A Tech-Savvy Cockpit

Stepping inside the new Mustang is like entering a fighter jet cockpit. Dual customisable digital displays provide drivers with all the information they need in a sleek and modern layout. The 12.4-inch digital instrument cluster utilises the Unreal Engine 3D tool, allowing drivers to personalise drive mode settings with real-time graphical renderings. This immersive experience extends to the 13.2-inch SYNC® 4 center stack, seamlessly integrated behind a single piece of glass.

Comfort and Convenience

The Mustang’s interior isn’t just about tech; it’s about comfort too. Black Onyx leather seats with heating and cooling functions ensure a pleasant ride regardless of the weather. The center console features a wireless charging pad, while additional USB ports above the cockpit cater to devices like track cameras. A premium B&O sound system with 12 speakers further elevates the driving experience.

Unleashing Power

The heart of the Mustang GT lies in its advanced 5.0-litre Coyote V8 engine, the most powerful ever offered in a Mustang GT. This engine boasts 328kW of peak power and 540Nm of torque, paired with a refined 10-speed automatic transmission.

Embrace the Drive

Ford understands the joy of customisation. Mustang offers six selectable Drive Modes (Normal, Sport, Slippery, Drag, Track, and a customizable setting) that adjust steering effort, engine response, and electronic stability control to suit your driving style. The Mustang GT in South Africa includes the Performance Pack, adding features like a limited-slip differential, active suspension, and wider tires for enhanced track performance.

Advanced Safety Features

The new Mustang prioritises safety with a comprehensive suite of driver-assistance technologies. These include Speed Sign Recognition, Adaptive Cruise Control, Lane Centering Assist, and Evasive Steer Assist. Additionally, the Performance Pack with MagneRide suspension features Active Pothole Mitigation, which adjusts suspension response to smoothen out rough roads.

Stay Connected

Elsewhere, the FordPass app allows owners to remotely start and stop their Mustang, lock and unlock doors, and even schedule a start time. It also provides valuable vehicle information like fuel levels, service history, and warranty details.

Stay tuned for more updates on the arrival of the new Ford Mustang.

The nostalgic muscle car comes complete with working steering, dark-blue bodywork, white racing stripes, bonnet scoop, printed Mustang grille badge, GT emblems, and five-spoke rims with road-gripping tyres.

It measures over 10 centimetres high, 34 centimetres long and 14 centimetres wide, the set gives budding builders the chance to customise their all-American icon to their own specification thanks to a collection of optional add-ons – while retaining its instantly recognisable symbol of the Mustang pony logo.

Additional customisation options include a supercharger, rear ducktail spoiler, beefy exhaust pipes, front chin spoiler and a nitrous oxide tank for an authentic muscle car build experience. The authentic replica model also allows owners to store items in the boot or lift the bonnet to reveal a detailed big block 6.4-litre V8 engine with battery, hoses and air filter detailing.

The LEGO Creator Expert Mustang is recommended for ages 18 and older and comes with 1470 individual official LEGO pieces and is available for a price of approximately R2 500.

Ford has lowered the ante and offered a 2.3-litre turbocharged EcoBoost four-cylinder engine in the Mustang since the current generation’s 2015-model-year launch, and for 2019 the Mustang EcoBoost gets a minor upgrades. It boosts output to 213kW of power, and includes upgraded suspension and brakes for improved handling.

Why would Ford bother making a sportier four-cylinder Mustang when buyers can still get a V8? The idea isn’t unprecedented. From 1984 to 1986, Ford sold the Mustang SVO, a performance model powered by a 2.3-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine – just like today’s Mustang EcoBoost. Fast forward to 2019, and Ford has stricter emissions standards to think about.

So, can you really have the same amount of fun as a V8 with four fewer cylinders? To find out, we accepted an invitation from Ford to drive the 2020 Mustang EcoBoost for a week on the roads in/around Johannesburg.

Hiding In Plain Sight

That’s exactly what this Mustang does.  It’s hiding its performance capabilities behind nondescript bodywork. While a Mustang is always likely to attract a certain level of attention, this car’s lack of “5.0” and “GT” badges (indicating a V8 model) or the coiled snake of a Shelby GT350 or GT500 or even that distinct Bullitt badge, will lead the uninitiated to dismiss it as a refugee from a rental car lot. That’s all part of the fun.

Other than an aluminium dashboard panel, and oil and turbo-boost gauges most owners will probably never use, the interior is unchanged. The Mustang’s interior doesn’t have the clean, minimalist look of  other sports vehicles, but it doesn’t have the Supra’s bunker-like feel, either. Neither car can match the spacious feel of the Mercedes-AMG GT cavernous interior, but the GT is just too big. It isn’t in the same league as the Mustang or Supra when it comes to driving dynamics, so it isn’t really a fair comparison.

Like other Mustang models, the EcoBoost gets an 8.0-inch touchscreen running Ford’s Sync 3 infotainment system, with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. A 12.0-inch digital instrument cluster is also available, replacing the analogue gauges with a reconfigurable display that can show up to eight virtual gauges. They range from simple dials in Normal mode to a more elaborate setup in Sport+. The graphics were nice to look at and easy to read.

All That Power

The 2.3-liter turbocharged four-cylinder EcoBoost engine used in the Mustang is related to the engine from the Ford Focus RS – the company’s ultimate hot hatchback. That got some engineers at Ford proving ground thinking, “What if we put a Focus RS engine in a Mustang?”

