It’s been nearly half my life since I owned a Mustang as my daily driver. That was back when I was 18 years old, fresh out of high school, and driving my ’86 5.0 LX hatchback everywhere, every day. That car eventually was relegated to track and weekend duty only, replaced by a F-150 as my daily transportation. I’ve had other Mustangs since then, but none served as a daily driver.

If you frequent our site often enough, you probably know I recently purchased a 2015 Mustang EcoBoost as a new StangTV project car. This is the first brand new Mustang I’ve ever purchased. Say what you want about a four-cylinder Mustang, this 2.3 liter turbo four-cylinder makes more horsepower and torque than the 1998 DOHC Cobra, and more torque than the higher output ’99 and ’01 Cobra. Even the 2005-06 Mustang GTs don’t quite match the Eco’s output, with the exception of the Terminator and Cobra R, it isn’t until 2007 that a V8 Mustang exceeds the output from the factory of this engine – something I considered when purchasing this car.

Recently, to get better acquainted with this car, I’ve been driving it daily, with the exception of the occasional Snowpocalypse occurrence in my part of the country. This includes hauling my two year old daughter around in her car seat. I have to say, in many ways it boggles my mind how practical this car is for a middle-aged father.

This car is more refined, drives well, and while yes, the “summer only” Pirelli PZero tires are a little slippery on really cold days (until they’re up to a better temperature), it handles impressively well. It’s also quiet when cruising on the interstate. While I enjoy the bark and cackle of a V8 as much as any of you, it’s kind of nice to speed down the interstate and be able to carry on a conversation with my wife, and understand what our daughter is saying from the back. It seems at our house, the Mustang is no longer relegated to weekend fun only.

That smile is enough to convince me this is the perfect daily driver.

Sure it’s not as easy as a mini-van to load and unload the kiddo, but it’s not terrible, and she enjoys the ride. I’ve likely created a monster, as the other day she was telling me to “go faster!” I did oblige once we cleared out of town and entered a 55 zone, dropping down a few gears and accelerating quickly (up to the speed limit only of course), all at the urging of the tiny horsepower fanatic in training in the back.

The trunk on this car is cavernous as well. Not since the Fox body hatchback have you been able to cram this much stuff into the trunk of a Mustang. This past weekend I actually took the car for the weekly grocery trip, I still had room left over. I guess a trip to Costco is in order to see how much I can cram into the car. It does make me wonder however, you can have this huge trunk, but Ford can’t make the Mustang capable of fitting an adult, or even anyone over 5 feet tall in the back seat. I’d probably sacrifice a little trunk space for some more legroom in the back, especially as my kid grows up.

All six-feet of me fits in the trunk easily, with room for groceries.

It feels good to be behind the wheel of a Mustang on a daily basis again, it’ll be interesting to see how it goes being my daily driver as the project evolves well beyond a stock car. For now though, it’s nice to not be wheeling the soul-sucking mini-van on a daily basis, and instead be seated behind the wheel quite frequently in a car that puts a smile on my face. Mini-van, you’re on notice, you may soon become the car that rarely leaves the driveway.