CzechMate
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- Joined
- Mar 24, 2025
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- 21
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- Location
- Czech Republic
- Vehicle(s)
- 2025 GT Yellow Splash, 2023 GT Cyber Orange, 2020 GT350 Heritage Edition
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- #1
So, I’ve had a chance to drive my “hated” S650 for about three months now, and I decided to share a few observations. Why “hated”? Because after owning two S550s and one GT350, I was convinced I would never, ever be able to live with that atrocity — the pinnacle of ugliness — those two big screens.
And yet, here I am. Three months in, and honestly… I’m happy with them. More than I could have ever imagined.
BTW, here is a pic — but keep in mind I bought the car in October. Since then we got snow, and we still have snow and very cold temperatures, so I haven’t been able to do any spectacular scenery photoshoot yet. (the image is from the PPF shop, I have it fully wrapped)
After driving it for a week or two on the factory-fitted Pirellis, I decided it was time to put winter tires on. I went with Michelin Alpine Sport 5. On all my previous Mustangs (with the exception of the GT350 — that one never leaves the garage unless it’s warm and dry), I was using Hankook i*Cept Gen 3 and was quite happy with them… except in snow. In deeper snow they really didn’t offer much grip.
Because of that, I was hoping the Michelins would be better — and I have to say, they were. I managed to climb a rather steep, actually very steep hill. Taking that road was a dumb decision, but once I was on it, I had no other option. Stopping in the middle of the hill would have meant sliding downhill uncontrollably.
The tires held up surprisingly well. There was some rear-end slipping, but the car kept crawling uphill and eventually made it.
Anyway, I’m now at 5,000 km on the odometer (roughly 3,100 miles), and I have a few observations to share:
• The screens – they are actually quite good-looking, and I got used to them surprisingly quickly. The controls are logical and, contrary to what some reviewers said, you don’t need to “touch the seat heating first and then select the level.” You just keep touching the “button” and it cycles from 0 to 3, then 2, 1, and back to 0. Same logic applies to other controls. I still prefer physical buttons, but honestly, it’s nowhere near as bad as some people made it sound.
• 10R80 transmission – this is tuned really very well. Where my S550 was probably the biggest disappointment, the S650 absolutely shines. The gearbox is quick, responsive, and it doesn’t constantly try to under-rev the engine just to make green lunatics happy with emissions. I’m very pleased with the 10R80 tuning here. The 6th gen was not tuned well at all — it would either lug the engine all the time, or do the opposite and kick down 3–4 gears, which made the drive far from smooth.
• Start procedure – I’ve learned to start the car with two fingers: one presses the start button, the other simultaneously hits the ASS button.
• Blind spot monitoring – the dead-angle indicator in the mirrors blinks all the time when I drive close to side guardrails. It picks up basically any obstacle and thinks there’s a car in the blind spot. That’s a bummer, and it happens on both sides.
• Keyless entry / locking – keyless entry works fine, but keyless locking is very insensitive. Often I need multiple touches on the locking area of the door handle, and sometimes I end up pulling out the key fob to lock the car.
• Lane keeping system – this is the thing I really hate. Why does it have to be ON by default? It scared me multiple times on icy roads when I forgot to turn it off. Nothing is worse than driving on ice and suddenly feeling weird feedback in the steering wheel. I really wish there was a way to disable it permanently.
• Lights – I was hoping the headlights would be more advanced. On my Ford Explorer, they transition from low beam to high beam with a gradual increase in intensity, while here it’s just ON / OFF. I’m not asking for anything super fancy like the adaptive headlights I had on my BMW 5 Series with split high beams that work around the car in front — but a smoother transition would be nice.
• Sound – the car sounds a bit better than my previous S550, probably thanks to the dual air intakes.
That’s it for now — those are my observations so far. Feel free to comment.
And yet, here I am. Three months in, and honestly… I’m happy with them. More than I could have ever imagined.
BTW, here is a pic — but keep in mind I bought the car in October. Since then we got snow, and we still have snow and very cold temperatures, so I haven’t been able to do any spectacular scenery photoshoot yet. (the image is from the PPF shop, I have it fully wrapped)
After driving it for a week or two on the factory-fitted Pirellis, I decided it was time to put winter tires on. I went with Michelin Alpine Sport 5. On all my previous Mustangs (with the exception of the GT350 — that one never leaves the garage unless it’s warm and dry), I was using Hankook i*Cept Gen 3 and was quite happy with them… except in snow. In deeper snow they really didn’t offer much grip.
Because of that, I was hoping the Michelins would be better — and I have to say, they were. I managed to climb a rather steep, actually very steep hill. Taking that road was a dumb decision, but once I was on it, I had no other option. Stopping in the middle of the hill would have meant sliding downhill uncontrollably.
The tires held up surprisingly well. There was some rear-end slipping, but the car kept crawling uphill and eventually made it.
Anyway, I’m now at 5,000 km on the odometer (roughly 3,100 miles), and I have a few observations to share:
• The screens – they are actually quite good-looking, and I got used to them surprisingly quickly. The controls are logical and, contrary to what some reviewers said, you don’t need to “touch the seat heating first and then select the level.” You just keep touching the “button” and it cycles from 0 to 3, then 2, 1, and back to 0. Same logic applies to other controls. I still prefer physical buttons, but honestly, it’s nowhere near as bad as some people made it sound.
• 10R80 transmission – this is tuned really very well. Where my S550 was probably the biggest disappointment, the S650 absolutely shines. The gearbox is quick, responsive, and it doesn’t constantly try to under-rev the engine just to make green lunatics happy with emissions. I’m very pleased with the 10R80 tuning here. The 6th gen was not tuned well at all — it would either lug the engine all the time, or do the opposite and kick down 3–4 gears, which made the drive far from smooth.
• Start procedure – I’ve learned to start the car with two fingers: one presses the start button, the other simultaneously hits the ASS button.
• Blind spot monitoring – the dead-angle indicator in the mirrors blinks all the time when I drive close to side guardrails. It picks up basically any obstacle and thinks there’s a car in the blind spot. That’s a bummer, and it happens on both sides.
• Keyless entry / locking – keyless entry works fine, but keyless locking is very insensitive. Often I need multiple touches on the locking area of the door handle, and sometimes I end up pulling out the key fob to lock the car.
• Lane keeping system – this is the thing I really hate. Why does it have to be ON by default? It scared me multiple times on icy roads when I forgot to turn it off. Nothing is worse than driving on ice and suddenly feeling weird feedback in the steering wheel. I really wish there was a way to disable it permanently.
• Lights – I was hoping the headlights would be more advanced. On my Ford Explorer, they transition from low beam to high beam with a gradual increase in intensity, while here it’s just ON / OFF. I’m not asking for anything super fancy like the adaptive headlights I had on my BMW 5 Series with split high beams that work around the car in front — but a smoother transition would be nice.
• Sound – the car sounds a bit better than my previous S550, probably thanks to the dual air intakes.
That’s it for now — those are my observations so far. Feel free to comment.
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