The Car Guide’s 2019 Best Buys: Ford Mustang
Every year, The Car Guide publishes its Best Buys in a wide array of vehicle categories, including the sports car segment that attracts many buyers come spring and summer. There are the choices of our team of journalists this year.
2019 Best Buy in the sports car category, the Ford Mustang is available in coupe and convertible configurations, and proposes three powertrains—a rational one and two not-so-rational ones. The 2.3-litre, turbocharged four-cylinder engine provides thrilling acceleration and a combined city/highway rating as low as 9.4 L/100 km. The Mustang GT, the purists’ choice, relies on a 5.0-litre V8 that belts out adrenaline-pumping sounds and a cavalry of 460 horsepower—or 480 in the case of the BULLITT.
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As if that wasn’t enough, there’s also the Shelby GT350 and GT350R coupes, with a 5.2-litre, flat-plane V8 that dishes out 526 horsepower as well as driving dynamics tuned to carve up racetracks. Performance numbers aside, the Mustang boasts a comfortable cockpit with available features such as a fully digital driver instrument panel, a SYNC 3 touchscreen infotainment interface and an upscale, 12-speaker B&O sound system. The Ford Mustang retails from $30,699 before freight and delivery charges.
In second place, we find the Mazda MX-5 (MSRP from $32,900). While its performance numbers can’t match those of the Mustang, the little Mazda compensates nicely with its sublime road manners, outstanding agility and racy design. Its 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine produces 181 horsepower and provides a combined fuel economy rating as low as 7.9 L/100 km.
The Subaru BRZ and Toyota 86 (MSRP from $27,995 and $29,990 respectively), fruit of a collaboration between the two automakers, take third place with their pure sports car handling characteristics, thanks to their lightness and manoeuvrability. They also provide alluring performance with their horizontally opposed, 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine and excellent gearboxes.