Copyright © 2020
by Ralph F. Couey
Tomorrow marks the first week with my Mustang, and in those first days, the car and I are beginning to know each other. To quote Bogie, "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."
The first day or so, I drove it carefully, getting used to the feel, which is world's different from the SUV I've been driving for the past four years. Go figure. The biggest adjustment has been the steering, which is quick and responsive and requires far less movement of the wheel. It's easy to over steer, especially when just changing lanes on the freeway. Speed limits being what they are here, I've had very little opportunity to engage the turbo boost, but when I have, the response is...well...thrilling. It's not the Saturn V feeling of the V8 GT model, but more than enough for around the island.
The seats are fabric, and well ventilated, a nice thing in the tropics, even though the interior is dead black. The edges come up around my thighs, ribs, and shoulders, ensuring that I will be firmly planted in the drivers' position regardless of what's going on outside. The Kona Blue Metallic paint is breath-taking in the day, as the tropical sun highlights every single metal flake in the paint, making then sparkle and dance as if the car were painted with diamonds.
My only mild complaints involve the outside mirrors, very tiny after the SUV, and the lack of a rear window wiper, although honestly it would probably ruin the look. Getting in and out is...not smooth, given my age, but I WILL make it work. Changing lanes involves actually turning my head and shoulders to check the neighboring lanes because the tiny mirrors are very insufficient for safe viewing. But, if I recall my driver's ed training from 47 years ago, this is something I should've been doing anyway.
But these are very small things. Folks, I LOVE THIS CAR!!! Every commute, every errand, even taking Cheryl's Mom to her daycare in Ewa Beach is too much fun.
One of the new things I've been exploring is the variety of selectable driving modes. The transmission can be placed in either D (drive) or S (sport). In S, I can switch to the paddle shifters on the steering column and accelerate like a manual transmission. There's a bit of an art to this process which I haven't mastered yet, but I'm getting there.
Below the stack (the center console area with the display screen and controls for the radio and climate) are a set of chrome switches, controlling among other things, steering inputs. There is Normal, comfortable, sport, and snow/ice, not something I'm likely to need in Hawai'i. In normal and comfortable, the steering is relatively soft and the wheel easy to turn. In sport, the wheel is tighter and somehow transmits more road feel through the steering wheel. It's somewhat harder to turn, but that's needed when tackling twisty sections of roadway.
At the far end, is another mode switch, one that gives even more options. Here, there is normal, sport+, track, and drag strip. This was a revelation. When switching into the high performance modes, the entire character of the car changes. The suspension is much tighter, giving the driver very clear inputs from the road surface through the steering wheel. Using this on rough pavement really rattles the back teeth, and is kinda uncomfortable for any length of time. But on good asphalt, the car becomes a true sports machine. The steering tightens and the engine response is far more aggressive. Even the exhaust sound changes to something more growly. In the track mode, the driver can access an entirely different set of gauges measuring a host of engine responses. I haven't tried the drag strip mode yet, for obvious reasons. HPD has a very small sense of humor for this kind of driving. Going home at midnight across far less populated roadways, it's a pleasure to set things up, roll down the windows, and listen to the sound of the Mustang's voice.
There are other things to play with as well. The entertainment system is a bit hard to navigate at first, mainly because the buttons controlling selection have to be searched out. But what I like is the ability to link my phone to the car, and have the apps on my phone show up in the display. Pandora, where I indulge my love of traditional Irish music, is easily found, and Google Maps is comes up and is controllable through the large touch screen. I was initially puzzled why there was no GPS on this car, now I know why. There are some things Google Maps won't do, but as far as the simple process of loading an address or noun name of a destination, that is easily accessed.
Clearly, I don't yet know how to use this data yet, but it'll be fun learning.
Beyond the techno glitz and glamor, what has been the most...well, fulfilling is just the sheer pleasure of driving this car. I told Cheryl that I feel thirty years younger when behind the wheel, and that's not complete hyperbole. In a previous post, I wrote about how long I've had the dream of owning a Mustang, and to be honest, I'm still processing this piece of knowledge. There are times when I'm approaching the car that I stop in my tracks, look at it, and wonder if I am locked in some kind of dream. Do I really own this machine? I have to remind myself that I am in fact awake, and this life is actually happening.
Every car I've ever owned has been a process of newness, which eventually wears down to familiarity. Maybe I'm just still in the glow, but I don't think I'll ever get to the point of feeling routine with this car. It's just been too long in coming.
In about an hour or so, our watch will be relieved here at the State Warning Point, and I will grab my gear, get into my Mustang, and head home. Always taking the long way.
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