Straight to the track for this first drive of the all-new Ford Mustang?
Yes, and it takes a special kind of confidence for a manufacturer to take journalists to the track for the first drive of a new model: If there’s anything lacking in the car, this is a surefire way of emphasizing any flaws. Ford seems to be utterly sure of the all-new Mustang, then, because the American carmaker took us to Clark International Speedway to test the car at its limit.
The Mustang isn’t a stranger to the track, of course—the last time I drove Clark in anger was from behind the wheel of the previous-generation Mustang in V8 guise. What stood out to me then was the engine. There’s something about a naturally aspirated American V8 and its sonorous song that brings out the smile normally hiding behind a jaded motor journalist’s lips.
As good as the motor was, though, the previous Mustang had some issues when it came to its handling. Not that it was bad in any way. Ever since Ford went to independent rear suspensions for its pony car, the Mustang has handled leagues better than its torsion-bar-equipped forebears. It just seemed a bit too playful in the corners—something you can see when you Google “Mustang leaving car meets.” It resulted in handling that, while fun, was a tad unpredictable at times and when on the power.
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So how has the Mustang changed?
Let’s start with the exterior. From the outside, this generation doesn’t seem ‘all-new.’ Yes, you have an Audi-esque LED cluster for the headlights, and a somewhat tacky hood vent (we wish it were body color), but other than these small changes, it wouldn’t seem that Ford did much to update the exterior. While we are sure that there are a lot of changes to the sheet metal to update the looks, you would be hard-pressed to spot the differences unless you had both old and new units side by side.
That said, the car does look like a Mustang, and that has always been one of the strengths of this model. It looks purposeful and somewhat tall, but its height is hidden well by the sheer length of the vehicle and the long sloping hood housing that V8. It looks good, with some retro touches that harken back to Mustangs of old. Ford came into this knowing not to mess too much with its flagship sports car.
How about on the inside?
The cabin looks and feels like the previous generation. Except for the drift brake (a handbrake without a lock), the interior was more about iteration rather than innovation. The instrument cluster up front is still quite huge, and the wheel is just about perfect for that sports-car feel. We wish the seat adjusted a bit lower, but I am 6’2” so this issue would not apply to most.
Basically, if you’ve driven the old Mustang, this one feels about the same, except for a slightly sportier seating position—something that we feel is a good thing.
Is there more power under the hood?
Powering the latest Mustang is an updated 5.0-liter V8 engine putting out 486hp and 567Nm of torque. This is up from 450hp in the previous generation. While a 36hp difference may seem like a lot, on the track, you can’t feel that much of a power bump. All we know is that our butt-dyno did register that we were going very, very fast on the main straight.
This engine is mated to a 10-speed SelectShift automatic transmission. Just like in the last generation, 10 gears is way too much choice for track driving. You find yourself constantly needing to shift up and down multiple gears, so we eventually just left the transmission in automatic mode and let it decide on which gear was best—and it was smart enough to do this. This meant the Mustang could jump straight to the optimal gear for optimal power delivery without having to hunt through too many ratios.
And how does it actually drive on the racetrack?
Here’s where this Mustang really lives up to the ‘all-new’ part of its name. It’s so far beyond the previous Mustang that if you ever intend to take it on track, this V8 is probably your best bet, short of the purpose-built Shelbys.
Compared with the previous model, this one felt so much more planted in all situations. Under acceleration, under heavy braking, hitting the curbs, powering out of off-camber corners, whatever you find yourself in, it felt more connected to the road. This is thanks in part to the MagneRide damping system, which automatically adjusted the suspension seamlessly in the background, and also to the very unintrusive traction and stability control systems.
Not once on the track did we feel the car was unsettled. Even through some tightening-radius corners where we had to wind on more lock, the car just settled, said, “Yes sir,” and tightened its line without drama. Gone are the days of Mustangs leaving car meets and plowing into a wall. (Who are we kidding—this will still happen, but less so now with how this car grips the road).
While this is not a full review, Ford had the cajones to put us behind the wheel at Clark International Speedway, and we can see why: Everyone who got out of the cars had huge smiles and this incredulous “did I just drive a Mustang?” face on.
Yes, the latest Mustang looks like a mild update from the outside, but drive it and you can tell that Ford engineers have moved the goalposts on their performance targets, turning what used to be a part-muscle, part-sports car into a thoroughbred track-capable machine. Definitely an ‘all-new’ upgrade if we ever saw one.
