2008 Ford Mustang Bullitt Review

Specifications

With the exception of James Dean, it’s hard to imagine an iconic actor who was more of a gearhead than Steve McQueen. Both Dean and McQueen raced cars and both are still undeniably cool decades after their deaths. Forty years ago, McQueen starred in the movie Bullitt, an adaptation of the Robert L. Pike novel “Mute Witness”, which involved detectives in the San Francisco area who were assigned high profile cases involving organized crime. Although the car chase scene of Mustang vs. Charger is now legendary, McQueen’s near silent portrayal of Lieutenant Frank Bullitt along with the film’s deliberate pacing, minimal dialogue and use of music for maximum impact, make it a classic car guy flick. Much of the driving in Bullitt was done by McQueen himself, when insurance allowed him to do so. While unusual for an actor to do his own stunts, we’re talking about a guy who finished second overall in the 1970 12 hours of Sebring. He knew how to drive.

You might recall that Ford shot a Bullitt into the marketplace before, back in 2001, but while an impressive manipulation of the long-in-tooth Fox-bodied Mustang, it was just a dress rehearsal for the 2008 model, since slathering a regular Mustang GT in Highland Green paint, adding a bit of horsepower, some suspension tuning and a dash of aluminum trim does not a Bullitt make. For one thing the look was all wrong thanks to things like a fake hood scoop, chrome pony emblem on the grille and the old car’s overall shape, whereas the new car is done to perfection since it looks like a 1967 Mustang. Ford really nailed the exterior package this time around. Rear spoiler? Gone. Fog lights? Gone. Pony emblem? Gone. All other emblems? Gone. Faux Bullitt Gas Cap in the tail panel? Check. Subtle, grayed-out 18-inch alloys? Check. Attitude? Check.

Turn your attention under the hood to see just what the Bullitt is packing and Ford’s familiar three-valve, SOHC, 4.6-liter All Aluminum Modular V8 stares back. It breathes better thanks to a Ford Racing cold-air intake system, complete X-pipe dual exhaust and PCM, a combination that increases horsepower from 300 to 315, and peak torque from 320 to 325 lb-ft. You’ll notice it most in the mid range and top end. Ford has given the engine an extra 250 rpm to play with, courtesy of a heavier crankshaft damper. A shorter 3.73 gear set in the rear end ensures things are a bit snappier off the line too. The engine is topped off with a Ford Racing polished aluminum strut-tower brace, emblazoned with a Bullitt ID badge and serial number. The sound burbling from the 3.5-inch exhaust is an attempt by Ford to duplicate the movie car burble as closely as possible. I watched my DVD copy of Bullitt and think it should be louder.

Would you like an optional automatic? If you answered yes, ask yourself, “Would Steve McQueen drive an automatic?” There’s your answer. All 7,700 examples of the Bullitt are five-speed manual only. The Tremec gearbox is stirred by the best shifter I’ve ever experienced in an American car. Its short throws and overall solidity make slamming the machined aluminum ball through the gears a real joy. One concern was a third gear grind that sometimes made itself known, possibly from my example’s hard life as a press car. The clutch is also effortless, but the pedals aren’t the best for heel and toe downshifting. Things are easy to control with your right foot, although the steering is quite light so more feedback would be appreciated. Still, it’s light years ahead of anything from the 1960s, let alone the previous Fox-bodied Bullitt.

Ford’s engineers bolted on a stiffer suspension that would normally be found on a regular GT, but while it’s pretty easy to control there’s still a bit too much body roll. While I would prefer the more hardcore Ford Racing parts, which would tighten up the handling, I suspect that the demographic purchasing this car is more likely to take it to the A&W, not around a road course or onto the dragstrip. Even if this is the case, the stock 235/50/18 inch BF Goodrich g-Force KDWS tires are really disappointing. They’re a bit noisy, which I could live with if they were stickier, but since they are all seasons, just depress the TCS switch and you can make them vanish in billows of tire smoke. Then order up a set of BF Goodrich g-Force KDW tires, which will help greatly with grip.

The Bullitt’s interior is the recipient of some trim upgrades too, including a beautiful engine-turned real aluminum instrument panel insert. While never offered in any prior Mustang, it brightens things up and suits the car. It’s also clearly one of the finest quality items in the interior. As mentioned above the shifter ball is machined aluminum too, and combined with an aluminum shifter surround, aluminum pedals and satin-finished scuff plates, it makes for a really upscale Mustang. An optional LED ambient lighting system allows the selection of eight different colors to light up the cupholders and the front foot wells. Match this with the gauge color selector, which doesn’t change all of the interior lighting to match the gauges (it is possible to have purple or pink gauges with green dash lighting… Ewww) and you can simulate some kind of sixties acid trip. I left the gauges green to match the rest of the dash and switched the LED ambient lights off. The seats are comfortable, by the way, offering a decent level of bolstering, and even the leather feels like leather. They’re partially powered, so it’s easy to adjust everything to end up with the correct laid-back driving position for this car.

While it’s still a bit odd to gaze down into the center of the dash on a car such as the Mustang and see an LCD screen, the optional navigation system and Shaker 500 stereo were great additions. Scanning through the stations on Sirius satellite radio, I was always able to find the music to suit this muscle car, be it a McQueen era Mustang of the 1960s with The Doors, Break on Through… the Mach 1 era in the 1970s with Kiss, Cold Gin… or the Fox-bodied ‘Stangs of the 1980s blasting Van Halen, Panama. The combination of music and the Mustang’s unabashed muscle car heritage really came together. Stopping at a traffic light with Kiss cranked up garners a look from an officer in a police car that pulls up beside me. He glanced over and for a brief second I felt like Lieutenant Bullitt working on a case outside the force. Then reality sets in and I know that despite having the first name Steve, I could never be that cool.

When it all comes down to it, driving the Bullitt reminds me of just how good the latest Mustang is. Back when I was in high school you were either in the Ford camp or the GM camp, and as an 18-year-old owner of a Smokey and the Bandit Trans Am, I wasn’t in the former. Still, as much as I may not have been a Ford guy back then, I couldn’t help but respect the bark of a blue-oval small block V8. Damn, were they ever quick… and the new Mustang is even better. Even my Dad, who owned a Raven Black 64½ Coupe with a 289 and a three-speed manual, admitted that his old Mustang was not nearly as fast as the Bullitt is when he took it for a quick spin.

Sure it’s not without its faults, and certainly the live axle shimmies over slight imperfections in the asphalt, and the fact that you get plastics inside that are as hard as Ron Jeremy is just the way it is, and I don’t care. This car is all about carrying on a tradition that offers a lot of horsepower for minimal dollars, and then spending some more money for bolt-on parts to make it go faster, in-turn making it your very own personal expression of speed.

The Bullitt package will require even more dollars, though, as it adds $4,495 to the cost of a base Mustang GT, which starts at $33,999. Add in my test car’s options, such as navigation, and the price rubs fairly close to the MSRP of a Shelby GT500. So the choice is more flash and more horsepower, or less horsepower and a subtle sleeper look. Which one would Lieutenant Frank Bullitt choose?