The one I drove was priced at $51,185 and featured all the options and extra-power splurges you can get. To use the current phraseology, it is among the most “extra” cars you can get for the money: cheaper than a Porsche 911 and comparable with the higher-tuned variants of the Camaro SS, but more refined—the high school quarterback to the Camaro’s defensive end. 

The Difference
So why get the Performance Pack 2, rather than Performance Pack 1? 

For one thing, its Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires are fatter than “normal” ones and very smooth—slick, nearly—as well as engineered to be precise for maximum speed on the track, exactly like those on the hyper GT350R. Unique “MagneRide” shocks are extremely rigid and work hard to keep that set of four near-slicks pressed firmly to the ground. In fact, they feel as if the entire car has somehow been injected with steroids. I drove other Mustang variants last week near the track at Monticello Motor Club (heavy rain caused power outages and downed trees that scuttled our planned track day), and the difference in raw aggression between the base GT and each package option was palpable.

What’s more, the Performance Pack 2 comes only on fastback manual-transmission GTs. It’s automatically more fun to drive. Pushing through its short-shifting six speeds along the rainstorm-wet backroads of Duchess County was a lesson in control: Here is a car that you can feel wants to get away from you, however it can. Nothing about the GT Fastback Performance Package 2 is polished or polite or inclined to obey; it leaps and dodges and agitates in a way that makes you feel alive when you drive it. With an animal like this, you are not entitled to have a good time behind the wheel. You have to earn it.

There’s something very American about the whole thing; I felt it in such a way that I don’t in the other cars I drive all year. I will even admit to listening to country music along my route. Must have been that big outlaw personality under the hood.

How it looks
With every iteration of its sport-oriented crown jewel, Ford has to marry an iconic heritage model with modern aesthetic sensibilities. That’s no small feat. For many people, the only exposure they’ll have to this piece of Americana is seeing it briefly on the road—or for a few frames in a movie—rather than driving it, so it’s important to make a good visual impression. The good news here is that the exterior matches its compelling driving personality. 

It starts with a firm foundation: The Mustang GT Fastback line is the best-looking American-made sports car on the market today. To my mind, it even looks better than the Shelby, which can come across as slightly overdone, as if it’s trying too hard, when it’s not around like-minded cars. It looks especially bossy in neighborhoods or during normal city driving, while the Fastback stands out like a gem.

On top of its naturally cool Fastback roofline, Performance Pack 2 sits lower and wider than regular Fastback cars, with the unique front splitter and rear spoiler giving it a menacing look, in addition to better downforce and improved handling. It also has a new active valve performance system that tones up or tones down the engine note, as the driver prefers.

Visually, it’s all there: The front headlights are narrowed in laser-focus; the unmistakable silver pony gallops across the front grill; the trim side body near the door handles inhales slightly, as when you suck in your stomach to zip up those cool, new jeans. The rear taillights have the distinctive vertical bars Mustang has offered for a while; and the calipers on the Brembo brakes come in six different colors, including blue, red, and orange, which would look especially cool against the Magnetic Metallic gunmetal gray exterior paint of the car I drove.

Inside, the Mustang GT Fastback is not fancy, but it’s functional. Aluminum foot pedals and illuminated sill plates come standard; a 12-inch LCD screen customizable with myriad configurations of navigation, climate, audio, and Apple CarPlay is available and worth the purchase, as are the Recaro seats trimmed in leather. They complete the effect of true American sports car swagger when you drive this thing.