Ford Mustang BULLITT 2018 Review

It took the Ford Mustang BULLITT all of 10 minutes to etch itself into cinematic history.

The now-legendary 1968 chase scene, in which Steve McQueen goes after two hit men in the hills of San Francisco, pushed the Mustang’s public persona to new heights and immortalised its appeal.

For the 2018 recreation, it takes barely 10 seconds for the Ford Mustang BULLITT to impart the same unmistakable charm.

And that’s not speaking as someone who has been behind the wheel of the distinctive Highland Green pony car; but as someone who has witnessed the BULLITT’s incredible public charisma.

In five days of driving across 600km, there is not a vehicle in recent memory that has started as many conversations. Yes, supercars will draw cursory glances (and frowns), but the BULLITT more or less lays out a red carpet invitation to passers-by. McQueen himself would be proud.

Ford has revived the BULLITT on two previous occasions (2001, 2008) but, tellingly, this is the first time it has been available in Australia.

In all, the $73,688 flagship thoroughly modernises McQueen’s original whip, taking in requisite technology and safety along with an enriching drive experience.

It is undoubtedly the best Mustang we’ve seen in Australia so far – star power or not.

In some respects, the BULLITT presents itself as the perfect mid-life crisis car.

On top of its historical relevance, a limited production schedule of 700 Aussie examples has essentially drawn in punters like a ticket in the Sunday afternoon meat raffle. Everyone wants a piece.

Yes, there is a circa-$11,000 premium on the Mustang GT on which the BULLITT is based. That’s a considerable outlay, but it does bear some meaningful upgrades.

For starters, the mechanical changes. Ford has massaged the donor car’s 5.0-litre naturally-aspirated V8 engine courtesy of an ‘Open Air induction system’ and intake manifold, 87mm throttle bodies, Ford Racing air filter and a power control module from the Shelby Mustang GT350.

And the latter part of that sentence may well be key to the BULLITT’s success: Australia has not been afforded fettled Mustang creations including the GT350 or the GT500 in the past, but a quick peep at the new model’s open element air box previews something special at play.

All told, power rises to 345kW (up 6kW) and torque remains at 556Nm compared with the donor car. No official 0-100km/h time is provided, but we’d suspect the low to mid four-second mark.

Another key foundation of the BULLITT is its gearbox. A six-speed manual transmission punctuated by a classic white cue ball shifter is your only option – and it is one of the sweetest-shifting sticks to grace a modern car.

Elsewhere, all 700 individually numbered Australian BULLITTs exclusively wear Dark Highland Green paint matched by gloss-black 19-inch Torq Thrust-style alloy wheels.

The BULLITT eschews lairy body stripes and even Mustang badges for a faux fuel filler cap, chrome exterior highlights, BULLITT scuff plates and green-stitched dash and door trims.

All external Mustang and Ford badging has been deleted, lending the special-edition a slightly understated appeal.

Standard equipment includes rev-matching, four-mode Active Valve Exhaust, individual drive and steering modes, and the MagneRide Damping System that becomes optional for the recently facelifted Mustang GT.

Also carrying over are standard MY18 features including Autonomous Emergency Braking, Lane Departure Warning, Lane Keep Assist, Adaptive Cruise Control, automatic high-beam, auto-levelling headlights, reversing camera, 12.4-inch digital instrument cluster and SYNC3 8.0-inch touch-screen infotainment with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility.

The BULLITT goes without a spare tyre, instead offering users an inflation kit. And as with the regular Mustang GT, a three-star safety rating applies. Judging from the speculative prices already spotted on carsales.com.au (up to $95,000), keen buyers aren’t taking any notice.

Slipping into the optional ($3000) Recaro front seats of the BULLITT presents both good and bad elements.

Firstly, the BULLITT theme is tastefully integrated, from the brushed aluminium surface treatment that sashays across the dashboard, to the not-so-subtle commemorative reminders that adorn the steering wheel, passenger console, scuff plates and digital instrument cluster on start-up.

