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2013 Ford Mustang GT: Powerful, decent fuel economy (pictures)

Ford's latest Mustang GT cranks out 420 horsepower with its V-8, yet gets fuel economy that makes it a reasonable everyday driver.

Wayne Cunningham
Wayne Cunningham reviews cars and writes about automotive technology for CNET's Roadshow. Prior to the automotive beat, he covered spyware, Web building technologies, and computer hardware. He began covering technology and the Web in 1994 as an editor of The Net magazine.
Wayne Cunningham
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1 of 19 Josh Miller/CNET
Ford gives the Mustang a significant update for the 2013 model year, with power and efficiency increases and new cabin tech options. The GT version is the most powerful, short of the Shelby, with a 5-liter naturally aspirated engine.
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2 of 19 Josh Miller/CNET
The Mustang GT has a high, aggressive-looking hood and nice symmetry between upper and lower air intakes. Although the car keeps the same basic styling as the previous generation, little refinements keep it fresh.
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3 of 19 Josh Miller/CNET
The centerpiece of the Mustang GT is this 5-liter V-8, which produces 420 horsepower while at the same time achieving an average of 20 mpg in EPA testing. Although not a fuel efficiency star, the number is not bad considering the power.
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The Mustang is a coupe design, which means two doors and limited access to the rear seat.
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Ford retains the solid rear axle on the 2013 Mustang, but manages to give the car a decent ride and good handling characteristics.
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The rear cap, which does not cover a fuel filler, includes the California Special logo and GT designation.
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The trunk opening is on the small side, and difficult to get a typical CNET editor through. However, the trunk has a good amount of space.
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Ford does a very nice job with the Mustang's cabin appointments, using good quality materials throughout that make it feel like a premium vehicle. The interior is much nicer than that of the Camaro ZL1 we tested recently.
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The rear seats are barely usable, in good coupe style, and offer two buckets instead of a bench, so only two people at a time can be tortured.
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For 2013, Ford makes a hard-drive-based navigation system available in the Mustang, although this car did not come with that option.
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Ford is very liberal with the Mustang badges inside and out, but we could not find a single blue oval.
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The Mustang GT uses an electric power steering system, but the feel is much more like a hydraulic system than with other cars we have tested.
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Along with the traditionally designed speedometer and tachometer gauges, Ford adds an LCD to the instrument cluster, which shows trip and other information.
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Sync, with its excellent voice command system comes standard in the Mustang GT.
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The Mustang GT can be had with a six-speed automatic or a six-speed manual. The manual is, of course, the better choice for sport driving, and includes a hill start feature to make it more practical.
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The Track Apps feature includes a timer for acceleration times, braking distance, and a g-force meter.
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Sync shows a paired phone's contact list on the radio display, but voice command is an easier way to initiate a call.
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You can browse a music player's library on the display when the device is connected to the car's USB port, but the interface is tedious. Using voice command works much better.
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Sync gives voice command over Pandora, NPR, Stitcher, and other apps.

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