First Family Road Trip in the S650 GT Convertible

[MustangMitch69]

When you hear the phrase "family car", a mustang probably isn't the first car thst comes to mind, but for my wife, my 2-year old, and I, we made it work this weekend, and we did it in style!

Mustangs aren't known for their spacious back seats, but I was able to fit our toddler seat in the back, and have it rear-facing (the safest way) without any significant issues. Granted, 1) I embarrassingly had to refer to the user manual to find the LATCH system in the back since the child seat connectors are tucked between a slit that I didn't know existed, and 2) I had to put the convertible top down to be able to comfortably get the seat in and my 2-year old daughter in the seat. After that, my 5'3" wife still had plenty of room in the passenger seat. And the trunk and the seat behind mine were plenty of room for all of our luggage.

Once on the interstate, I can't speak highly enough of the "adaptive cruise control" feature. I don't know whether it came with the premium package or the 401A high equipment group option, although for interstate driving it is an absolute game changer. For those of you who aren't familiar with it, it's like regular cruise control, but it automatically brakes for you when car in front of you slows down, then automatically speeds up when the car in front of you speeds up, so it takes away basically all the braking and speeding back up that happens when you come up on a car going slower than your set speed.

I've had the car for 4 months, although didn't realize until this trip how fast the GT actually is at higher speeds, and I'm sure that other cars with V8's are the same way. Before this car I only owned 4-bangers and a BMW with a straight-6 M3 motor in it, and the straight-6 got the job done, but didn't completely DUST cars like the S650 GT does. Let me explain...

On this particular interstate it seems most cars go about 4-9 mph over the speed limit, which seems to be what is universally understood to be acceptable for this interstate without cops giving much grief about it. Well, for a 3+ hour drive I prefer to do about 14 over, not because I like to drive fast, because that difference adds up to be 10+ minutes of my life that I get back over long distances.

And between using both the Waze app and a Uniden R8 radar detector, I generally pick up cops and/or radar about 2 miles away which is enough distance to slow down before I'm clocked.

With my previous cars, I'm used to getting up to about 90mph while passing cars and taking 5-10 seconds to do it. We'll, with the S650 GT whenever I passed in a similar manner it seemed like 5 seconds OR LESS and when I looked down at the speedometer it read 120MPH! Going thst fast was completely unintended and both my wife and I couldn't believe how fast the car got up to that speed. And as I started hitting the brakes and looked in the rear-view mirror, the cars passed were long gone. We're pretty sure our 2-year old daughter was giggling in the back. Probably not a lot of girls her age going that fast that early in life. And the crazy thing is that when going that fast I felt in complete control of the car.

I was considering getting a supercharger, but considering what the car is already capable of at higher speeds, and that at lower speeds I can't go that fast in the city anyway, now I'm confident that at least for my needs it's probably not worth the $10k+ investment.

Speaking of control of the car, later in the drive it started raining, and I put the car in "slippery" mode. I'm not sure exactly what that changes (wheel traction, suspension?), but I felt completely confident cruising at my usual speed without the need to slow down. It was nice that the wipers went on and off automatically too, another nice feature that I'm not used to with previous cars.

So in summary, after the first part of this road trip, I can say that this car has the best of a lot of different worlds. Not only is it a beautiful looking sports car, but it can safely fit a small family of 3, it handles well and is plenty fast enough in all practical interstate road conditions, and with the premium package and equipment group it has most of the features of a modern luxury car on the inside. Before getting this car, my other two under consideration were an Audi S5 convertible or a BMW M440i convertible, and I don't think the mustang S650 convertible with the packages mentioned compromises on anything notable on the luxury side, while having the advantages of more room on the inside and more power.

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[steveo1960]

When you hear the phrase "family car", a mustang probably isn't the first car thst comes to mind, but for my wife, my 2-year old, and I, we made it work this weekend, and we did it in style!

