Yahoo Autos 2024 Ford Mustang GT & EcoBoost First Drive Review: You want silly? It gives you silly
ARCADIA, Calif. – “All-new” was thrown around a lot during the press launch of the 2024 Ford Mustang, but that’s stretching the definition of the word “all.” The 2024 Mustang is based on the previous generation’s platform, many dimensions are effectively the same, and the available engines are derived from their predecessors. It seems more like the 1971 Mustang, which changed considerably, yet retained the original Falcon-derived platform and is considered a first-generation Mustang. Similar intra-generational transformations occurred for 1987 and 2010.
Frankly, this is just a matter of semantics, marketing and the economic realities of re-engineering internal combustion cars in an SUV-hungry market and at the dawn of the EV era. What’s important is that this is a new Mustang, one with fundamental differences, improvements and additions that set it apart from its predecessor. The greatest addition is the wildly fun drift brake, which we’ve devoted an entire separate piece to, while the biggest differences and improvements are found inside. As this is a Mustang review, let’s save those for later and instead pop the hood.
The 2024 Mustang GT gets a revised version of Ford’s 5.0-liter “Coyote” V8. The key upgrades are a dual throttle body induction system and a dual intake that sucks in air through the distinctive openings stuck into both sides of the grille. That’s why the fang-like elements are there and why the EcoBoost doesn’t have them. The GT now produces 480 horsepower and 415 pound-feet of torque in standard guise, up from 450 hp and 410 lb-ft. Opting for the active valve exhaust bumps it up to 486 hp and 418 lb-ft, while the new Mustang Dark Horse that we did not drive churns out 500 hp and 418 lb-ft.
Without an outgoing GT on hand, it was impossible to detect how much these upgrades accomplish, but it definitely remains a mean eight-pack of rumbling fury. Acceleration will snap your head back, and the sounds under hood will make you want to stay in a lower gear far longer than is needed. The active-valve performance exhaust also adds increasing levels of spice depending on drive mode, but the beauty of a naturally aspirated V8 is that the pipes in back don’t need to compensate for the aural deficiencies of the lump up front. They work in concert together, and the music is brilliant.
As before, the 5.0 is ideally conducted with a six-speed manual transmission, which features an automatic rev-match function that works as advertised performing spot-on downshifts without heel-toeing. You can still do it the old-fashioned way, should you so desire. You can also get a 10-speed automatic, but our experience with the GT plus auto combo was very brief.
The base 2.3-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder gets a new twin-scroll turbocharger, a new modular power cylinder architecture and port injection added to work alongside the existing direct injection. The result is 315 horsepower – a 5-hp increase over the previous standard EcoBoost but 15 less than the discontinued “High Performance” variant. It produces the same 350 pound-feet of torque as both.
Don’t let those figures wash over you. The 4.6-liter V8 of the 2005 Mustang GT, the first of the retro models, produced only 300 hp and 320 lb-ft of torque. Thanks to the wonders of modernity and turbocharging, you can now do better than that with half the cylinders. This is absolutely a performance engine, one that energetically gets the Mustang up to speed and gets the tires smoking, especially with the drift brake. A four-cylinder Mustang can still be a fun and fast Mustang.
Does it sound as good? Oh heck no. There remains a cognitive dissonance of hot hatch engine noises in a Mustang, but the available active valve performance exhaust does its best to wash that out with a deep, omnipresent bass that increases when you select Sport or Track modes. It honestly sounds better outside the car, which could be a reason to ponder the convertible or use the new Remote Rev function that lets you rev the engine using the key fob. You want silly? The 2024 Mustang will give you silly.
The six-speed manual transmission can no longer be paired with the EcoBoost – the number of people opting for it was too scarce to justify. The 10-speed automatic is therefore obligatory, but unfortunately, none of the drive settings are smart enough to up- and downshift when you would when driving it like a fast and fun Mustang (such as when braking into a corner). Reaching for a paddle shifter is typically a sign that a performance car’s automatic isn’t up to the task, and the Mustang EcoBoost’s is not. Even worse, paddle shifters are not standard – they are included with the Performance pack. We lacked them in the test drive up and down Glendora Mountain Road, and it was frustrating. It is unclear how the 10-speed automatic pairs with the V8-powered GT, as we did not get to properly test that combination.
