Mustang from Hertz
The relationship with Hertz car rental and Lek import Cars is a long one. Only the first trip to US, approximately 30 years ago, we rented a car from a different company. It was called “Rent a Wreck” and because we didn’t have any creditcards back then they were the only one taking a cash deposit.
All further trips to US, business or pleasure, we rented cars from the Hertz company, one of the main reasons was because of their assortment of Ford cars in their programs. In 2005 we were able to deliver 2 new mustangs to Hertz Amsterdam followed in 2007 by 2 original Hertz Shelby GT Mustangs, one coupe and one convertible, the coupe had the honor to be the pacecar at the GT4 races in Holland.
So when the idea popped up to look for a Mustang for our trip to Austria, only one phonenumber had to be dailed… Hertz Amsterdam.
Will this mustang 4 banger satisfy us?
It’s no doubt that in the rental car scene the Mustang is a popular car given the tight time slot between the previous driver who rented the car and our scheduled pick up time, the car couldn’t even cool down when we picked up the car at midnight at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport to leave 2 hours later.
Although I work with Mustangs on daily basis, which is one of the advantages when you import, tune or maintain this type of cars, I don’t use one as a daily driver. So this roadtrip was a great opportunity to test the car and give an independent insight view on the 2015-2016 Mustang. This Mustang is available from the Dream Collection van Hertz.
it is the 2016 Mustang convertible in magnetic gray with black interior, a small 2.3L ecoboost 4 cylinder and automatic transmission, the latter was a welcome surprise. I like a manual as well but living in one of busiest area’s in Europe I prefer a automatic over a stick shift. When you’re used to work with Mustangs like I do, from classic 64 Mustang with a 6 cylinder to a 2006 Ford GT or 850HP supercharged Shelby ’s to the 2016 Shelby GT350, it will be clear I was not really impressed by the numbers from the ecoboost on paper. So is it all show and no go?
{Gallery dir=’nieuws/2015-2016-mustang-convertible-rijimpressie’}
Roadtest with a 2015-2016 Mustang Convertible
Let’s move on to the roadtest. Starting point is the rural village of De Kwakel, near the flower auction in Aalsmeer Holland to Kirchberg in Austria in the middle of the Kitzbuheler Alps in Tirol, Austria, so 2000km of autobahn driving and local backroads in the alps. On the autobahn the 2.3L convertible proved to be very convenient cruiser, quiet and confortabl. Even for the two 15 year old, 170cm talls kids on the backseat. Comfort on the back seats is good, although it seems a lot of heat is coming from exhaustcasing the passengers in the backseat to have a warm butt. Luckily the Sync 2 system and it’s suprisingly good soundsystem works really good so it’s no problem to overrule the backseat passengers with some good music. The Sync 2 system is easy to use and even without reding the manual it’s conveient to work with, the navigation system is interactive and works great and for those who like it, it also has voice control.
There is one section on a convertible responsible for of the comfort and NVH of the cars and that is the roof, as it will be closed for 90% of the time anyway so it’s nice to have a quiet roof. And this roof sure is quiet, hardly any noise from wind or rain on the windshield seals or where the side windows hit the roof seals even up to speeds like 210km/h. The only moment when you hear some more noise is in tunnels. The 2.3L turbo revs up easy and with the help of the 6 speed automatic transmission brings the Mustang to speed without any effort. No it doesn’t have the torque we’re used to in the V8 or supercharged models but with an elapsed time of 0-100km/h in 7 seconds it’s no slow car either. The new 6 speed automatic transmission is smooth in both standard and sport mode and it never gives you the idea it should have shifted earlier or later. at wide opn throttle you will hear a little more sound coming from the exhaust, but always very decent and that that great for a dailydriver or long distances, but that is also exact what it lacks, it lack emotion like you do have wit the 8 cylinder models, I might have to get used to it because the gas guzzler tax will push you towards the 2.3 EB since nobody wants to pay an addional € 50.000 just for gas guzzler tax to hear a V8 in the pony.
Pro’s and con’s on the mustang
Driving the Mustang on the mountain roads in the alps is just great. The new independent rear suspension is a great help in the overall comfort and handling and the standard brakes are a huge upgrade over the previous models brakes. The toggle switches on the center console have a few functions to set at driveres preference and one of them is the sport mode which is great for mounting driving and make it easy to brake the engine on the transmission with the actuators on the steering wheel. The mountains where the only place where I noticed a seriously higher inlet temp reading which at it’s highest reached 30 degrees above ambient temp, and that might be a bit too high for the small 4 banger to keep delvering performance. On the autobahn the temperature never got in the critical range, with outside ambient temps of 28-30 degrees the inlet temp was just 2-3 degrees higher even with speeds above 200km/h. So of you looking for an upgraded intercooler from Wagner, these are usefull but only for agressive driving on the backroads or raodracing but for high speeds autobahn driving you really don’t need one. However if do want one, we are happy to serve you. Order the intercooler in our webshop.
All you guys who are used to drive the later model Mustangs also know that visibilty at night never has been the strongest point, the headlights output was just a tad more than a large candle, starting in 2013 they finally added some serious xenon lights and now they are standard on the Mustangs, which is a great improvement. Since I was driving a EU version Mustang it had the ugly white tailights, the tribars in the headlights not working as DRL’s, if it was my own car that would be the first modification, red taillights and the headlights working properly for that unique look. The EU versions do have height adjustable headlights and an intergrated rear foglight in the rear valance.
2015 Mustang for sale at Lek import Cars
With all the the rediculous gasguzzler taxes the Mustang we drove with the optional wheels, automatic transmission, navigation with Sync 2, sensors and camera and metallic paint will set you back about € 84.000,-. this includes the € 22.000,- extra gas guzzler tax because it’s an automatic. The good thing is that if you import this exact same car from the use with a few mile on the odo, the taxes can be lowered though so bringing the price down to about € 50.000 – to € 60.000.
Overall impression of the Mustang convertible
The Mustang ecoboost is a pleasure to drive, the eye for details has improved a lot and it’s highly appreciated by the fellow drivers on the road, given the thumbs up and the twisted necks. Or like my daugther said “Now , THAT’s a cool car for a vacation”
All together the standard Mustang ecoboost not only persueded us by it’s looks but performance and handling was never disappointing, and the quality standard and details have improved a lot. Special thanks to Hertz for the opportunity to drive the mustang for a few days.