2025 (25) Ford Mustang 5.0 V8 GT 2dr Auto

There's nothing quite like Ford's seventh generation Mustang Convertible. Jonathan Crouch drives it.

Ten Second Review

They don't make convertible sportscars like this any more but, just for a little while longer, Ford still does. This seventh generation Mustang Convertible shares much with its predecessor, some of it good - the throbbing V8 up-front - and some of it less appealing - like the old-style fabric hood. As with the Fastback Coupe version of this car that we've tested separately, this S650-era version gains sharper exterior looks and a more modern cabin. But it remains authentic to the core and if you loved it before, you'll still love it now.

Background

Quick question for you. Name us a desirable classic sports convertible you can buy new with a V8 engine, a manual gearbox and a price tag starting below six figures. In this enlightened age, you might think there isn't one. But you'd be wrong; this is it - Ford's Mustang Convertible. Though Mustang purists would always choose this car in Fastback coupe form, Convertible motoring has been part of this hairy-chested muscle-bound model's legendary formula from the very beginning back in 1965. Ford calls this generation of Mustang the 'MK7' but the truth is that this S650-generation design, launched here in 2024, is really more a far-reaching facelift of the previous S550 model, which arrived here back in 2015. Ford hasn't changed the Convertible formula much in creating this seventh generation design. But this car has improved in quite a few other ways - as we're going to find out here.

Driving Experience

There's not a lot of extra weight with this Convertible body style - no more than around 80kgs - so you'd expect it to drive much like the Coupe and, by and large, it does. If you've paid the extra to have your Mustang with a fabric top, you're going to want to drive it roof-down as much as possible - which isn't as easy as you might think. For years, just about every other sports convertible you can think of has had a top that would operate at low speeds at the push of a button, but the 'Stang has never bothered with that kind of user-friendliness - and still doesn't now. So every time you want to put the roof down, you have to stop; wrestle with an overhead lever; then wait for 10 seconds as the roof mechanism does its thing; before you can set off again. Which in a climate as changeable as ours is hardly ideal. Just chalk it up alongside the many other things you'll have to get used to if you're a new convert to Mustang motoring. There are plenty of them. The lack of the kind of turbocharger that almost every other modern engine uses these days means a very different kind of reaction to your right foot. And if you've gone all-out with the whole Mustang thing and chosen manual transmission, then you might feel the years rolling back to sportscars of your youth as you clunk the 6-speed stick shift from gear to gear. We tried that manual 'box when we tested the Fastback version, so we thought we'd sample the auto on this cabrio that most customers end up with, a 10-speed torque converter set-up, via which the car gets to 62mph in 5.0s, a tenth slower than the Coupe and just under half a second quicker than even an expert driver could manage with a stick shift. Top speed is restricted to 155mph. Plenty of similarly-priced sportscars match those kinds of performance figures these days, but none of them deliver that speed much like a Mustang does. These days, for our market anyway, the classic 5.0-litre 'Coyote' V8 engine is the only one available, with 446PS and a glorious Dambuster-style rumble that of course you can hear all the better roof-down in this Convertible. With the roof down, there's a fair amount of buffeting, but you can just about talk to your front seat passenger at or around the legal limit.

Design and Build

As before, this Mustang Convertible's roof is fabric and must cover 4.7metres of car. To start the roof retraction process, you have to twist a roof-mounted handle though from then on, the process is electric. Another potential irritation is that this process can only work when the car is at a standstill. Nor is there the option of a wind deflector. The Mustang may not have changed drastically, but it's still a head-turner. The new front end makes it look more elegant than muscular, and the sheer bulk gives it presence. More than anything else, though, it's still likely to be a novelty on British roads, and with the canvas hood of this Convertible version up or down, it'll draw attention. It's inside though, that the changes you'll most notice with this MK7 model will prominently feature. Inevitably, this involves screen tech; a little disappointingly in a Mustang, analogue dials are no more, replaced by a 12.4-inch digital display (though you can configure it to show 'classic dials'). That's paired with a customisable 13.2-inch SYNC4 central infotainment monitor which of course can do a lot more than was possible with the previous generation screen and houses the standard 12-speaker B&O audio system upgrade that most customers will want. Arguably more significant than all of this is the improvement in cabin quality, though you still wouldn't mistake this for the interior of a premium German-branded rival. But maybe that's part of its appeal. Ford says the cockpit is more driver-focused and there's a thicker-rimmed flat-bottomed steering wheel and grippy sports seats. Everything else is as before, with cramped space in the back. Ford reckons the Convertible's 310-litre trunk (78-litres less than the Coupe and the same roof up or down) will take a couple of golf bags.

