Screaming Horses - Ford Mustang GT

First Impressions on the Race Track.

- P.Tharyan

There can be no better deal than driving a fast car on a race track, not bothering to look out for stray animals or reckless jaywalkers. The fast car I got to drive was the American iconic muscle car -- the Ford Mustang GT. It took Ford Motor Company almost five decades to build a right hand drive version of this pony car, as it is called in the US of A. Though Left Hand Drive Mustangs are available in various engine options including a race track version (Shelby GT 350), India will have to just do with a single variant with a 5.0L V8 petrol engine, churning out a 395.5 hp of peak power and a peak torque of 515 Nm. The peak engine power and torque are a wee bit lower than in the Mustang available in a country like Britain. This is primarily because of the slightly inferior quality of fuel that we have here in India.

The modern Mustang has retained the essential characteristics of the iconic Mustang of yesteryears, but when the engine starts, you feel the growl is in place and the machine is rearing to go. The long sculpted bonnet and short rear deck still evoke nostalgic memories of the Mustang’s glorious past. The emblem of the Mustang wild horse running from left to right of the vehicle defines the born free character of this vehicle.

Unfortunately, driving a fast paced vehicle for the first time on a race track for just about five rounds at menacing speeds with a class teacher like instructor by your side is no real fun. I mean you like the car, but you wish you could push the instructor out of the window and make him disappear. So the impressions I gathered about the car was limited to those five rounds around the Buddh International Circuit, India’s only F1 race track.