Ford Mustang GT Fastback 2026 long-term review

With the V8-powered Chevrolet Camaro, Dodge Challenger and long-dead Holden Monaro now just distant memories for muscle coupe lovers in this day and age, it’s something of a revelation that Ford still produces the Mustang, in both V8 and turbocharged four-cylinder versions.

It’s not just any old Mustang either – the latest seventh-generation S650 Mustang GT is a comprehensively re-engineered and visually refreshed version of its circa-2014 S550 predecessor.

And Australia’s Mustang GT features all the dynamic good stuff to make it a proper sports/muscle car, not just a straight-line boulevard cruiser.

Fully independent suspension with a multi-link rear end, 19-inch alloys with Pirelli P Zero tyres (255/40 front, 275/40 rear), a limited-slip rear differential, and huge ventilated discs brakes (390mm front, 355mm rear) clamped by Brembo six-piston aluminium calipers up front and four-piston aluminium calipers in the rear is all proper performance-car hardware.

That’s all well and good when you’re testing the manual Mustang Fastback’s mettle at a racetrack or on a challenging twisty road, but what we want to know is: what is Ford’s venerable muscle coupe like to live with day-to-day?

Will this six-speed manual V8 make laborious demands of its driver like so many muscle cars have in the past? Or will it be a revelation in terms of character, communication and feel-good vibes that every cent spent fuelling it will be worth it? That’s what we’ll find out over the next six months.

We also plan to compare it against a Mustang Dark Horse Fastback manual – to see if this limited-edition sports version is worth the extra spend, given the near-certainty of an MY26 version returning to Australia.

And we also plan to switch into a 10-speed automatic GT towards the end of our loan, to see if the auto is better-suited to the muscular nature of the Mustang GT.

Month 2: Life at the Pony club

Fearful of the potential demands of a six-speed manual V8 on your left leg and your mental fortitude? Then the three-pedal Mustang GT Fastback will surprise you with its ease and smoothness, as well as its inherent practicality. 

• Kilometres this month: 1086.5km
• Fuel economy: 14.2L/100km
• Running costs this month: $324.60

Twenty years ago, the majority of test cars I drove in Australia featured manual transmissions – especially in smaller vehicles and performance cars – because the manufacturer PRs knew that motoring journos liked to drive cars hard, and that a manual ’box was the best way to extract grunt and enhance involvement.

But in 2026, it’s difficult to buy a car with manual transmission (let alone drive a car hard), to the point where many people may not have experienced changing gears themselves in years!

So it gives me pleasure to report that a Ford Mustang GT Fastback with a six-speed manual ’box will be an instant revelation to any former manual owners who have strayed to the automatic dark side – and at any speed.

As reported in Month One, the union of the GT Fastback’s clutch feel and shift action is impressively fluid and surprisingly forgiving. Despite having an appropriate amount of weight to the clutch and gearshift, this is one of the easiest to operate and most satisfying manuals I’ve ever driven – though we’re not quite talking knife-through-butter slickness like a 911 GT3 manual or a Civic Type R.

The shifter’s well-oiled, nicely mechanical action, the clutch’s superb feel and the usefulness of the standard hill-holder make old-school, over-revved handbrake starts a thing of the past. Indeed, our household’s personal shit-around 2011 Mazda 3 six-speed manual is a harder car to drive smoothly and much easier to stall than this buff muscle coupe.

Attempting to achieve a decent level of highway economy, Ford has geared the Mustang GT manual super-tall, and while it will effortlessly pull sixth gear at 60km/h on the flat, you’ll need to drop at least three gears to extract any meaningful level of acceleration. And you’ll need to apply plenty of throttle at the same time – thereby exposing perhaps its main flaw.

With sizeable gaps between gears and four less ratios to play with, the naturally aspirated Mustang V8 manual doesn’t feel anywhere near as instantly punchy as the 10-speed auto.

But if you’re willing to prioritise feel and driver communication over pure acceleration, the manual makes up for its leisurely low-rev thrust. Or you could always visit Herrod Performance and get your Mustang manual supercharged!

The Mustang’s (optional) MagneRide adaptively damped suspension offers a fine combination of a firm, yet compliant ride quality and excellent body control. Only huge potholes will provoke any suspension crash-through, and that’s rare.

The Pirelli P Zero tyres are grippy yet not too noisy, the handling is brilliantly neutral with tenacious roadholding before ceding grip progressively, and the steering – while not the last word in fingertip tactility and finite precision – is an excellent match to the Mustang’s other dynamic traits.

Its consistently weighted firmness, smoothly fluid change-of-direction and its positivity are in stark contrast to the muddy, lumpy vagueness of older Mustangs.

So in terms of urban driveability and liveability, the S650 Mustang GT is a fine companion. But some carry-over interior components from the previous S550 don’t quite cut the mustard.

The door design is identical to before, meaning useful grips and sexy frameless windows but also a pointlessly huge lower bin that extends deep behind the plastic panelling – making it easy to lose things, as well as borderline impossible to house drinks or bottles of any kind.

Sure, there are two same-size centre cupholders that are roomy enough to take one-litre bottles – in an identical layout to the S550. But they’re directly in the way of your forearm when trying to change gears because right-hand-drive Mustangs carry over the left-hook set-up.

That means the manual-esque electric park brake is beside the left passenger (rather than the driver) and the cupholders are exactly where gear-changing needs to be performed, which is a shame.

The individual rear seats are also as per before – very cramped for adults, but surprisingly doable on short trips if the front occupants compromise on legroom. And there are folding rear-seat backrests to extend the usefulness of the well-shaped and practical boot.

Ford Europe claims 381 litres for boot volume, though other sources suggest 408 litres. Either way, the Mustang’s cargo hold is impressively large and demonstrates just how much stuff you can fit into a traditional boot shape if you aren’t planning on going nuts at Bunnings.

