I’ve been driving Lungta 200 days (as of Friday, actually) and I felt like doing a brief assessment of things as I see them today.

Fuel Efficiency: Lungta’s average fuel consumption over the period has been 22.26 MPG, a total of 235.47 gallons. This is a little worse than expected, but well within reason so I am not necessarily disappointed. For comparison, the Versa I owned previously got 34.72 MPG; 807.49 gallons over the 1147 days. The math runs out to a fuel cost of 11 cents per mile driven in the Mustang vs. 7 cents for the Versa, making the Mustang 66% more expensive to drive considering fuel cost only.

I do note, however, that some of this cost is due to rising fuel prices. Average fuel cost (per gallon) was $2.35 over the period I owned the versa, while over the last 202 days the average price is $2.50. This would adjust the Mustang’s cost to about 59% more than the versa. Regardless, the added cost is within the parameters established by my budget  in January (before buying the car), so I’m not upset about it.

Cost of Ownership: I tracked the complete cost of ownership for the Versa and am doing the same for the Mustang (Data is my thing, obviously). So far, the all-in cost of ownership per-day is $14.62 (56 cents per mile) — this includes everything from loan payments to touch up paint. For the Versa, this calculated out to $13.65 per day (or 56 cents per mile, again).

Now it is very important for me to keep in mind that the Mustang was assembled a year earlier than the Versa and has no warranty, so I will be certain to experience maintenance costs that I never had to worry about with the Versa. I only mention this as a point-of-reference for the future. I will be very curious to see how the math works out after two or three years of ownership.

For instance, I am keenly aware of a couple of noteworthy maintenance costs upcoming with Lungta, the most expensive of which is brake work which I estimate to cost around $1,000. If I factor this into my existing data, my all-in daily cost to own would climb to $19.58. Also, if I get into modding the car at some point? Well, suffice to say, it will be a pit from which money can never escape!

Subjective Considerations: I have been extremely impressed with Lungta’s performance value, a less objective factor that gets lost in the numbers. To me, owning a Mustang is always being excited about the next excuse to get out on the road. A mundane activity like driving to the grocery is no longer a chore, it can be recreation! When I take my daughter out with me, she tells her friends about how she went on a “pony ride” with Daddy, and it is really amusing to me to see heads turn to watch the sports car glide past them as they walk down the sidewalk.

And when I press the gas pedal, the thing scoots. Don’t let anyone tell you that doesn’t have value, even if you are a relatively mind-mannered driver like myself.

A quick note: I compare numbers with the Versa not because they are truly comparable vehicles (nope), but because the Versa is the only other car for which I have a complete data set to compare. Any data I accumulated for past cars was lost over the years — I guess I need to remember to back up my data!