Yahoo Autos Ford Mustang Mach-E GT First Drive Review | Packing that electric punch
The Ford Mustang Mach-E as we have known it has lacked "the punch." Oh, it delivers the immediate low-end torque delivered by every EV, and can plant you firmly into its soft front seats well enough. A 0-60 time of 4.8 seconds for the Premium AWD is nothing to sneeze at. But the punch to the chest you get when nailing the right pedal, as in a Tesla or Polestar 2? That feeling that can take your breath away, knock the sunglasses off your head and make you laugh at its absurdity? Nope, nada, missing in action … until now.
Welcome to the party the Ford Mustang Mach-E GT. For those unfamiliar with good, old-fashioned Mustangs, those two extra letters have signified the presence of a V8 engine and therefore a palpable performance upgrade over the four- and six-cylinder base engines. The Mustang GT is also where most car enthusiasts even begin to consider Ford's pony car. And honestly, as impressive as every other version of the Mach-E has been, that's probably going to be the case for the electric crossover Mustang, too. The GT is the one you want.
Nail the accelerator from a standstill and you get the punch. Goodbye sunglasses, enjoy the back seat. The GT produces 480 horsepower and 600 pound-feet of torque, which is definitely a performance upgrade over the next rung down, the Premium AWD at 346 hp and 428 lb-ft. The additional GT Performance upgrade has the same 480 hp, but produces 634 lb-ft.
Ford's stopwatch clocks the GT from 0-60 mph in 3.8 seconds, with the GT Performance's extra torque and stickier summer rubber cutting that time down to 3.5 seconds. That's 0.4 seconds slower than the quickest Tesla Model 3 Performance, but … shrug. There's more to cars than a stop watch.
OK, so in the case of EVs, there's also electric range, and here the GT is outdone (like basically every other EV) by Tesla. The GT carries an EPA-estimated range of 270 miles, which is the same as the Premium AWD. The GT Performance drops to 260 miles. Now, if it significantly outperforms its EPA range as other Mach-Es have in real-world testing, while Tesla slightly underperforms as it has, the effective difference between that same 315-mile Model 3 Performance won't be that great. Theoretically at least. There would still be a significant difference compared to the Model 3 Long Range version, which is rated at 353 miles, and is only 0.4 seconds off the GT's 0-60 time. Though, again, shrug.
In the end, though, the more you punch it in the GT, the worse that range is going to get. It shares the same 88-kilowatt-hour "Extended Range" battery as the Premium and California Route 1 trim levels, and although it does gain some extra efficiency due to its lower suspension, your mileage will very much vary.
Speaking of that suspension, there's more going on with the GT than just the extra power and torque. The suspension is indeed 10 millimeters lower, and features unique tuning. It's notably firmer, resulting in much tidier body motions through successive tight corners. The entire Mach-E feels smaller and less crossovery now as a result. We even autocrossed the thing as part of the first drive event and it didn't seem like a ridiculous thing to do. Handling theoretically gets upgraded with the GT Performance (above right), which gets Ford's Magneride magnetically controlled dampers, but we honestly didn't experience that much of a difference between the fixed suspension in the GT and adjustable one in the GT Performance. Yes, Magneride firms things up in Sport mode — sorry, "Unbridled" mode — but it's not such a significant difference that you should feel bad about skipping the GT Performance.
That's especially so since Magneride also doesn't do much for the ride quality, which is often as much a reason to select it as its handling benefits are. Both suspensions offered in the Mach-E GT provide a definitively firm ride. Choppy pavement can toss you around a bit, and with a family aboard, it might draw complaints. It's sport-tuned without question, and even with Magneride, you have to accept the trade-off its improved handling brings. That said, we could live it with quite happily.
