Chevrolet will soon follow with the Camaro after the 2024 model year. Other sports cars, like the Nissan Z, Toyota Supra and 86, or even the BMW 2 Series Coupe, might fill the market gap, but those are not truly direct competitors.
The Mustang also rides on a disappearing powertrain configuration of an optional large V8 engine paired with a traditional manual transmission. For this review, I drove a 2024 Mustang GT 5.0 Premium with the optional Performance Pack for a week to give a complete, real-world assessment of its strengths and weaknesses.
For 2024, the Ford Mustang gets new bodywork following the traditional long hood and short rear deck form factor. Ford describes the updated look as more "chiseled" and "edgier" than before, and I'd agree. Ford heavily reworked the chassis and suspension too. A full suite of optional electronic driving aids increases the safety factor.
Revised EcoBoost turbocharged 4-cylinder and Coyote V8 engines deliver slightly better power. Inside, a completely new, fully digital, graphic-intensive, and configurable dashboard mates two displays with instruments in front of the driver and infotainment at the center.
For comparison, the standard Mustang EcoBoost cars powered by the 315-horsepower turbo 4-cylinder engine start at $30,920 for the fastback and $39,020 for the convertible. Mustang GTs with the 480-hp 5.0-liter V8 begin at $41,710 for the fastback, with the convertible starting at $51,730. New for the 2024 model year, the limited-production, ultra-high-performance Dark Horse fastback starts at $58,185, and there is no convertible version. The destination charge of $1,595 to ship the vehicle to your dealer is extra.
Photo: Jim Resnick
The Ford Mustang competes in the Midsize Sporty Car market segment. According to data collected from verified new-vehicle buyers for the JD Power 2023 Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) Study, Ford Mustang buyers rated their cars in 10 primary categories. Listed below in descending order, you'll find their preferences, from their most favorite thing about the Mustang to their least favorite:
In the 2023 APEAL Study, the Mustang ranks 3rd out of four Midsize Sporty Car models.
In the sections that follow, our independent expert analyzes a 2024 Ford Mustang GT Coupe Premium equipped with the following options:
The test vehicle's price was $58,875, including the $1,595 destination charge.
Photo: Jim Resnick
The new Mustang makes a giant leap forward with a completely revamped interior and an all-digital, graphics-intensive dashboard and infotainment system. If the new body is a modern take on the Mustang's rich history, the new interior is all future and zero past, dominated by the large glass display housing configurable instrument gauges ahead of the driver.
The test car's leather front seats are a curious combination of power adjustments for fore-aft travel, lumbar support, and heating and ventilation, but manual levers for reclining the backrests. They were comfortable, supportive, and reasonably firm and grippy around corners.
The leather, plastic, and aluminum materials Ford uses in the Mustang are on par or just slightly better than those used in Challengers and Camaros. Still, Ford, GM, and Dodge all have improved their game in this area in the recent past. The touch points that matter—the steering wheel, shifter, wiper and turn signal stalks, infotainment screen, switches, and door pulls—all feel solid and of high quality.
Rear-seat access is poor for humans or just placing bags of groceries back there, even with the forward tilt function employed. But this is a challenge that you accept when buying a Mustang. Yes, it has two rear seats, but I can't recommend them for anyone except small children.
As cars become more aerodynamic, they become more susceptible to bothersome buffeting with lowered windows. With one of the Mustang's windows open all the way, the disturbance inside the car grows from slight buffeting at about 45-50 mph to an off-putting pressure fluctuation above 65 mph. Raising the offending window halfway removes most of it, but not all. Lowering both windows prevents it.
Interior storage in the new Mustang is shy, with a small center bin in the console and an average-sized glove box. At 13.3 cubic feet, the trunk offers good space, and the rear seats fold, making room for long objects. Across the segment, Dodge's Challenger provides a deeper, wider trunk with a sedan-like 16.2 cubic feet. In contrast, the Chevy Camaro's trunk is minuscule, at 9.1 cubic feet, with a tiny opening.
Photo: Jim Resnick
For infotainment, Ford's Sync 4 center display shows all the following functions and adjustments:
Sync 4 responds quickly to voice commands and the soft keys in the display. Instructing the navigation system via the system's enhanced voice recognition uncovered no glitches, a meaningful improvement over previous generations of Ford's Sync software. The system also responds to natural speech commands rather than specific commands you must remember.
