Motor Australia – September 2019

M FRONTEND.PACENOTES

NEWS/ REVIEWS/ LATESTTECH/ MOTORSPORT

ECOBOOST

SEXES UP

HIGHPERFORMANCE!Fordadds sting to turbo’Stang, changes itsname

FORDHASBUILTa faster,stronger
four-cylinderMustangthatwillreplace
theEcoBoostastherange’snewentry-
levelvariantwhenit arrivesnextyear.
ConfidentlynamedtheMustangHigh
Performance2.3L,it tweakstheexisting
car’spowertrain,chassisandequipment
todeliveronitsnewtag.
Itschiefupgradeis a boosttopower
andtorquethankstoa twin-scroll
turbochargerpinchedfroma Focus
RS.On 95 RONfuelthenew2.3-litre
inlinefour-cylinderproduces236kWat
6200rpm,or12kWmoreand500rpm
laterthantheoutgoingmodel.Torque,
meanwhile,buildstoa newpeakof
448Nmat3800rpm,representingan
increaseof7Nmmade800rpmlater.
They’resmallincreases,butcombined
withtheshorteningoftheboththe
manualandautomatictransmission’s
gearratios,Fordestimatesit should
reach97km/hfromrestin underfive
seconds.Forcomparison,thebestwe’ve
sofarachievedwithanMY19EcoBoost
is a 6.23sec0-100km/htime.
AschiefengineerCarlWidmann
explainstheenginehasimproved
morethanjustitspowerfigures.“It’s
thebroadertorquecurvethatdelivers
90 percentofpeaktorquebetween
2500 and5300rpm,”hesays,“plus,
horsepowerholdsstrongeruptothe
6500rpmredline– enablingmoreusable
powerandtorque.”
Ontopoftheextragrunt,Fordhas

➜

OPPOSITE

ThenewHigh

Performance2.3Lalso

scoresGT’sbigfront

splitterfora more

aggrolook

addedstaggered-widthwheelstoits

footprint,stretchingitsstandardfitment

PirelliP ZeroCorsatyresacross9.5-inch

widewheelsattherear.Frontwheels

remain9.0incheswideandhidenew

redBrembobrakecalipers.

Weightdistributionhasimprovednow

that 53 percentofitsmassrestsonthe

frontaxle,soasa resultengineershave

uppedtherearstabiliserbarsizefrom

21.7mmto24mm.

Asbefore,theHighPerformance

2.3Lwillbeofferedwitha 10-speed

automatictransmissionandMagneride

adaptivesuspension.Butmanualcars

havealsohadtheirfinaldriveratios

shortenedfrom3.31:1to3:55:1.

Visually,thenewstaggered19-inch

wheelsweara freshdesignwhilea

newlipspoileradornsthereardeck

onfastbackmodels.Ford’salsoadded

TwisterOrange,IconicSilver,RapidRed

andGrabberLimetoitscolourpalette.

Nomatterwhatcolouryouchoose,

a pairofnew‘bonnetspears’further

distinguishthenewvariant,alongwith

uniquebadginganda frontgrillethat

wearsthePony‘tribar’ononeside.

WithinthecarFordfitsa newspun-

aluminiumdashpanelandreplacesthe

centreairventonthestackwithturbo

andoilpressuregauges.Meanwhile

Aussiecarsscoreleatherasstandard

onseats(clothseatspictured)andFord

promisesmorepremiumfinishesaround

thecabin.

FordAustraliapegsthenewMustang

HighPerformance2.3LtoarriveDown

Underin February,in bothcoupeand

convertibleform,withhopesthatit’llbe

somethingmoreappealingalongsidethe

V8-poweredGT.

Detailsonpricingareyettobe

confirmedandshouldberevealedcloser

toitslaunch.–LC

FORD HASN’T forgotten about the Mustang GT

for 2020, announcing a new colour palette and

exterior pack for the V8 hero. The latter is called

a Black Shadow Pack and adds a black roof, black

bonnet and side stripes, unique dark 10-spoke

alloys, and black badging for the grille and ‘5.0L’ on

its guards. If you’ve optioned a spoiler, guess what,

it’ll come in black as well. All for $1000. Like the

High Performance 2.3L, the GT welcomes two new

heritage hues, namely Grabber Lime and Twister

Orange. Inspired by colours that featured on

previous Mustangs, like in the 1970s, they’re joined

by Iconic Silver and Rapid Red. Sound like your

bag? You can expect the updated car to arrive in

dealers this November, with further details to be

revealed closer to the date.– LC

AND WHAT ABOUT THE V8?

16 september 2019 whichcar.com.au/motor