The Ford Mustang is on its way to South Africa next year, in case you missed the memo. But just how much power will the new 2.3-litre EcoBoost engine produce, and how much will the big-daddy 5.0 V8 generate? Well Ford SouthAfricahas lifted the lid, and we’re quite pleased with what they’ve told us.
The naturally aspirated V6 engine won’t be available for the South African market. Instead, we’ll be getting a new 2.3-litre turbocharged 4-pot EcoBoost engine developing 228kW and 440Nm driving the rear wheels. To some, the 4-pot turbo route may seem sacrilegious, but with a light weight, torquey output, and with Ford’s EcoBoost engines generally being rather impressive, we reckon the entry-level model may be the one you actually want to buy.
However, if you don’t care about the environment, don’t mind refuelling twice a day, and are far too adamant that your pony car should feature no fewer and no more than 8 cylinders, then Ford has the solution for you. The 5.0-litre V8 engine develops 320kW and 536Nm, and naturally comes paired with a sound only a V8 could produce. Naturally, this range topper will be vastly more expensive though, and as such will be reserved only for the wealthier petrolheads.
Further technical details about the Mustang have also been revealed. For the first time ever on a ‘stang, fully independent front and rear suspension means that the Mustang should actually be able to corner quite well.
No further details have been revealed as yet for local specification, and pricing is still a mystery, but we’re desperately hoping the EcoBoost model will come in at under R500k. Yes, that does mean we think the 2.3-litre will be the better of the 2. It’ll have better power delivery, plenty torque, and it’ll be light-weight meaning the nose should turn in sharper and with less understeer. That’s our call, and we could be proven wrong, but we look forward to finding out!
