The Ford Mustang Thread

New Ford Mustang revealed, and it keeps the muscle car tradition alive

While Dodge seems to feel that the future of the muscle car is purely electric, Ford is keeping the traditional format alive with its new-generation Mustang.

Revealed at the Detroit Motor Show on Wednesday evening, the new Ford Mustang promises to be the most exhilarating and visceral yet and as we hoped and expected, the V8 petrol engine format has been retained.

Beneath the bonnet of the GT model you’ll find an extensively updated version of the current ‘Coyote’ 5.0-litre V8, which remains naturally aspirated. While it promises more power than before, its outputs have yet to be revealed.

The six-speed manual gearbox option has been retained for the GT, complete with a rev-matching function, and buyers can instead opt for a 10-speed autobox. Ford is also offering an updated version of the 2.3-litre, four-cylinder EcoBoost motor in the base Mustang.

Opt for the Performance Pack, which adds various track-focused chassis features, and you’ll also get an electronic parking brake designed specifically to enable drifting for both novice drivers and experts.

 
The 2024 Ford Mustang GT and EcoBoost From Every Angle

Here's your best look yet at the new seventh-generation S650 Mustang, inside and out.

 
2024 Ford Mustang: This Is It

The seventh-generation S650 Mustang just debuted in Detroit with a naturally aspirated V8, a six-speed manual, and updated styling.

A lot has changed in the nearly 60 years since the first Ford Mustang was introduced. The pony car, originally pitched as stylish budget-friendly transportation for young people, became a high-performance enthusiast icon. We traded carburetors for fuel injection, and more recently, electrification. Cassettes, 8-tracks and CDs have been replaced with satellite radio and Bluetooth, and tactile buttons have been traded in for touchscreens. Now, we have a new model that seeks to evoke the pony-car past while also embracing (some of) the future. Meet the 2024 Ford Mustang, the seventh generation of the model that launched a movement.

The first thing you’ll notice with this latest rendition of Mustang is the styling. The lines are recognizable, with a general resemblance to the sixth-generation S550 currently on dealer floors, but the new model feels slimmer, more svelte.

Up front, the aggressive grille is reminiscent of early Mustangs, as tradition demands. GT models get their own grille and bumper design, with twin nostrils that are more cohesively integrated compared to those on the sixth gen. A single horizontal plane defines the top of the grille as well as the headlights, which now include new three-segment turn signals that illuminate in sequence, as we’ve seen on Mustang tri-bar taillights for a while now.

As always, the new Mustang will be available in coupe and convertible form. The coupe’s roofline feels lower, which is likely just a trick of the eye. Ford says the beltline has been lowered for a sportier look, and the automaker insists that the shape of the door opening makes it easier to get in and out while wearing a helmet.

 
Official: meet the brand new Ford Mustang

After seven generations, the old horse is still far from knackered

The new Ford Mustang arrives at something of an interesting juncture for cars: expensive fuel, EVs on the upswing and governments coming down on all things combustion-powered. So, does that mean the seventh-generation is now downsized, hybridised or somehow bastardised? Does it heck. Not only does the 5.0-litre V8 remain – it’s more powerful than ever.

As Ford CEO Jim Farley said: “Investing in another generation of Mustang is a big statement at a time when many of our competitors are exiting the business of internal combustion vehicles.” The subtext in that sentence is as big as the statement itself: there’s no latitude for the Mustang to be powered by any means other than burning petrol. And Ford’s not ready to put its stud out to pasture yet.

This means that under the bonnet, you’ll at least find the 2.3-litre Ecoboost turbo four-cylinder and, depending on your luck, the 5.0-litre Coyote V8. What you won’t find is any kind of electrification, hybrid or otherwise. Almost like Ford already has the whole ‘electric Mustang’ thing covered some other way.

Ford says the turbo four and naturally aspirated V8 are new; we’d probably lean more towards ‘revised’, but then we’re not in the business of writing press releases. In any case, the V8 gets dual air intakes and dual throttle bodies, which means better airflow and more power – apparently delivering more naturally aspirated horsepower than any Mustang GT before it. Ford doesn’t mention what changed with the 2.3-litre turbo, but, considering Mountune can screw 513bhp and 516lb ft out of a modified version of the same engine for £6,000, it might be the dark horse of modern Mustangs. Or it would be, if that name wasn’t already earmarked for something else. Both come with a six-speed manual or the option of Ford’s ‘if less is more, then more must be much more’ 10-speed automatic. At this point, actually having access to a 5.0-litre V8 muscle car and choosing an automatic might actually qualify for automotive apostasy. But we digress.

 
New 2023 Ford Mustang keeps V8 punch

Seventh generation of iconic car to hit UK shores next year with meaner look - but it could be the last

Ford has unwrapped its new seventh-generation Ford Mustang, which could be the final model in the icon’s 58-year history.

Launched at a huge outdoor event following the opening of the reborn Detroit motor show, the Mustang will hit UK shores next year.

Featuring a bolder, edgier take on the classic Ford icon, the headline news is that, rather than being based on Ford's latest CD6 architecture that underpins the current US-spec Ford Explorer, the new 2023 Mustang remains on the previous generation's S550 platform.

