After more than half a year of ownership of the 2024 Ford Mustang GT (S650), a popular automotive YouTube channel decided to sell the car back to its “original” dealer. The pony has competed in more drag races than most Mustangs will experience in a lifetime, and now it’s time to say goodbye. But before that happens, the drivers are going to reveal everything they learned from driving it for over 4,000 miles.
A little over seven months ago, the owners found a fantastic offer on this ’24 Ford Mustang GT at a Colorado dealership, picking up the car with 15.4 miles (24.8 kilometers) for $42,000. The standard price at the time was around $47,000. The MSRP for a brand new 2025 S650 Stang with the same specs is estimated to be $49,345.
The moral of the story is, look for bargains on high-powered, rear-wheel-drive sports and muscle cars around January and February, when dealers are trying to clear out their inventory.
This 2024 S650 comes with a 5.0-liter Coyote V8 engine that produces 480 horsepower and 418 pound-feet of torque, but it also comes with the $1,225 Active Valve Performance Exhaust GT, which adds 6 more horsepower, bringing it up to 486. It also comes with a $1,595 10-speed automatic gearbox, which, as the Fast Lane Cowboys proved a while back, beats a manual gearbox 10 times out of 10.
One of the most interesting things Tommy from TFL said was that he called it a “Coyote V8 Shipping Crate,” meaning you’re not buying this car because it’s a Mustang. “What you’re really buying here is the engine that’s been installed in a Mustang,” he concluded.
Photo: The Fast Lane Car YT
During Crew’s ownership, Ford’s sports car competed with its “little” V8 engine against tough opponents like the Volkswagen Golf R, Toyota GR Corolla, Honda Civic Type R, and even the BMW i8. The car proved more than capable of handling anything the competition threw at it. Tommy says the ride is comfortable thanks to the soft suspension, making it perfect for the occasional drive. Not great for canyon roads, but perfect for everyday driving.
When it comes to interiors, dual displays are a polarizing topic. Some people prefer the classic analog style, while others prefer a modern tablet behind the steering wheel. You’d think that automakers would offer both options to optimize sales, but that’s not the case.
The rest of the interior isn’t what the rich would call luxurious, with plenty of hard plastics throughout the cockpit, though the Premium Package attempts to fix some of these issues, though it won’t magically transform it into a 2026 Mercedes-Maybach SL 680 Monogram Series with coffee bean-finished seat fabric.
Storage space is adequate compared to other sports cars, especially hatchback-style cars, and the back seats fold down so you can stow things for that storage project you’ve been working on for months. The back seat, however, is a different story in terms of capacity and comfort. A child-sized person can fit in it, but if you’re at least 5 feet 7 inches (1.73 meters) tall, your head is likely to hit the rear window. Not to mention the lack of leg room and foot space.
Speaking of fuel economy, the gas tank lid says 87. If you treat it right on a road trip, you can get up to 454.1 miles (730.8 kilometers) on a single tank of gas. In other words, you can get 30.6 mpg (7.7 l/100 km), which is a standing ovation-worthy number for a 5.0-liter, 486-horsepower muscle car.
Photo: The Fast Lane Car YT
In a completely unrelated comparison, the 2020 Ford Shelby GT500 has a fuel economy of 13.6 mpg (17.30 L/100 km) after 26,513 miles (42,668 km). The longest distance ever traveled on a single tank of gas was 314.5 miles (506 km). On a track, it consumes a wallet-busting 4.5 mpg (52.26 L/100 km) in just 30 minutes or 60 miles (96.5 km). Which brings me to the 800-horsepower supercharged V8 Ford Mustang GTD.
Apart from the powerful Coyote V8, the active exhaust system makes a surprisingly loud noise when you select Track exhaust mode from the menu. You can also try Quiet, Normal and Sport modes. The folks at TFL tried the Quiet setting and it certainly didn’t sound like the Christmas tune.
The team was so enamoured with the car that after driving it for more than 4,300 miles (6,920 km), they sold it back to the dealer for $37,000, meaning they rented the car for seven months for $5,000, in addition to gas, tyres, service bills and other maintenance costs.
Tommy is in love with the Mustang GT and doesn’t want to let it go, but since he’s done pretty much everything he could with the YouTube sphere, it’s been forcibly but honorably retired from YouTube. That means the $37,000 could go towards a new “mascot” that never saw a drag race on their channel before. Or, maybe, just for fun, they’ll start buying the old one at a third of the price.
The only problem I had during my seven months of ownership was an unpleasant rattle in the back, but that’s no longer an issue. In the end, the 2024 Ford Mustang GT turned out to be a great car to drive on a daily basis, even if its steep price tag of $40,000-$45,000 isn’t easily attainable. Love it or hate it, this car is one of the last names remaining in the ICE muscle car lineup.