This is a Mustang with a true sense of occasion, imparting a cool, muscle-car vibe that is accentuated by the white cue ball shifter.

The same basic interior layout of the Mustang GT carries over, bringing with it a mix of useful and user-friendly tech, some cheap switchgear and packaging gripes that come when you manufacture a car for 60-plus global markets. The big one is the handbrake, which finds itself in closer proximity to the front passenger than the driver.

Further back, the Mustang BULLITT is armed with a rear two-seat space that is best described as useless, and a boot area that will happily swallow a couple of decent bags, so long as you can squeeze them through the small rear aperture.

Its three-star safety rating is nothing to write home about. But then, you depress the brushed aluminium starter button and all is soon forgotten.

The most endearing feature of the Mustang BULLITT is its engine. Freer-flowing courtesy of the modified induction system, there is a distinct mechanical leaning to the 5.0-litre that is only enhanced by the six-speed stick-shift.

Happily, the car’s mechanical edge is delivered without the clunkiness of some V8 drivelines. And while we cannot say categorically whether the BULLITT is faster than its donor car, it feels more urgent from a seat-of-the-pants impression.

The exhaust certainly plays a part here. It makes the BULLITT inherently loud, so much so that you will likely need to utilise a ‘quiet mode’ within its four-mode adaptive software if early getaways are critical.

The engine develops its power and torque in an effortless fashion typical of a V8, with a smooth and linear curve that builds steadily with longer sections of road. The 5.0-litre develops into a healthy canter from the 3000rpm mark, before a full-blown gallop arrives just after the 4000rpm mark.

At this point it sounds as though a storm is brewing, the rhythmic tones strengthening into an unmistakable V8 gurgle as the 7400rpm cut out approaches.

There is an inherent visceral sensation to the experience; from the guttural induction noise during hard acceleration and crackle on the overrun to the short-throw and decidedly tactile manual shift and progressive clutch take-up.

The six-speed’s rev-matching feature won’t be to everyone’s tastes, and thankfully it can be turned off, but it does further streamline the manual driving experience.

Fuel use is hardly a strong point – however, we did manage to match or at-times better the 12.5L/100km claim.

The other key controls offer their own indelible charm, bringing appreciable levels of response and accuracy that is constantly underlined by a muscle car bent.

The steering is best in comfort mode, where weighting remains moderate, while the dampers do a decent job of ironing out bumps in the road, sharpening but never crashing over bigger undulations.

The Mustang BULLITT isn’t what you’d term a lithe or agile car (it has a 1770kg kerb weight, after all), but a tied-down feel at speed and predictable levels of body control makes it a willing accomplice on a twisting piece of road – particularly for the committed driver.

Reworked shock absorbers, rejigged stabiliser bars and a new cross-axis joint in the rear suspension are to thank here -- all carrying over from the revised MY18 Mustang line-up.

Urgent stopping power is well facilitated by standard Brembo brakes, too. Rein proceedings back in and the Mustang arrives at a happier place.

This is a vehicle that you could happily live with, thanks to flexible gearing (think 1600rpm at highway speeds), minimal road noise intrusion and a lightness to the controls that belies its muscle car status. Even the outward vision is adequate, especially considering the awkwardly-sculpted side mirrors.

After 600km, it is clear that longer, open-radius corners are the BULLITT’s natural preference. Pushing through the tighter first and second gear stuff means loads of steering input and a greater focus on car placement.

This serves as something of a dichotomy to scenes of the original BULLITT barrelling through San Francisco’s tightly-knit streets. No matter, because judging from those on the street, the BULLITT is already an out-and-out success; the modern king of cool.

How much is the 2018 Ford Mustang BULLITT?
Price: $73,688 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 5.0-litre V8 petrol
Output: 345kW/556Nm
Transmission: Six-speed manual
Fuel: 12.5L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: N/A
Safety rating: Three-star ANCAP