GIBBONS

Didn't drive the convertible, already have a VX220 for roof off fun but I can imagine it would most certainly not improve the handling characteristics! I didn't like the Challenger almost entirely based on size and weight, they really are massive and at over 2000kg I figured wear and tear on brakes/suspension/tyres would be far worse. Did the Mustang you drive have an auto box as well? Tbh it's also pretty bad if you are looking to drive quickly on good driving roads, as I say, it's just about acceptable in town and on the Autobahn. There isn't that much in it but the Mustang is certainly quicker in straight line, I would be faster driving my old Z on country roads though. I love the old 60s Mustangs, very different and much rawer noise Your dad's must have quite a few bits on it as the 06 GT was only 305bhp as standard! As for your mate with a 135, yes they are very quick with a little fettling but if there's one thing living in Germany has tought me, it's that 99% of German cars are as interesting as wallpaper paste. Seriously, there is no variant of BMW/Merc/VW/Audi/Porsche that the German populace wont lap up in ridiculous numbers, always purchased in either black, grey, silver or white Sounds awesome. This I want, it's more of a budget Nissan GTR than a muscle car but **** it looks/sounds good

Yeah, you're right about the suspension, as I said I was expecting it to be terrible but it's not actually that bad. I like to think of it now a bit like I do about the Porsche 911, on paper the engine placement is stupid, but over several decades they've honed it and made it nearly as good as it would be with a MR layout. The thing that mostly sets the suspension of the Mustang back against the Z is the spring and damper rates which makes the body roll much more severe. I'm not so sure on the new Mustang, as a stand alone car it looks superb (saw one on the road a week or so back) but with things like testing at the Nordschleiffe, I can't help thinking it's trying to break out of its muscle car past. While that will no doubt make it a better all round car, I'm not sure if it wont lose some character.

I bought a 2014 Ford Mustang GT a few months ago, because I live in Germany now and it's LHD so why the hell not? Thought I would offer my comparison with that of my old 370z Black edition which I owned previously as they are both cars with similar philosophies. Performance: The Mustang has 420bhp and 390lb/ft and is definitely quicker than the Z in a straight line although not by as much as I expected, especially as it's only ~150kg heavier. The big difference is the way that performance feels, my big problem with the Z was the noise, something I would have sorted with a new exhaust in time, but without that I often found myself going much faster than I realised as it wasn't so dramatic. This is totally different in the Mustang which makes a simply amazing noise, combine that with the less stiffly sprung suspension and flooring it really feels like an event, it's really very addictive. Gearboxes aren't comparable as my Z was a manual and the Mustang is an Auto. The manual on the Z was perfect for my mostly country road driving on the Isle of Man, the Auto on the Ford is ideal for my boring traffic heavy commute in Hamburg and the 'sport shift' is just about acceptable on the Autobahn. Handling: No contest win for the Z on this front. The steering on the Mustang is similarly weighty but there is less feedback and it feels less direct, turn in is definitely less precise and consequently the confidence I have in it is much lower. The suspension is much firmer in the Z and it corners flatter with the wider tyres giving more grip as well. Despite the archaeic design of the suspension on the Mustang however, it is not as bad as I was expecting. It can actually corner pretty well and when researching online, I've found that it laps comparably to both a 370Z and an M3. The big difference between the two I think is the confidence, I can probably go 90-95% as fast in the Ford as I can in the Nissan but unless I track it, I don't think I'll try. The Mustang feels noticably more planted over 130mph, but I think this is almost entirely down to Autobahn road quality vs the shittier road surface that I was driving on in the Isle of Man in the Z. Braking performance is similar although I think the Z edges this also. The TC on the Z is leaps and bounds ahead of the Ford, planting it in the wet I found the Z to be very good at keeping the car in line, in the Ford you're practically sideways before the TC even notices, it seriously might as well not even be there. Practicality and Comfort: Equipment levels are very similar, both cars have heated seats/mirrors, dual zone climate, sat nav, bluetooth, cruise control, auto lights and premium sound systems. The Mustang has a very cool customisable interior lighting package and pony projection lights in the mirrors which I love. Overall I prefer the cabin and the seats in the Z, the major difference and plus point for the Ford comes from the road noise which is nowhere near as intrusive and makes an enourmous difference for long distance driving. In practicality terms the Mustang easily wins, the boot is pretty large and much more useful than the Z, there are also two usable rear seats which are suitable for anyone under 6ft (over 6ft also possible for short journeys but not advisable for long distance comfort). The Z is easier to manouver as it's much smaller (about 0.5m shorter) and the visibility is slightly better, the Mustang also has fixed mirrors which make it impractical to park on narrow streets. Economy and VFM: It's difficult for me to reliably compare MPG as my Z experience was confined entirely to the Isle of Man so my driving was mostly on country roads with little traffic, I managed to average around 22MPG during my 10 month ownership. So far I'm driving either in stop start traffic in Hamburg or at about 130mph on the Autobahn and my average is about 14MPG. When I had the car in England I did manage to get around 28mpg though which is not too bad for a 5lt naturally aspirated V8. I would say the Z has marginally better fuel economy but not to any significant extent. The Z was 3 years old when I bought it and cost £18k, the Ford was 30k EUR (£22k equivalent) and was 9 months old and came with a 2 year warranty so I'd say was better value, I also expect depreciation to be better for the Ford due to the rarity of these cars in the EU. The Ford does have a party piece though, which is it came with a full BRC LPG conversion worth about £2.3k, this makes the car essentially a hybrid that runs on either petrol or gas and nearly doubles the effective range of the car. At the price of LPG in Germany I can fill up the 40lt tank for the equivalent of £17 meaning that my 14MPG becomes around 34MPG when taking into account the cost vs petrol. This makes the running cost much more bearable, for example I got from Hamburg to Stuttgart (~650km) and back for about £135, and that's at Autobahn speeds! Conclusion: It really depends on your situation when chosing between these two cars, I really do love them both. I would like to have owned my Z for longer but it doesn't make sense in Northern Germany as there are no decent country roads to enjoy the handling. In contrast there's no way I would have bought the Mustang if I still lived on the Isle of Man, it's too large and most of the enjoyment comes in a straight line and on longer road trips. Basically it comes down to this, the 370Z is a great mix of a sports car, GT and muscle car with the emphasis on the sports car part. The Mustang on the other hand is a straight up muscle/GT car which can also be fun in the corners if you're brave. They both suit a purpose and I'm very happy that I've had a chance to own both these cars, especially as naturally aspirated, large capacity engined sports/GT cars become ever rarer in our increasingly boring automotive world of turbos and electrics. Hope you enjoyed the write up and here are some pictures!

