Yahoo Autos 2024 Ford Mustang revealed with aggressive redesign, new Dark Horse
Say hello to the 2024 Ford Mustang. Dodge may have just put the pin in its V8-powered muscle cars, but Ford is far from done selling its fire-breathing coupe as the Mustang enters its seventh generation.
Rumors of hybrid powertrains flew for years leading up to this Mustang’s reveal, but in the end, Ford is sticking familiar engines under the hood of this new pony car. A revamped 2.3-liter turbocharged four-cylinder is the Mustang’s base engine, and an updated 5.0-liter Coyote V8 remains the engine for the GT. In typical Ford fashion, power figures for both are not being made available at the car’s initial reveal, though a ford engineer let slip during its debut that it should produce 480 horsepower. Officially, however, Ford is saying only that the 5.0 will produce more power than the current car’s 460 horsepower and 420 pound-feet of torque. A six-speed manual transmission now with rev-matching tech will be available for the GT, but the EcoBoost will be automatic-only starting in 2024 — Ford tells us the manual take rate on the four-cylinder was simply too low to justify offering it once more. The 10-speed automatic transmission on the previous Mustang carries over with some changes to the oily bits and new tuning for enhanced performance.
The performance boost for the 5.0-liter V8 will come largely from a new dual throttle body design for more air intake, a new exhaust manifold for better airflow, a longer duration exhaust camshaft to handle the increased airflow and the addition of port injection alongside direct injection (the previous gen was direct injection only). As for the EcoBoost, Ford says it features a new twin-scroll turbocharger and a high-speed wastegate for better responsiveness, a new modular power cylinder architecture (we’ll see this across Ford’s turbocharged four-cylinder lineup) and similar to the 5.0, now features both port and direct injection.
And if that's not enough for you, well, there's the Dark Horse — a new performance-oriented model that will spawn track- and racing variants of the seventh-gen pony car.
OK, but how about that new design? We suspect it’s going to be polarizing, as it’s far edgier (literally) than before. The EcoBoost and GT feature differentiated front end designs. You’ll notice that the grille on the GT is bigger than the four-cylinder’s, and it also features those odd-looking pods within. Functional hood vents are prominently placed on the GT but won’t be found on the EcoBoost. All Mustangs get the new tri-bar LED headlights, and Ford says it’s optimized the roofline to allow easier entry and exit with a racing helmet on.
In the rear, we can’t help but notice how high the black plastic creeps up the bumper — it’s not as bad as the WRX’s plastic butt, though it does remind us of that look. Ford went full drama on the rear with its sharply angled shaping and pointy appearance. The tri-bar taillights carry over, but they’re made to be even more showy with the intense angularity. In similar fashion as the sixth-gen, all GTs get a quad-tipped exhaust, and EcoBoost models get a dual exhaust. The tips are framed by a new rear diffuser design that Ford claims improves the aerodynamic balance of the rear.
In addition to the Coupe, Ford is revealing the Convertible today. There are no major changes in the soft top design or functionality with this new generation, as it continues to be electrically operated with the assistance of a single-handle center latching mechanism.
