blitzen

high performance sports cars cost way more $$$ in the U.K.

The Mustang V8 is cheap compared to a BMW etc

LondonElite

Not convinced....The Mustang V8 starts at £36,000 in the UK. For that I'd rather have a BMW 4-series or a Mercedes C-class, but I accept that these do not make the same 'rebel' kind of statement.

deniah

Horses for courses. Whether one finds appeal in the Mustang or not, one cannot deny its rarity draws attraction for others. The UK was deprived of 40 years and 5 generations of Mustangs.

I lusted after modern Alfa Romeos for years. I bought one immediately when I moved to Europe... then sold it promptly. It was a complete turd...but I just had to scratch that itch.

The Mustang came with a year-long waitlist when introduced for the first time in the UK , and I read somewhere that it outsold all other RWD sports cars in its year of introduction...

V8 list price is higher than 440i x-Drive on this side of the english channel.... i wouldnt buy it, but somebody is.

blitzen

We all have to satisfy our inner Richard Hammond from time to time

Lkeade

There is no way to guarantee that you will get what you reserve. I have had two occasions when I reserved a convertible and it was not available when I got to the rental counter. Both times I was told that the person who had it before me did not return it on schedule. All you can do is reserve and hope for the best. (both times with Avis)

WorldLux

The 4-series doesn't exactly compare to the Mustang V8. In terms of performance, only the M4 can be directly compared to the Mustang GT. Thanks to two turbos, the M4 has better performances. If I look at list prices in Germany, the GT is considerably cheaper than the M4 (44k € vs. 74k €).

Personally I've seen the new Mustang more frequently in Europe. It seems definitely more popular than the Camaro, that is being sold by Chevrolet for some time now.

Richard J. Cheeseburger Hammond the third

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PS: I get why you want to drive a V8 Mustang on a road trip

milepig

We thought it would be fun to drive LA to SF on the PCH. It took forever until we finally bailed.

emma69

I showed up at a North American airport some years ago to pick up my boring standard mid size sedan for my meetings. they handed me the keys to a bright red Mustang convertible instead. I suspect I looked a tad ridiculous in it, and I had to park at the far end of the parking lot because I couldn't see out of the back to reverse the ruddy thing so had to have a 'drive through' space! Bit wasted on this British gal I am afraid!

jrl767

timing is everything ... there's very little to recommend PCH/CA 1 between San Diego and Santa Monica, and you definitely don't want to be northbound out of LA much later than 2pm ... I haven't driven in the Santa Barbara area in over 25 years, nor Carmel/Monterey/Santa Cruz in almost 20, but I doubt weekend and afternoon rush traffic in either has gotten any better

I think the northern section (San Francisco to Leggett, thence on US 101 toward Eureka) would be much less crowded, and just as much fun to drive in a convertible

Oxnardjan

I agree with the poster that said that the coastal route from San Diego to LA is not that scenic. You can hop on PCH 1 from the 10 West in Los Angeles which will take you through Malibu and back to the 101 in Oxnard. You will hop on and off the 1 and 101 up to Lompoc ( watch for the 1 cutoff after going through the tunnel past the rest stop past Gaviota State beach. Now the fun begins.
We had an acquaintance from Ireland that thought that it was a 2 to 4 hour drive from LA to San Francisco. They made it through to Monterey and then bailed. They were very animated about the "Highway of Death". It is a beautiful drive and a V6 will more than do the job. 3 weeks will allow you to stop in Santa Barbara and Hearst Castle and many other great areas on the trip. Have fun and best wishes on the upcoming wedding.

CDTraveler

Just an FYI...

Nobody born north of Santa Barbara calls it the PCH. It's Highway 1. Say "PCH" in San Francisco and the natives won't have clue what you're talking about.

The stretch north of San Francisco is beautiful, but depending on the time of year can also be cold, damp and foggy when 20 miles inland is warm and sunny.

A friend and I made several trips Bay Area - LA alternating between Hwys 1 and 101. She's a sports car addict, trained in performance driving. It would take us 10+ hours on Hwy 1 to 6 on Hwy. 101. YMMV.

rhwbullhead

It's not a convertible, but if you want a Mustang, this would be your best choice
https://www.hertz.com/rentacar/misc/...=ShelbyGTH.jsp

Otherwise just go with a regular convertible for a nice open air drive on that scenic route. That or choose something else in the Hertz Adrenaline or Dream Car collection.

WRCSolberg

Yeah, ok, back to reality....

The newest generation of Mustang is a world car, meaning for the first time, the car is being sold across the world, including Europe. It's worth pointing out that sales in Europe have been incredibly strong and the car is a massive hit. It's the best selling sports car in Germany right now, among other countries.

The bucket of rubbish sells well because the performance to price ratio can't be beat with anything by coming out Europe. Anything that costs the same performs much worse and anything that performs just as well costs twice as much.

The funny thing is, entry level German luxury cars here in the states reek of aspirational buyer or new money. You're presenting a false dichotomy here, anyway. A more valid comparison based on performance would be comparing the V8 Mustang to M4. The M4 starts off at 57,000 pounds in the UK.

abmj-jr

Oh, we'll know, we just won't say it.

Louisebook

We did SF to LA last year and booked a mustang convertible from Avis (it does need to be done for us brits!).

Usual engine was fine, plenty of power and a low speed limit on PCH.

Of course when we turned up in Avis they claimed they had run out of mustangs and offered us a convertible instead. We were NOT happy and refused to move, asked to see the manager etc. Miraculously they then found us one.

I think in future I would email branch direct a few days in advance and call the day before to make it clear the type of car is important to me.