Riding in the new 2015 Ford Mustang EcoBoost, an exercise in nimblicity

"They can't stop all of us." That was my thought, standing with a group of other writers on the tarmac outside the Charlotte Motor Speedway, a few feet from the new 2015 Ford Mustang and the even-newer 2.3-liter EcoBoost turbo engine. Ford had brought a group of journalists to North Carolina to talk about racing, but dangled the carrot of time in the all-new pony car. Unfortunately, that time was to be spent entirely in the passenger seat, with as much sway over the car's direction as a passing butterfly.

Had we made a break for the keys, one of us might have gotten a few feet before full pandemonium and several rounds of Tasering, so we chose to settle for the right side ride instead. And the truth is you can discern some key insights into the new Mustang even from the less-useful seat.

About that engine: For 2015, Ford will slot a new turbo four between the carryover V-6 and 5-liter V-8 to create a new mid-level car, with more than 300 hp. The last time Ford offered the Mustang with a choice of either a four, six or eight-cylinder was 1985, and the combination of an all-new chassis and a small but powerful engine makes for the most interesting combo in the new model.

In a short stint on an autocross track, Ford vehicle dynamics engineer Jamie Cullen took the wheel, showing off the difference between the new Mustang's standard chassis setting and a revamped Sport Plus mode that changes throttle response, stability control and braking.

I won't pretend that I can tell enough from five minutes in a passenger seat to give a full diagnois of the new Mustang's chassis, especially in an environment controlled by Ford. What I can say is that even without a steering wheel in my hands, the new Mustang felt markedly more composed than its predecessor around turns and during hard braking. Whereas a sharp corner in a solid-axle car can lead to wheel hop, the new independent suspension leveled the turns; and the Stang showed no sign of brake dive.

Compared to the current generation Camaros I've driven, the Mustang had an unfamiliar but pleasant lightness, although Ford hasn't specified how much weight it's saving in the update. Cullen says the engineering team coined a word for their target with the all-new chassis: "nimblicity." We'll let the crime against the English language slide as soon as we get seat time in the new Mustang to define it.