Pairing a smartphone to Sync 4 via Bluetooth or USB cable (I use an Apple iPhone) proved quick and easy. Once initially paired, reconnecting after returning to the vehicle was seamless.
The native navigation also operates well, showing real-time traffic, as noted in our initial 2024 Mustang GT driving impression. The system doesn't just lower the audio volume; it pauses the audio program to give verbal prompts.
Phone calls, when tethered via CarPlay, were also a breeze. My phone's contact list is gigantic, and allowing most car systems access to my contacts usually takes a long time. Pouring my contacts into the new Sync 4 system took less time than expected. Over-the-air updates to the infotainment system called Ford Power-Up keep it current.
The test Mustang GT came equipped with wireless smartphone charging and a 12-speaker Bang & Olufsen premium sound system with the subwoofer mounted in the trunk. This system creates detailed, powerful, but unfatiguing audio. That latter quality is much more critical than some folks realize, especially on long trips.
The default digital instruments in front of the driver are configurable among Calm, Normal, Sport, Track, and a "Fox-body" gauge theme that recalls the analog gauges of the 1987-93 Mustangs. You can also sync these themes to the six driving modes (Normal, Sport, Slippery, Track, Dragstrip, and Custom). Alternatively, you can keep your preferred instrument theme regardless of driving mode. I preferred the Fox gauges over all the others for clarity and simplicity.
As with many new cars, the 2024 Mustang's climate controls live within the infotainment display, except for a max defrost button sitting aside the 4-way hazard switch in the lower center stack. Frequent adjustments like fan speed and recirculation require two steps to adjust, which can be annoying. Two additional hard buttons for the fan and recirculation would improve user-friendliness.
Photo: Jim Resnick
Powered by a big 5.0-liter V8 breathing through two large throttle bodies, the engine generates a maximum of 486 hp and 418 pound-feet of torque. The engine and the active-valve exhaust dominate the Mustang GT's presence and character. It's a throwback combination evoking muscle cars of the 1960s and early '70s.
The loud soundtrack also means that it's a good thing Ford optionally mated this V8 to an exhaust system that can quiet itself during everyday driving and on start-up, which could save your relationship with your neighbor. Is it high on refinement? Not really. But you also don't exactly bring champagne and caviar to a football game.
With a fully manual transmission, there's a pleasing mechanical nature to piloting the GT. Few cars still offer a manual; the total sales figures are more of a rounding error than substantial numbers. However, a highly enthusiastic and vocal constituency demands sporty cars still be offered with an actual clutch pedal and shift lever. And when the shifter is as well-connected, tactile, and kink-free as the Mustang's, rowing your own gears is a giant pleasure, even if modern automatics suffer no fuel economy or performance demerits like they used to.
With nearly 500 hp and over 400 pound-feet of torque, the Mustang GT explodes with acceleration like the muscle cars of old. Car and Driver Magazine's test numbers show the GT 6-speed reaching 60 mph in just 4.2 seconds and achieving the quarter-mile in only 12.5 seconds. The soundtrack accompanying that romp forward is pure, full-throated V8, especially with the exhaust system's valve open in Sport, Track, or Dragstrip modes.
The GT's optional Performance Pack adds a front shock tower brace, Torsen limited-slip differential, higher-grip summer-only tires, and larger Brembo brake calipers and rotors. An oil cooler helps keep engine lubricant on an even keel. The active exhaust and MagneRide magnetically adjustable shocks are stand-alone options.
Unlike the muscle cars of the 1960s, the new Mustang GT dances over twisty roads like a proper sports car. Some might credit this agility to the optional adaptive MagneRide dampers, the staggered 255/40R and 275/40R 19-inch front and rear Pirelli P Zero tires, and the precise and communicative steering, but they'd be only half-right. Without the excellent sorting and tuning of the rest of the suspension, the dampers could only achieve so much. Together, and with the quick-ratio steering, they give the Mustang GT outstanding handling. Add big Brembo brake calipers clamping giant 15.4-inch front and 14.0-inch rear rotors, and the proverbial "whoa" is on par with the engine's "go."
When not exercising your inner Andretti and set to the softest, quietest, most humble suspension and exhaust settings, the Mustang GT makes a decent long-haul driving partner. But there's no quelling all the V8's character. There's still a slight throb from the engine room when loafing along the highway at 70 or 75 mph. And the quick, reactive steering often reminds you that it's ready for evasive action.
However, for those seeking only the V8 and acceptable handling, skipping the Performance Pack and MagneRide dampers would save nearly $7,000.
