2010 Roush Mustang 427R

Pop, pop, pop, pop. I just can't get enough of the 427R's poppingly powerful exhaust back-pressure note when you let off the gas at lowish speeds. Lowish speeds were about all I could do in the Roush, unfortunately, since traffic was particularly terrible the day I drove the car, but that didn't stop me from running through the gears whenever possible. To me, the only thing better than the 427R's exhaust is its short-throw, orb-topped, old-school shifter. And therein lies my rub with the 427R: it's quite pricey (as my colleagues have noted), and some of its best features are available to any owner of a stick-shifted Mustang GT. Instead of the 427R, I'd personally rather save a Ford Focus-sized pile of cash and purchase Roush's exhaust ($585), short-throw shifter ($185), billet shifter arm ($98), and retro knob ($33). The Roush folks even told me that the exhaust would sound comparable on the normally aspirated Mustang GT. Still, the 427R's Roush-ness makes the new 2010 Mustang look even more ominous, what with its requisite spoilers, scoops, louvers, and optional twenty-inch wheels. I could definitely do without the teal stripes over dark blue paint of this example, however. Speaking of the wheels, it's worth noting that although this car wears Dunlop tires, Roush will continue its partnership with Cooper by selling customer 427Rs with Cooper shoes. And speaking of grip, I love this car's cool, grippy Roush pedal covers. I'm not as big a fan of the Roush gauges, though, which I find too crammed to read easily. Another cabin note: I'm getting more comfortable with the revised Mustang interior, but I still prefer the more horizontal, old-school styling of the 2005-09 editions. There are a zillion Mustangs out there, and this Roush is a good way for affluent Mustang fans to stand out from the masses. Best of all, this one isn't nearly as annoyingly boomy at speed as Saleen's Dan Gurney version that we drove last fall. Rusty Blackwell, Copy Editor