More Power And 10 Speeds Headline Next Year's Ford Mustang Upgrades

Ford is introducing a wave of significant upgrades to the Mustang, including more power, a new magnetic ride suspension system and active exhaust valves that can switch to a quiet 'Good Neighbour' mode...
More Power And 10 Speeds Headline Next Year's Ford Mustang Upgrades

Ford has upgraded the Mustang again, and this time there’s more power and more transmission ratios than you can shake a (gear) stick at.

The new European Mustang’s 5.0-litre V8 has been tweaked up to 444bhp; a 28bhp jump from its first state of tune. It can be linked, if you like, to a new 10-speed automatic gearbox that Ford says is more fuel-efficient and cleverer, with ‘real-time adaptive shift-scheduling’ that aims to always select the right gear for the conditions. These are similar changes to what we’ve seen on the North American one.

More Power And 10 Speeds Headline Next Year's Ford Mustang Upgrades

That gearbox is optional for both the V8 and the 2.3-litre 286bhp four-cylinder EcoBoost turbo. Matthias Tonn, the Mustang’s chief engineer, says the transmission lets the engines deliver peak muscle while shifting and minimises any drop in momentum for each cog swap. They say this will definitely beat the old one in a drag race. Shifting is, of course, semi-manually controlled with paddles behind the steering wheel.

If manual gear-whisking is more your thing, the six-speeder remains the standard choice. It’s now stronger, though, with a twin-disc clutch and dual-mass flywheel that together permit faster shifts, Ford says. Line Lock, otherwise known as burnout mode, is still standard for those times when you just need to warm your tyres a little before your launch.

More Power And 10 Speeds Headline Next Year's Ford Mustang Upgrades

Elsewhere there’s a new, optional MagneRide Damping System that uses a magnetorheological setup similar to that seen in expensive Audis, among others. It can almost instantly make the suspension firmer or softer, as required. As part of that there are two new drive modes: the self-explanatory Drag Strip and ‘My Mode’ for user-customisable setups.

We admit we had a chuckle at one new feature on the 2018 model year Mustang: Good Neighbour Mode. An active valve in the exhaust can shut the engines’ bark right down, making it much quieter for escaping the suburbs in the early hours of the morning without waking everyone else up and attracting the sort of attention you don’t really want.

More Power And 10 Speeds Headline Next Year's Ford Mustang Upgrades

After the Mustang’s Euro NCAP debacle and Ford’s resulting headache, the new one will be fitted with pre-collision assist with sensors to detect pedestrians. Adaptive cruise control can be fitted, with a distance alert feature and a lane-keeping aid that works to keep the car central in its lane. An ‘improved’ crash safety score is on the way, we’re told.

As you’d expect, there’s Bluetooth, voice control, sat-nav, climate control and more to play with via the central touchscreen. You can even programme the digital gauges, which change according to the drive mode, to display in one of seven colour choices. The V8 is probably still the thing to focus on, though…

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Comments

SAVAGE DOGG (Ping-Pong Gang) (Corvette Squad)

Hows the TC?
We don’t want deja vu from previous Mustang incidents…

09/11/2017 - 09:34 |
0 | 0
Roadster / Tail Red

When you’re so tired of the crowd jokes you’re going to be another computer instead

09/11/2017 - 09:34 |
13 | 1

Was going to talk about the sensors that detect pedestrians like a target mode… But it’s just not funny anymore

09/12/2017 - 06:50 |
0 | 0
Tomislav Celić

Men Muslce cars are getting better and better. Remember when Europeans made joke of them? Well now they make jokes of us…

09/11/2017 - 09:35 |
43 | 5

Nah. Muscle cars are better now, but I wouldn’t say they make jokes of european cars

09/11/2017 - 18:41 |
3 | 0
Anonymous

Lol? a dual-mass flywheel that permits faster shifts.. sure..

09/11/2017 - 09:42 |
15 | 2
Jia the Supra Fanboy

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Yeah I don’t even drive stick myself but I shook my head a little when I read that…

09/11/2017 - 16:31 |
2 | 0
Anonymous

Who else has noticed that the ecoboost is now an even worse choice as its dropped 24bhp compared to before. The noise is not particularly tuneful and yet you’ll have to work it even harder to get equatavke performance to before.

09/11/2017 - 10:12 |
2 | 1
TheRealBouss

“Ford Mustang” and “fuel efficient”. Didn’t expect to see those two words being associated with one another anytime soon.

09/11/2017 - 10:54 |
7 | 0

Well, four words to be exact.

09/12/2017 - 23:55 |
0 | 0
Wesly Beausoleil

The camaro looks more like a mustang then a mustang lol

09/11/2017 - 10:57 |
2 | 2
Dave 15

Important question: will it now get proper LED Daytime Running Lights in the UK?

09/11/2017 - 12:26 |
0 | 0

And sequential turn signals

09/11/2017 - 15:59 |
0 | 0
Ben Anderson 1

In reply to by Dave 15

Yes, and hood vents. The pictures on this article are the European models.

09/11/2017 - 16:55 |
0 | 0
Olivier (CT's grammar commie)

In reply to by Dave 15

We get daytime running lights in Canada, so I guess you will also get it in the UK

09/12/2017 - 23:56 |
0 | 0
Anonymous

Still too much tech in my option. Just piss off your neighbors, they’ll get over it. And the front I think needs redesigned.

09/11/2017 - 12:26 |
0 | 0
Driven to Drive 1

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

You’re in luck! You can pick up a 2015-2017 mustang with less tech and a nice looking front end. Dealers will be clearing them out, so I’d jump on it.

09/11/2017 - 15:28 |
1 | 0
Mark Stanton

These new auto boxes are almost getting to Fast and Furious numbers of gears… Almost.

09/11/2017 - 12:29 |
7 | 0

Yeah it’s getting a bit silly. Fxxk that - Regera for life :D

09/11/2017 - 21:04 |
0 | 0

They’re only eight gears off.

09/12/2017 - 01:51 |
2 | 0