| 2011 Ford Mustang GT Has Arrived! | You might wonder why we've left the Mustang GT's equine siblings to snort in the paddock. It's simple: The GT is the ideal blend of performance and value, serving up brutal muscle, daily usability, and the agility of an honest-to-Edsel sports coupe at an eminently fair $30,495. The V-6 model is less expensive, but it cedes more than 100 horsepower to the GT and lacks the V-8's final measure of polish (the six goes gritty at high rpm, for example). The Shelby GT500 betters the GT's 0.94 g of grip, 153-foot 70-to-zero braking distance, and 4.6-second zero-to-60 sprint, but those bragging rights cost an extra 19 grand -- a nicely optioned five-door Fiesta, or just $4000 shy of a V-6 Stang -- and it isn't as livable besides. Yes, the Mustang's interior still could use better materials, but the drive is the thing. From the how-the-hell'd-they-do-that? taming of the live rear axle to the tactile steering to the crisp six-speed manual, the 2011 GT is, save for the GT supercar, perhaps the most gratifying Ford ever made. But even better than the chassis is the five-point-oh! V-8 thundering away under hood: It's a soulful marvel, smooth in its power delivery and mellifluous in its sound. Where the V-6 and GT500 are good -- make that really good -- the Mustang GT is greatness at a great price, and that's why it alone grabs the trophy.
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