I recently had the DBA4000 slotted discs front and rear and the Hawk HPS pads. Seemed good for the short time I was able to use them, bought them from Clark Motorsport who were very helpful

Put Michelin Stealth wipers on the front and back a couple of weeks ago. Would recommend them so far.

We do have a regular steam train here! It hasn't got a face though...

The Isle of Man just north of Douglas.

Just thought I'd share:

Turn in is pretty sharp but in tight corners the car does feel heavy although I would guess not too different to the Audi. I find the joy of the Z comes from corner exit when you plant the throttle, then feel the back end hunker down and catapult you out of corners. It feels very good and satisfying when done right but you need the TC off to fully enjoy. Steering feedback is okay, has a good weight to it generally.

The cup holder is ****ing terrible!

Bloody stupid article in general but especially to include the 3 series compact and the VX220. Firstly with the BMW, having the compact doesn't mean you couldn't afford a normal 3 series, maybe you just want a smaller car but don't like FWD? Then saying the VX220 is a poor mans Elise whilst talking about prices when new is just retarded as they were both the same price! The VX is also sufficiently rare and unknown that most people have no idea what it is and assume because it's low and sporty that it must be worth a fortune (unless they see the interior up close when the will start to suspect that you built it yourself when a bit tipsy...). Still I guess it's an easy way to write a crap article, a Porsche Cayman is a poor mans 911, BMW 5 series is a cheapo 7 series, people only buy Z cars because they can't afford a GTR etc. etc.

If you're gonna leave it for a while you need to get a decent quality cover, multi layered and breathable. I've got a coverzone stormforce car cover for my vx220 and that was pretty good. Just make sure the car is clean and ideally got a coat of wax on it, then it should be fine although if you get prolonged snow coverage I would scrape the snow off every now and again to let it breath.

My brakes are very much due to be changed and I've not heard any grinding noise.

Hi, I need slotted discs front and back and pads all round as well for my 370. This deal still going on option 2? Cheers.

Had one today really caught me by surprise, on my way back from Tesco see someone next to my car, phone out just wandering round taking pictures. It's difficult to walk up to the car without looking either really suspicious or really concerned... Even with 4 years in a vx never had someone hanging around my car taking photos before, felt very weird.