Market and Model

At the time of this review in Autumn 2025, pricing for this Convertible was starting at around £62,000 for the manual 446PS V8 GT model, with an extra £2,000 to find if you want the 10-speed auto. For reference, that's £3,500 more than is required for the fixed-top Fastback body shape. There's only a single trim level available - GT. Unlike with the Fastback Coupe, it's not possible with a Mustang Convertible to have Ford's uprated 'Dark Horse' trim and engineering package. The GT trim package gets you 19-inch painted alloy wheels, silver triple-LED headlamps with welcome and farewell animations, a GT body kit with black door frame mouldings and GT front grille, LED rear lights with sequential indicators, selectable drive modes and adaptive cruise control. There's also keyless entry, a rear view camera, rear parking sensors and power-folding mirrors. Inside, there's black sports seats with leather central bolsters, plus heating, ventilation and power-adjustment. The cabin also gets a 12-speaker Bang & Olufsen surround sound audio system, Electronic Automatic Temperature Control, a wireless charging mat and a 12.4-inch instrument display viewed through a heated flat-bottomed sports steering wheel. Media stuff is taken care of by a 13.2-inch central touchscreen with Connected navigation and 5G connectivity, plus wireless 'Apple CarPlay' and 'Android Auto'. On to options - and you'll need to tick the box for the main one before you consider any of the others, if only to preserve residuals when the time comes to sell. We're talking about the four-setting MagneRide damping system, which costs £1,750 more and comes with Pothole Mitigation (useful to protect those big wheels). The MagneRide system monitors and adjusts itself thousands of times per second to improve stability, comfort and control. Otherwise, it's all down to aesthetics. The 'Bronze Appearance Package' adds that colour to the wheels and badging; the alternative 'Night Pony Appearance Package' adds black colouring to the wheels, the mirrors, the headlamp bezels and the badging. As for drive assistance technology, well there are the expected next-generation Ford driver assistance features; like Pre-Collision Assist, a Lane-Keeping Aid with Lane-Keeping Assist, Lane Centring Assist, a Blind Spot Information system, Cross-Traffic Alert, Cross-Traffic Braking, Wrong-Way Alert and Hill-Start Assist. As you'd hope for this price, you also get Driver Alert, Exit Warning and Speed Sign Recognition-enabled Speed Limit Assist.

Cost of Ownership

Take a deep breath here because as expected with a V8 Mustang, you're going to have to pay for your pleasures. The combination of nearly 1.8-tonnes of kerb weight and a normally aspirated 5.0-litre engine couldn't really deliver any other kind of end result. The efficiency figures aren't much different from those quoted with the previous MK6 model and, as before, they're similar regardless of your choice between manual and automatic transmission. Because this Convertible model is slightly heavier than the equivalent Fastback coupe, the returns are fractionally worse (27.4mpg and 280g/km as a manual - or 282g/km as an auto). What else? Well bad news first. That CO2 figure puts this Mustang into the highest VED band K, which will see a first year VED cost of £5,490, with £600 payable annually after that. And insurance is group 48 for the GT Convertible. On the positive side, residuals are quite strong (for a Ford); this Convertible Mustang is expected to retain around 53% of its value after three years and 36,000 miles, 3% less than the Fastback. Maintenance might be pricey, because servicing visits will need to be quite frequent - you're supposed to have to visit a dealer every 12 months or every 10,000 miles, whichever comes sooner. To help you budget ahead for this, the brand offers a three year Ford Service Plan with a 7,000 annual mileage limit, which costs around £1,000. There's the usual unremarkable three year, 60,000 mile Ford warranty and you'll have the option to extend that package for up to two more years and up to 100,000 miles at additional cost.

Summary

There's nothing quite like a Mustang Convertible. For the sake of the planet, perhaps it's just as well that there isn't. This Ford is politically incorrect, fearsomely expensive to run and, on paper at least, difficult to justify against its buttoned-down German rivals. But if this is the sportscar you've always promised yourself, none of that will matter. And once you fire that big V8 and drop the top, the experience a Mustang Convertible delivers is like nothing else this side of six figures. So let the neighbours disapprove. And be thankful that for just a little while longer, Ford has seen fit to extend the life of this iconic model. The Mustang sportscar story has one last chapter. And maybe, just maybe, you'll want to be part of it.