Photo: Jim Resnick
Every 2024 Mustang has Ford Co-Pilot 360 as standard, a collection of now-common ADAS. Standard features include:
The Mustang GT Premium 6-speed test car also came with the Co-Pilot360 Assist+ package, which adds:
Ford also now offers a new safe-exit system designed to prevent someone from opening a door in front of a motorcyclist or cyclist.
All the ADAS features worked very well, enabled (or disabled) by a button on the left spoke of the steering wheel or when engaging cruise control, of course. That adaptive cruise control quickly caught vehicles merging in front of the Mustang. It built a buffer zone ahead as that traffic came into the field and matched any new leading car's pace smoothly.
Lane-departure warning and lane-keeping assistance worked seamlessly. Better, in fact, than in a Mustang Mach-E I recently tested. The only occasions when it did not engage were on country roads lacking a white line at the right side, and that's not unusual since these systems need a high-contrast marker to monitor at the edge of the road. I never encountered an emergency braking-assistance warning, but that's something not safely tested intentionally on public roads.
Though forward visibility in the Mustang is good, there was one instance where I encountered a small-statured pedestrian wholly hidden behind the A-pillar crossing a Starbucks parking lot. The Mustang's pedestrian detection alerted me to her presence and prevented a closer call. Similarly, I've come to rely on rear cross-traffic warning in any test car I'm driving. Now, I can hardly imagine backing out of a parking space in a busy parking lot without it.
Photo: Jim Resnick
The Mustang's trunk will swallow 13.3 cubic feet of stuff, which is a mediocre figure when the chief competition, like the Dodge Challenger, offers an ample 16.2 cubic feet and the Chevy Camaro has but a mere 9.1 cubic feet (and a very restrictive trunk opening, to boot). The Mustang's rear seats also fold, making room for longer objects. There's a tiny bit of odd-shaped space under the floor, but the trunk has no deep side wells for beverage containers nor a dedicated handle to close the lid.
The Mustang GT 5.0 with the 6-speed manual transmission posts EPA fuel economy of 17 mpg in combined driving, so it wins no mileage contests. (The automatic not tested here improves by one mpg.) With a fuel capacity of 16.0 gallons, it'll theoretically go 368 highway miles on a tank, based on a 23-mpg highway rating. However, judging by my combined fuel consumption figure of 17.1 mpg over the test period, a more realistic everyday-use distance on a tank refill is 273 miles.
As of this writing, neither the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) nor the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has published crash-test ratings for the 2024 Mustang.
The 2024 Mustang GTs with the 480-hp 5.0-liter V8 begin at $41,710 for the fastback, with the convertible (only available in Premium trim) starting at $51,730. New for the 2024 model year, the limited-production, ultra-high-performance Dark Horse fastback starts at $58,185. Ford does not offer it as a convertible. The destination charge is an additional $1,595.
In the JD Power 2023 Initial Quality Study (IQS), the Chevrolet Camaro ranks highest in the Midsize Sporty Car segment. The Dodge Challenger and the Ford Mustang are the next highest-ranked models.
In the 2023 APEAL Study, the Dodge Challenger ranks highest in the Midsize Sporty Car segment. The Chevrolet Camaro and the Ford Mustang are the next highest-ranked models.
Other competitors to the 2024 Mustang GT include the Nissan Z, Toyota Supra, and Toyota 86.
Photo: Jim Resnick
The 2024 Mustang poses several big questions in our current automotive intersection. First, does it fulfill its promise of driving fun, power, style, and accessibility? It sure does. Second, how long will it last in the current landscape where SUVs permeate, pure electric vehicles grow in number, and ever-growing traffic concerns loom? To that, no one knows, but it is the last bastion of the pony car set that it forged 60 years ago, closely followed by the Chevy Camaro and the Barracuda/Challenger coupes from (now-deceased) Plymouth and Dodge.
Therefore, the 2024 Mustang might benefit from an absence of direct, natural enemies in the marketplace after 2024. With this significant update, the 2024 Ford Mustang is the most complete Mustang package in years, with great power, dashing looks, top-tier safety features, and easy service at the nearest of 2,933 Ford dealers.
Jim Resnick has been covering transportation and the automotive, technology, engineering, and motorsports fields for decades, his award-winning work appearing in numerous American and European media outlets. He also spent 13 years managing product information, media relations, marketing, and strategy with three luxury carmakers.
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