Ford Mustang review – performance and 0-60mph time
The Mustang GT is the UK's best performer, dispatching 0-62mph in just 4.3sec despite a lardy 1818kg kerb weight
It comes as little surprise to say right away that a V8 engine is imperative for the Mustang. The old 2.3-litre turbocharged four-cylinder EcoBoost was not only at loggerheads with its very ideology, but it was also objectively rough, slow, laggy and wholly unsuited to its use in a large four-seat coupe. Not that you’ll need to know, but the EcoBoost Mustang took a glacial 5.8sec to reach 62mph when fitted with the manual transmission (the automatic shaved 0.3sec off that time thanks to the short gearing).
The naturally aspirated 5-litre ‘Coyote’, on the other hand, is everything you might reasonably expect of an American V8. Performance is good, and since its midlife update has picked up some extra power and torque, but the powertrain needs revs to feel the figures, despite some serious cubic capacity.
As a result, the Mustang’s 1768kg kerb weight does take the sting out of the mid range, but rev the engine and it absolutely feels its power figure, hitting 62mph in 4.7sec when fitted with the automatic gearbox, and 4.9sec with the manual. Convertibles add 0.2sec to the respective transmissions.
Upon the Mach 1’s arrival, Ford killed off the previous Bullitt range topper. That car was more of an aesthetic special edition, whereas the new car is much more serious, with upgrades to both powertrain and chassis that, in the USA, bridge the gap to top-drawer Shelby variants. Performance is only marginally up on that of the standard GT, taking 4.4sec to reach 62mph with the automatic transmission, and 4.8sec with the manual.
