If you want a really fast Ford Mustang, but can’t shell out more than $50,000 for the Shelby GT350, you’re in luck. The entire next-generation Mustang range looks set to be the best-looking and most capable yet.
Ford revealed Monday that it has squeezed more performance from both the Mustang GT’s V-8 and Mustang EcoBoost’s inline-four engines ahead of the 2018 model year, dropping their zero to 60 mph times to below four and five seconds, respectively. Their improved acceleration partly is due to their new Drag Strip driving mode, but largely a result of Ford’s new available 10-speed SelectShift automatic transmission.
The GT will have an output of 460 horsepower and 420 foot-pounds of torque, giving it 25 horsepower and 20 foot-pounds more than the current model. The EcoBoost’s power output will remain unchanged at 310 horsepower, but it now produces 350 foot-pounds of torque, a 30-foot-pound increase.
“Typically, when you shift gears, you give up time,” Mustang chief engineer Carl Widmann said in a statement. “In Drag Strip mode, the engine torque doesn’t drop when you’re shifting. You get peak engine torque and horsepower straight through thanks to our new Ford-built 10-speed transmission.”
The 10-speed box not only keeps you in the power band longer, but it allows for quicker gear changes, and more efficient daily driving. The ECU also has been retuned such that it can skip gears on upshifts or downshifts if that’s necessary.
We’re pretty glad Ford included a Drag Strip mode along with the existing normal, sport, track and snow/wet ones. Otherwise line lock, which will come on every 2018 Mustang, only would’ve been used to show off at Cars and Coffee meets, rather than actually as a means of warming the rear tires.
Given the increased performance throughout the 2018 Mustang range, we can understand why Ford drew inspiration from Darth Vader when redesigning the pony car’s front end.
Thumbnail photo via Ford