Mustangs aren't known for their spacious back seats, but I was able to fit our toddler seat in the back, and have it rear-facing (the safest way) without any significant issues. Granted, 1) I embarrassingly had to refer to the user manual to find the LATCH system in the back since the child seat connectors are tucked between a slit that I didn't know existed, and 2) I had to put the convertible top down to be able to comfortably get the seat in and my 2-year old daughter in the seat. After that, my 5'3" wife still had plenty of room in the passenger seat. And the trunk and the seat behind mine were plenty of room for all of our luggage.

Once on the interstate, I can't speak highly enough of the "adaptive cruise control" feature. I don't know whether it came with the premium package or the 401A high equipment group option, although for interstate driving it is an absolute game changer. For those of you who aren't familiar with it, it's like regular cruise control, but it automatically brakes for you when car in front of you slows down, then automatically speeds up when the car in front of you speeds up, so it takes away basically all the braking and speeding back up that happens when you come up on a car going slower than your set speed.

I've had the car for 4 months, although didn't realize until this trip how fast the GT actually is at higher speeds, and I'm sure that other cars with V8's are the same way. Before this car I only owned 4-bangers and a BMW with a straight-6 M3 motor in it, and the straight-6 got the job done, but didn't completely DUST cars like the S650 GT does. Let me explain...

On this particular interstate it seems most cars go about 4-9 mph over the speed limit, which seems to be what is universally understood to be acceptable for this interstate without cops giving much grief about it. Well, for a 3+ hour drive I prefer to do about 14 over, not because I like to drive fast, because that difference adds up to be 10+ minutes of my life that I get back over long distances.

And between using both the Waze app and a Uniden R8 radar detector, I generally pick up cops and/or radar about 2 miles away which is enough distance to slow down before I'm clocked.

With my previous cars, I'm used to getting up to about 90mph while passing cars and taking 5-10 seconds to do it. We'll, with the S650 GT whenever I passed in a similar manner it seemed like 5 seconds OR LESS and when I looked down at the speedometer it read 120MPH! Going thst fast was completely unintended and both my wife and I couldn't believe how fast the car got up to that speed. And as I started hitting the brakes and looked in the rear-view mirror, the cars passed were long gone. We're pretty sure our 2-year old daughter was giggling in the back. Probably not a lot of girls her age going that fast that early in life. And the crazy thing is that when going that fast I felt in complete control of the car.

I was considering getting a supercharger, but considering what the car is already capable of at higher speeds, and that at lower speeds I can't go that fast in the city anyway, now I'm confident that at least for my needs it's probably not worth the $10k+ investment.

Speaking of control of the car, later in the drive it started raining, and I put the car in "slippery" mode. I'm not sure exactly what that changes (wheel traction, suspension?), but I felt completely confident cruising at my usual speed without the need to slow down. It was nice that the wipers went on and off automatically too, another nice feature that I'm not used to with previous cars.

So in summary, after the first part of this road trip, I can say that this car has the best of a lot of different worlds. Not only is it a beautiful looking sports car, but it can safely fit a small family of 3, it handles well and is plenty fast enough in all practical interstate road conditions, and with the premium package and equipment group it has most of the features of a modern luxury car on the inside. Before getting this car, my other two under consideration were an Audi S5 convertible or a BMW M440i convertible, and I don't think the mustang S650 convertible with the packages mentioned compromises on anything notable on the luxury side, while having the advantages of more room on the inside and more power.

Nice write up. You might want to look into something like the WeatherTech seat protectors which go under the car seat. We use them in my wife's 24 VW Atlas and they do work to save wear and tear on the seats.
https://www.weathertech.com/child-car-seat-protector/

I'm not sure if they will fit the s650 though as they are universal fit.

I too did the same as you accelerating around a slower car and yep I was over 100 mph before I even realized it.
Learned my lesson.

I also use Waze and a V1 G2. For me it's a good combination as I'm one of those <10 mph over the speed limit which seems the unwritten rule to be left alone by the police. Heck, they can wait 30 seconds and nail a car doing 40 mph over so why bother with me?

Happy travels !

