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Are you sitting down? Good. Get in here and meet the new member of the Ford Mustang family. You know, the one coming to Australia next year.
That’s right, the Ford Mustang is 50 years old, and to celebrate, it’s gone on a mid-life crisis diet and had some cosmetic surgery to make it look funkier than ever.
On the outside, the new Mustang is lower, sits wider on the road with wider fenders and rear windshield, while thinning out in the roof width. It’s also now bearing the beautiful new trapezoidal grille that seems to define Ford cars of the last few years. Ford’s also calling the front a “shark-nose”. Ok then.
The new Mustang will pack a choice of 3.7-litre V6 (220kW, 366Nm of torque) and 5.0-litre V8 (312kW, 529Nm of torque) engines under the bonnet, as well as the addition of a new 2.3-litre Ford EcoBoost engine. Ford threw some science at it to try and squeeze every last Newton metre of torque from the engine:
The Mustang EcoBoost engine uses direct injection, variable cam timing and turbocharging to deliver plenty of usable performance and projected segment-leading fuel efficiency. A unique intake manifold and turbocharger housing enable it to deliver the performance Mustang drivers expect with output projected at more than 227kW and 407Nm of torque (US spec).
Ooooh.
It’s also packing new brakes, all new front suspension and independent rear suspension so the ride is faster in the corners, smoother everywhere else and, most importantly, bring you to a stop quickly without too much drama.
Ford is also loading the new Mustang to the gills with tech. It’s got the new, smart MyKey system which lets you adjust how others will drive the car with a bit of software hardcoded to the key they use; Ford’s SYNC system; a Track Apps system which gives you a swathe of racing information like braking times, countdown starts, quarter-mile acceleration measurements and G-Forces exerted; Ford MyColour programs for setting the colour of the lights all around your car; torque vectoring tech first seen on the new Fiesta ST of all things; and AppLink compatibility just to name a few.
Ford won’t be releasing pricing just yet, but you’ll time to save up at any rate: the new Mustang won’t be available in Australia until 2015.
We can just ogle at how pretty it is until then though.