Finally, to the fuel consumption. The Mustang’s first full tank averaged 23.3L/100km, achieved entirely in stop-start city traffic, whereas a light-footed expressway trip to Canberra shortly thereafter managed an exceptional 7.7L/100km.

The official ADR81/02 combined figure is 13.6L/100km for the GT manual, and so far we’ve averaged 13.3L/100km in the first month, and 14.2L/100km during the second – always drinking 98RON premium.

While that appears thirstier than a rugby league player on Mad Monday, the vast majority of driving has been in heavy city traffic, with plenty of traffic lights and lots of sitting stationary. And because I’m addicted to ice-cold air conditioning, I’ve been disabling the idle-stop in muggy weather to keep a crisp breeze flowing.

Month 1: Meeting Our Mustang

Settling into our Race Red Mustang GT Fastback manual and quickly discovering that a thunderous rear-drive V8 mainlines right to the core of what, for many decades, was Australia’s performance-car heartland … and it feels good. Really good.

• Kilometres this month: 1082.8km
• Fuel economy: 13.3L/100km

There’s been a bevy of SUVs, dual-cab utes and EVs in the Chasing Cars long-term garage over the past few years, which had me wondering if there might be an antidote to all this efficiency and utility. And there is – it’s the Ford Mustang GT.

This V8-engined two-door Fastback coupe (or convertible) is the polar opposite of what most people buy, yet Ford is on track to sell around 6000 of them in Australia this year – making 2025 Mustang’s best sales result this decade.

It really wasn’t that long ago that V8s made up a significant portion of our motoring diet – the final year of the Holden Commodore, for example, saw V8s account for between 30 and 50 percent of production at times, until it all came to a screeching halt in late-2017.

But in 2025? It’s Mustang GT or nothing. Or perhaps the limited-edition, sold-out (for now) Mustang Dark Horse. Or a Nissan Patrol. Or a European performance equivalent costing eons more than the GT Fastback manual’s $83,990 list price. See where I’m going here?

There’s some method to my madness in choosing a Mustang V8 manual. Firstly, it has a manual transmission, which is becoming increasingly rare, and ditto its V8 engine.

And secondly, I ran a previous-generation S550 Mustang GT Fastback manual as a long-termer back in 2017/18 – combined with various Mustang new-model launches and test cars, both stock and modified – so I know Ford’s pony car pretty well. And I’ll be able to spot whether the 2025 version should be sent to a meatworks or celebrated for its talent.

Our test car features a few choice options – namely a Black Pack ($1731), Recaro front seats ($2950) and, crucially, ‘MagneRide’ magnetic adaptive dampers ($2950) for the suspension.

The black-out trim adds black badging, a black roof and mirrors, and matte-black wheels (which all look great with the standard Race Red paint), while the form-fitting Recaros look suitably sporty inside a cabin with a manual shifter – though they lose the heating/cooling of the standard seats, as well as electric backrest adjustment.

The Recaros also aren’t great for larger frames – they really do hug you tight, which almost acts like seat heating on cold days! – but I personally love them. Especially given the noticeable improvement in cornering grip in the new Mustang.

As I mentioned earlier, the S650 Mustang is a comprehensive makeover of the previous S550 (which launched in Australia in 2016), so it retains the same wheelbase, glass, door inners, drivetrains and suspension hardware. But all the sheetmetal and most of the dashboard between the A-pillars is new.

This introduces an expanse of screens incorporating a 12.4-inch customisable instrument cluster offering various ‘heritage’ gauge displays, plus a classy contemporary one.

And this flows into a 13.2-inch centre touchscreen that wirelessly connects to Apple CarPlay/Android Auto and plays through a 12-speaker B&O system with a boot-mounted subwoofer.

So far, the screens have been easy to navigate and great to look at, while the CarPlay has proved reliably slick 98 percent of the time.

As for the heart of the matter – Ford’s 345kW/550Nm 5.0-litre V8 tied to a six-speed manual – it’s great! Even with the active exhaust system in Normal, there’s a tonne of bassy, barky bent-eight rumble bellowing from the four rear exhaust pipes. And then there’s Sport and Racetrack modes on top of that!

I’ve set the Mustang up in its Custom Mode setting via the left steering-wheel spoke (which you need to select each time you start the car) to switch to Sport exhaust – it’s more than enough rumble and muscle – though you can also do that via the ‘Pony’ symbol at the base of the centre console.

And the manual transmission? Honestly, it’s one of the most fluid, easy-to-select and satisfying manuals I’ve ever driven. Forgiving, even! It doesn’t make demands of its driver at all. Instead, it delivers a lovely, well-defined action, combined with brilliant clutch feel and excellent clutch weighting (firm yet pliant).

So far, the Mustang GT is one of the easiest manuals I’ve ever driven because it’s so positive and communicative, rather than mushy, over-sensitive, heavy or wooden.

And the naturally aspirated V8 is a breeze – pulling without complaint from just 800rpm yet revving all the way to 7250!

Admittedly, there isn’t much happening down that low when it comes to performance, and the Mustang’s V8 is a little strained up to too – as if it’s air-restricted. But the need to fully rev it out is virtually non-existent, because it’s so tractable, amenable and likeable.

Next month we’ll going into more detail about the Mustang GT’s liveability – covering everything from ride quality to boot space, and the expected fuel-economy analysis. But for now, I’m really loving Big Red.

From its tough-looking tail to its frameless doors, great stance, meaty sound and surprisingly sweet drivetrain feel, it’s already proving to be a far-superior beast to its S550 predecessor.

And even with 8000km already under its belt on arrival, CUW-824 is remarkably tight. It feels just like a new car! May that impression continue over the coming months.