 

[Ford Motor Company]

When you hear the phrase "family car", a mustang probably isn't the first car thst comes to mind, but for my wife, my 2-year old, and I, we made it work this weekend, and we did it in style!

Mustangs aren't known for their spacious back seats, but I was able to fit our toddler seat in the back, and have it rear-facing (the safest way) without any significant issues. Granted, 1) I embarrassingly had to refer to the user manual to find the LATCH system in the back since the child seat connectors are tucked between a slit that I didn't know existed, and 2) I had to put the convertible top down to be able to comfortably get the seat in and my 2-year old daughter in the seat. After that, my 5'3" wife still had plenty of room in the passenger seat. And the trunk and the seat behind mine were plenty of room for all of our luggage.

Once on the interstate, I can't speak highly enough of the "adaptive cruise control" feature. I don't know whether it came with the premium package or the 401A high equipment group option, although for interstate driving it is an absolute game changer. For those of you who aren't familiar with it, it's like regular cruise control, but it automatically brakes for you when car in front of you slows down, then automatically speeds up when the car in front of you speeds up, so it takes away basically all the braking and speeding back up that happens when you come up on a car going slower than your set speed.

I've had the car for 4 months, although didn't realize until this trip how fast the GT actually is at higher speeds, and I'm sure that other cars with V8's are the same way. Before this car I only owned 4-bangers and a BMW with a straight-6 M3 motor in it, and the straight-6 got the job done, but didn't completely DUST cars like the S650 GT does. Let me explain...

On this particular interstate it seems most cars go about 4-9 mph over the speed limit, which seems to be what is universally understood to be acceptable for this interstate without cops giving much grief about it. Well, for a 3+ hour drive I prefer to do about 14 over, not because I like to drive fast, because that difference adds up to be 10+ minutes of my life that I get back over long distances.

And between using both the Waze app and a Uniden R8 radar detector, I generally pick up cops and/or radar about 2 miles away which is enough distance to slow down before I'm clocked.

With my previous cars, I'm used to getting up to about 90mph while passing cars and taking 5-10 seconds to do it. We'll, with the S650 GT whenever I passed in a similar manner it seemed like 5 seconds OR LESS and when I looked down at the speedometer it read 120MPH! Going thst fast was completely unintended and both my wife and I couldn't believe how fast the car got up to that speed. And as I started hitting the brakes and looked in the rear-view mirror, the cars passed were long gone. We're pretty sure our 2-year old daughter was giggling in the back. Probably not a lot of girls her age going that fast that early in life. And the crazy thing is that when going that fast I felt in complete control of the car.

I was considering getting a supercharger, but considering what the car is already capable of at higher speeds, and that at lower speeds I can't go that fast in the city anyway, now I'm confident that at least for my needs it's probably not worth the $10k+ investment.

Speaking of control of the car, later in the drive it started raining, and I put the car in "slippery" mode. I'm not sure exactly what that changes (wheel traction, suspension?), but I felt completely confident cruising at my usual speed without the need to slow down. It was nice that the wipers went on and off automatically too, another nice feature that I'm not used to with previous cars.

So in summary, after the first part of this road trip, I can say that this car has the best of a lot of different worlds. Not only is it a beautiful looking sports car, but it can safely fit a small family of 3, it handles well and is plenty fast enough in all practical interstate road conditions, and with the premium package and equipment group it has most of the features of a modern luxury car on the inside. Before getting this car, my other two under consideration were an Audi S5 convertible or a BMW M440i convertible, and I don't think the mustang S650 convertible with the packages mentioned compromises on anything notable on the luxury side, while having the advantages of more room on the inside and more power.

We're so glad that you and your family are loving the Mustang!

 

[Hasler74]

Which car seats did you get. I got the Graco 3-1 harness and booster low profile seat but have not installed them yet because I am waiting for my tint appointment.

Oh and just hypothetically speaking, say if you made it past 1000 miles on an inaugural road trip and wanted to see 7500 rpm and Went from 80 to 130 in about 5 seconds, that would be pretty fun. Not say I did that or my wife was giggling like a school girl next to me.

