With all due respect to the fine folks of Kentucky, the most important equine event this May was in Charlotte, North Carolina, where Ford rolled out the 2015 Mustang EcoBoost for a closed-course, mid-speed autocross demo. Upside: This is our maiden dynamic encounter with the all-new 2.3-liter turbocharged pony. Downside: No peeking under the hood, no discussing weight figures, and Dearborn’s people wouldn’t let anyone actually get behind the wheel, instead remanding us to shotgun rides for three quick laps with an engineer. They do realize we’ll all drive it eventually, right?
Treating any car like a matter of national security is absurd, but Ford’s playing this one close to the chest for a reason. Unless you’ve done something unholy (like stuff 2.0-liters of Focus ST into a Foxbody), this is the first turbo Stang since the short-lived SVO three decades ago. This 2015 EcoBoost is also the new volume-premium pony—slotted below the V8 but above the six-cylinder model—as well as the first genuine ‘world Mustang,’ slated for dealer lots in 135 countries. There’s a lot on the line here.
The 2015 Mustang we rode through the cone gates was an automatic transmission car and equipped with the optional performance package, for which Ford wouldn’t confirm (or deny) the rumored $1995 price bump. Here’s what we learned in our three brief laps …
The four-cylinder performance pack doesn’t add power
Well, at least on the 2.3-liter. Ford says there’s just one underhood tweak included with the EcoBoost performance pack and it’s not to increase output, which remains rather ambiguously quoted at “more than 305 hp, and more than 300 lb-ft of torque.” The performance pack does, however, liven up acceleration with new rear-axle ratios, TRADING
a 3.31 set for 3:55 gears. Fixed 4-piston aluminum calipers straddle 13.8-inch front rotors, with a vented 13.0-inch disc and sliding-caliper setup out back. This is, essentially, the brake configuration from the upcoming V8 in place of the base four-cylinder’s 12.5-inch rotors and 2-piston sliding calipers. In both automatic and manual guises, performance-pack carsalso get firmer dampers and higher spring rates, additional chassis bracing, different front bushings, sway bars that are 5 percent stiffer, and 255/40R Pirelli P Zero summer performance tires on 19x9-inch wheels all around.
a 3.31 set for 3:55 gears. Fixed 4-piston aluminum calipers straddle 13.8-inch front rotors, with a vented 13.0-inch disc and sliding-caliper setup out back. This is, essentially, the brake configuration from the upcoming V8 in place of the base four-cylinder’s 12.5-inch rotors and 2-piston sliding calipers. In both automatic and manual guises, performance-pack carsalso get firmer dampers and higher spring rates, additional chassis bracing, different front bushings, sway bars that are 5 percent stiffer, and 255/40R Pirelli P Zero summer performance tires on 19x9-inch wheels all around.
From the passenger seat, the car seemed relatively flat through the slalom and didn’t exhibit much nose-dive even when the faintest whiff of spent brakes came through the cabin. Our engineer wouldn’t give up numerical changes to braking bias, but admitted to “greater rear brake utilization” compared with the 2014 Mustang.
Yes, there is a rev-matching feature (but not for the manual ‘box)
One of the primary talking points for the 2015 Mustang has been its new rev-match downshift feature. Though the auto trans remains a conventional six-speed unit carried over from the previous generation, it now gains steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters as well as a tidy throttle blip for all downchanges. This feature is not available with a three-pedal layout.
We did one lap in Normal mode, one in Sport, and the final in Sport—Snow/Wet mode was not demonstrated for us. It was difficult to discern claimed changes in throttle mapping, but in the latter two modes, ESC was noticeably later in clamping down and the engine revved to 7000 rpm before biting into the next gear. The auto ‘box seemed smooth enough, though it’s not as quick or silky as those dual-clutch offerings from Wolfsburg.
The steering is independently adjustable
Three levels of steering effort—Comfort, Normal, and Sport—are selectable, and those settings are divorced from the other drive modes, meaning there are 12 different combinations of drive inputs on tap. Our engineer wouldn’t go into specifics on the rack, saying only that “the V8 is not as nimble as the four [cylinder] on-track” before backpedaling to note that the 5.0 “makes up for it on the straights.”
The 2.3-liter runs 18 psi of boost (not that you’d know it)
Where the center dash vent would be on a six- or eight-cylinder, the turbo four’s cockpit embeds a pair of blue-over-black dial gauges. Closest to the driver is oil pressure; next over is a boost gauge. We noted a max of 18 psi (a smidge over 1.2 bar) indicated during the test runs; it appeared to taper towards 15 psi at redline.
Torque felt adequate and spool was quick, though we were expecting a little more pep in its step. The soundtrack is in the same spirit as the Focus ST, though with a bit more grunt and sans induction noise—save one section of full-tilt lift into heavy braking, there wasn’t much sneezing and whirling from the 2015 Mustang’s twin-scroll snail.
When the V8 performance pack arrives, it’ll add more yet
In addition to what we saw included on the 2.3-liter performance pack, expect an up-spec'd V8 model to use a new ‘BS3’ brake setup, which includes 14.9-inch rotors and 6-pot Brembo calipers. We’re also told rear-wheel width increases to 9.5 inches with a 275-section P-Zero footprint, while the rear axle ratio is quicker still at 3.73.
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