The Mustang is still number two in the Us sports car market,
and only just, to the Camaro. And it still offers near-unbeatable bang for the
buck. If you disqualify a couple of tradesman-spec trucks with big V8 engines,
the Camaro and Mustang still offer the cheapest horsepower in America. The Mustang
is again only just behind the Camaro at 76 dollars per horsepower for the entry
level 305hp V6.
2015 Ford Mustang
2.3L EcoBoost instrument cluster
But it still needs help. When it was launched in ’64 it
famously sold a million within 18 months. Those days really are long gone. A
more recent peak was 2006, when Ford shipped 166,000 Mustangs in the United
states. But the financial crisis sent sales into a vertiginous plunge, and
knocked the first ‘1’ off that number in just three years. Mustang sales tanked
harder than the Us market generally, and haven’t recovered as strongly.
Recently they’ve been around the $52,133.06, with the rebound growth going
instead to cars such as the Hyundai Veloster (20,311.58) and the scion Fr-s
(our Toyota GT-86: 12,864).
2015 Ford Mustang
2.3L EcoBoost Headlight
Work on the new Mustang started just when those sales
figures were at their worst in 2009; which, though they’ll never admit it, must
have encouraged Ford to commit to the biggest inter-generational change the
Mustang has seen. There are two headlines. First, the long-overdue dumping of
the ancient live rear axle for an integral-link design, which Us colleagues
who’ve snuck a ride in development cars report brings all the improvements
you’d expect: less pitch and dive under acceleration and braking, a more
planted feel generally, and better steady state ride quality.
2015 Ford Mustang
2.3L EcoBoost badge
And second, the introduction of the 2.3-litre,
four-cylinder, direct-injection, twin-scroll turbocharged Ecoboost engine (also
heading for the next Focus RS). With 310bhp and 320lb ft it has the highest
specific output of any Ford production engine at 135bhp per litre. The old V6
with a similar power output continues as the entry engine in North America only,
and has actually been down rated slightly, from 305bhp to 300 to give the four
a bigger power advantage. The Ecoboost four’s greater complexity justifies its
price premium over the V6, although it’s very fractionally heavier at 1605kg in
base manual form. Only the four and the all-aluminium Coyote 5.0-litre V8,
uprated 15bhp to 435bhp, will come to europe. Like for like, a sixth-gen manual
V8 Gt gains 40kg over its predecessor at 1684kg, although that weight is now
much more evenly distributed at 52/48% front/rear.
2015 Ford Mustang
2.3L EcoBoost taillight
While any sensibly minded car enthusiast ought to welcome
more economical high-performance engines, you worry about just how central a V6
or V8 is to the appeal of a Mustang. While big euro SUVs offer a V8 option,
it’s a box seldom ticked by European buyers. But Ford says it expects the V8
version of the Mustang to be popular here, simply because buyers who’ve waited
a long time for one will want it with a V8. Those who’ve heard a prototype four
run say it’s gruff but disappointingly muted. The exhaust note will be played
into the cabin via the stereo, the same trick BMW had to pull when the M5 went
turbo.