 

[MustangMitch69]

Which car seats did you get. I got the Graco 3-1 harness and booster low profile seat but have not installed them yet because I am waiting for my tint appointment.

Oh and just hypothetically speaking, say if you made it past 1000 miles on an inaugural road trip and wanted to see 7500 rpm and Went from 80 to 130 in about 5 seconds, that would be pretty fun. Not say I did that or my wife was giggling like a school girl next to me.

I got the Chicco NextFit Zip car seat since it was rated the highest by Consumer Reports. It's massive in size, and after installing it rear-facing, there's probably no way I could get my 2-year old daughter in-and-out of it without putting the convertible top down haha.

 

[MustangMitch69]

Thanks for sharing your road trip experience. As someone potentially interested in an S650 GT, I was intrigued by your account from the interstates, and on speed and the V8's power. I am probably a very different demographic from you, but I would definitely be interested in road tripping a GT.

The V8's thirst to go fast is one of my main hesitations. Last week I was on a 1,400-mile road trip. On average, I drive slower than you, but there were 2-3 times when passing that I hit 90 in just a few seconds with my V6 pickup, not appreciating how quickly I reached that speed. As you described, I can only imagine with a Coyote 5.0 that 90 easily becomes 110 or 120 seemingly in an instant. On more practical roads that could mean, for example, hitting 70 in a 40 zone within a second.

Right, this was my first V8 car, so I was probably a little uncomfortable the first few weeks of driving it because I wasn't used to just giving the gas half throttle and the car jumping forward so much. On the acceleration side, I have to be careful when it's wet outside because I've lost traction of the car several times when accelerating quickly on wet roads, even with the car in "slippery" mode. Not enough to crash or anything like that, although enough to be uncomfortable for a second or two until it finds traction again.

Quite frankly, most of my driving is in the city where the speed limit isn't ever over 55 mph, and for that type of driving when it comes to acceleration or speed, honestly there's no benefit to having the V8 over the turbo 4 ecoboost, and the V8 just burns more gas.

The sound of the V8 is glorious though. This past weekend when I was out at night and came back to the hotel with the top down and the engine "thundering", nothing could top the feeling I got when two super hot women outside were staring at me and smiling. In that moment in particular, I was very happy I got the V8 and din't compromise on anything when I got the car. I felt like how a man is supposed to feel when driving his car - confident, masculine, American, uncompromising, and happy. Not like I just finished timidly sipping a vegan soy vanilla latte through a paper straw.

On the interstate and long highways where the speed limit is 65-70 mph, and especially in fast-paced, high-speed driving areas like Atlanta, Los Angeles, and South Florida along I-95, when I need maneuver around someone, the V8 does that exceptionally well and gives me a sense of confidence that I can do it without another car getting anywhere near my rear bumper.

 

[MustangMitch69]

Out of more curiosity, does your GT have the performance package, and if so with MagnaRide? Just trying to gauge if those are potential factors to your GT's ride quality.

No performance package, but it was configured with red brembo's, 3.55 limited slip, and happened to have a front strut bar (stock with all GTs?).

I actually preferred to have all-weather tires instead of the summer tires that come with the performance pack. Also, I bought separately a set of new black 19" RTR rims for about $1.3K that I replaced the stock rims with that fit the stock Continental tires.

Still haven't sold the stock 19" GT rims so if anyone wants to buy them off of me let me know! Less than 700 miles on them.

Don't have MagnaRide, which is something I've never had, so suppose I don't know what I'm missing, kind of like heroin! The road trip was about 6-7 hours each way and about 1,000 miles total, including about 4 hours worth of driving in the rain, and bumps in the road didn't bother me at all. I did lose traction a couple times, for a second or two each time, when accelerating quickly on wet roads when leaving rest areas and getting backvon the interstate, but that's probably my own fault.

 

[MAT1955]

@MustangMitch69 ..... go topless proudly!

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