So a team of five engineers took the engine out of a Focus RS test mule, turned it 90 degrees to fit the Mustang’s rear-wheel drive layout, and tested it out. The result was so good that Ford’s top brass approved the car for production. But the Mustang has a different turbocharger, a different exhaust system, and radiator, and different transmissions.

On The Road

On the road, the changes Ford made add up to a lot more than just an EcoBoost Mustang, giving it a character very different to the traditional V8 Mustang.

Instead of an all-American V8 roar, this Mustang emits the sound of a European hot hatch. The Mustang includes an active exhaust system that lets the driver choose different levels of loudness, from Quiet mode to Track mode. Switch it to Track mode, and you get a nice mechanical growl, accompanied by the whistle of the turbocharger. It’s a great soundtrack, and one we never expected to hear from a Mustang.

Like the exhaust note, the driving experience proves that you can teach an old Mustang new tricks. With its independent rear suspension, the current-generation Mustang was already pretty good in corners. But this model takes things to a whole new level. The tire, chassis, and brake upgrades – combined with the EcoBoost engine’s lighter weight – create quick, precise reactions that are more sports car than muscle car. Ford’s engineers weren’t kidding about usable power, either. This engine has remarkable flexibility, with ample power available throughout the rev range.

The automatic is fine for highway cruising, but in the heat of battle it can be frustratingly indecisive. It constantly juggles its many gears for no obvious benefit. Granted, you can shift manually using steering wheel paddles, but if you’re going to do that, Ford should’ve just introduced a manual transmission.

Would we buy one for our garage? Nope, hand it over as a gift.

The Mustang is pretty light on driver aids. Autonomous emergency braking and adaptive cruise control are now available. But it’s a similar story with other sporty cars in this price range.

Ford offers a4-year/120 000km comprehensive warranty, 5-year/100 000km service plan, 3-year/unlimited km roadside assistance and 5-year/unlimited km corrosion warranty. Service intervals are every 20 000km.

The Mustang EcoBoost was once the car you bought if you couldn’t afford the V8-powered Mustang GT, it still is but there’s no shame about it as Ford has built this into something desirable. The combination of classic Mustang looks and the type of engine normally found in hot hatchbacks is a good one.

However, there are other options which makes things difficult or easy (depending how you look at things) to choose your next sports car. Two-seat sports cars like the Mazda MX-5 Miata, Fiat 124 Spider and Toyota 86 twins, as well as the Nissan 370Z can be had for similar money. So can a Volkswagen GTI or Subaru WRX, which are more practical than any of these cars. One thing is for sure: it’s a great time to be shopping for an affordable performance car.

Would we buy one for our garage? Nope, hand it over as a gift. Starting price of the Mustang 2.3 EcoBoost is from R856 200.

Photography by Harmonix

While we are probably still ages away from mass-produced highly customisable cars, Ford is going to offer Mustang fans a compromise. With the new 2018 Mustang coming out either later this year, or early 2018, buyers will be able to choose from a new range of colors, a dozen wheel options and, inside, their own personalized instrument cluster.

That last bit is thanks to the 2018 Mustang’s new 12-inch, all-digital dashboard screen. The display offers three different views, one for normal, another for sport, and a last one for track. For each view, you can personalize everything you see and then, courtesy of Ford’s intelligent MyMode feature, the system remembers all those settings, including suspension and steering, to reload them on your next drive.

The freedom of choice extends to the outside, with a choice of twelve alloy wheel designs and three new exterior colors. One of them, Orange Fury, seems aptly named. In addition to the new Mustang’s lowered and redesigned hood and fascia – already proving controversial among pony car fans – an all-LED front lighting, a first in any Mustang, the car looks like a themed prop from Kill Bill.

Carrying on the tradition of performance, the new Mustang offers a line-up of new engines and new transmissions. Don’t let the displacement fool you, since Ford says the new 2.3-liter four-cylinder EcoBoost engine (more #EcoBoostDayChallanges?) trumps the soon to be retired 3.6-liter V6. For those who want an even bigger roar, meanwhile, the newly reworked 5.0-liter V8 promises the most power in a production Mustang GT ever. That’s all thanks to Ford’s dual-fuel, high-pressure direct injection and low-pressure port fuel injection, applied for the very first time on a V8 engine. Speaking of roars, an all-new active valve exhaust system is an optional add-on to the Mustang GT, making the car roar like a lion or purr like a cat at your discretion.

Both engines’ manual transmissions have been upgraded for better torque, and the V8, in particular, now sports a twin-disc clutch and dual-mass flywheel. Opt for the new 10-speed automatic, however, and Ford is boasting of shorter shift times and fewer friction losses.

No car these days would be without the trappings of modern technology, and this year’s new Mustang is no different. In addition to the advanced, customisable instrument dash, the car also gets Ford’s latest driver-assistance technologies, like a new Pre-Collision Assist with pedestrian detection, distance alert, lane-departure warning, lane-keeping assist and Driver Alert System. For the first time, the Mustang supports remote lock, locate, and starting the car using a smartphone and the Ford SYNC system.

Ford says the 2018 Mustang Coupe will go on sale in North America sometime this September with further details such as pricing expected closer to launch. No comments have been issued on its local launch, with industry peers citing early 2018 introduction to the SA market.