BACK ON TRACK; TrackPack suspension leads Mustang mods.(NEWS)(Ford Mustang)

Byline: MARK VAUGHN

We drove a herd of 2010 Ford Mustangs last week on the road and at a pretty good racetrack, and we can say with certainty that the muscle car is alive and well in America.

Changes to the 2010 model are relatively minor, with freshened skin and a few suspension improvements that make the car a little more stable and a lot quieter.

The Mustang is still all muscle car, not sports car, so the 4.6-liter V8 remains the star attraction from a driver's point of view, with power bumped up to 315 hp thanks to cooler air going in and smoother exhaust routing going out. It spins the rear tires through your choice of five-speed manual or five-speed automatic transmission and out to that solid rear axle. There is still no independent rear, not even as an expensive option. That won't bother drag racers and stoplight heroes, probably the majority of the Mustang faithful. Those looking for a road racer probably will look elsewhere, to the Nissan 350/370Z and the like.

Zero to 60, a muscle car's bread and butter, should stay in the low fives, depending on when and how well you engage the clutch. We got into the high fives on what might have been a flat stretch of empty highway, timing it with a highly inaccurate handheld wristwatch. A little practice, with the clutch and the watch, will get it into the low fives for sure.

The Mustang also is a little more capable on curves now. Engineers upped rear spring rates on the GT by 25 percent compared with the "09 model and retuned the dampers at all four corners. As a result, the GT model is tied down a little better, with a little more control of roll while cornering and of pitch under braking.

The V6 model gets similar improvements plus an antiroll bar for 2010, which it didn't have in "09.