This means the new Ford Mustang (codenamed S650) is more of a comprehensive reskin of the current car and that it will miss out not only on long-rumoured electrified powertrains, but also the American brand's next-generation autonomous driving aids.

Under the bonnet, both the 2.3-litre twin-scroll turbocharged Ecoboost four-cylinder and 5.0-litre 'Coyote' V8 are carried over, although the former is said to be so comprehensively updated – with a new bore, stroke, and a fresh turbo – it's effectively all-new.

 
New 7th-Generation Ford Mustang Revealed!

The wraps have come off the new Ford Mustang, with the seventh-generation pony car gaining evolutionary styling changes and an overhauled interior, and thankfully retaining the option of a V8 engine…

Meet the new Ford Mustang. Seemingly riding on an updated version of the outgoing model’s platform, the seventh-generation Mustang likewise uses tweaked versions of its predecessor’s petrol engines. The big news, of course, is the fact the familiar 5.0-litre V8 powerplant lives on.

As with the sixth-generation Mustang, the newcomer will be available in coupé and convertible body styles, with the engine line-up again comprising the aforementioned V8 and an updated version of the turbocharged 2.3-litre, 4-cylinder engine. Manual and automatic transmissions will be offered, depending on the market.

Though the Blue Oval brand has yet to confirm peak power and torque outputs of either of the engine options, it does promise the fourth generation of its Coyote 5.0-litre V8 (which, for the record, makes 330 kW and 529 Nm in outgoing SA-spec form) will deliver the “most naturally aspirated horsepower of any Mustang GT” thanks to a new dual air-intake box and dual-throttle body design.

 
The Mustang Dark Horse is Ford’s factory-built, track-day monster

Track-ready Mustangs, fresh from the Ford factory. Life is good sometimes

Ford Mustangs are known for many things. Inventing the entire concept of the pony car, for instance. That one Wilson Pickett song every bar band has played at some point. Bullitt. What it’s rather less famous for – unless you’re American, of course – is racetrack prowess.

But that rather looks like priority one for the new Mustang Dark Horse. A quick rundown of Dark Horse additions – transmission oil cooler, rear axle cooler, auxiliary engine cooler and improved coolant... um, cooler – all seem to point to a made-for-the-track Mustang.

And when Mustang engineers start talking about ‘improved aero’ and ‘NACA ducts for brake cooling’, we’re pretty sure we understand their intention. But, just in case you’re not convinced, we’ll quote Ford’s official statement directly: "Dark Horse S is designed for the weekend track day enthusiast while Dark Horse R has been developed for racing." Yep, that feels pretty unequivocal.

Well, starting with a 5.0-litre, 500bhp V8 feels a) quite Mustang-appropriate, and b) like more than enough power for a seriously entertaining time. The updated Coyote V8 gets dual throttle bodies, a new ECU tune and the conrods from the full-nutter Shelby GT500. Which, if we think about things for a bit, does rather feel like 500bhp is more of a starting point for this V8 than a final destination. And likely has something to do with race homologation down the road.

In any case, getting the 500ish horsepower to the road is the job of a Tremec six-speed manual (unique to the Dark Horse) and Torsen limited-slip diff. Ford also offers its 10-speed automatic, but that does seem rather beside the point.

 
The 2024 Ford Mustang Brings Back the Drift Stick

The Performance Electric Parking Brake is much cooler than its name.

 
Ford Will Let You Give Your 2024 Mustang Fox Body Gauges

Now that the Mustang has a big ol’ digital dash, Ford will let its owners have some fun with it.

 
The Ford Mustang Dark Horse is a track-ready manual transmissioned V8

 
It's Going to Suck for Third Party Tuners and the S650 Ford Mustang

Aftermarket tuning companies are going to find it difficult to tune the 2024 Mustang with all of its cybersecurity.

If an automaker doesn’t deliver on power or some other performance metric, you can always count on the aftermarket and third-party tuners to deliver. But that’s starting to not be the case anymore as automakers bake in electronic features third-party tuners can’t get around. Take the all new 2024 S560 Ford Mustang. Ford Authority reports that third-party tuners are going to have a difficult time trying to tune the new Mustang due to fear of it being hacked.

Ed Krenz, the Mustang’s chief engineer spoke with Ford Authority and gave a rundown on why third-party tuners might run into some trouble. It all comes down to cybersecurity. For whatever reason, Ford is concerned about vehicle cybersecurity. This is why the new Mustang uses the company’s Fully Networked Vehicle (FNV) architecture, which allows for things like over-the-air updates and cybersecurity encryption.

The downside of this is that it essentially shuts down any third-party tuning as Ford Authority explains:

FoMoCo’s FNV electrical architecture has long been expected to make life more difficult for third party tuners in general, though that’s simply a byproduct of the automaker’s attempts to keep user data – and their vehicles – safe from ever-growing hacking threats. Krenz and other S650 engineers explained that the entire stack on the S650 is encrypted, including the ECU. This means that if the system detects a “break” in authentication, it will shut it down – or shut down components of the vehicle. So even if someone were to modify one of these engines, they wouldn’t be able to actually tune the car to take full advantage of it.

 
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