Mustang EcoBoost: Ford’s Gas-sipping, Turbocharged Sporty Coupe
Driving Ford’s 2018 turbo four-banger pony is the most thrilling experience you’ll have chasing after that coveted MPG.
Forget whatever you think you know about non-V8 Mustangs. Driving the 2018 Ford Mustang EcoBoost and its 2.3-liter, turbocharged four-cylinder motor is the most fun I’ve had since my first experience in a muscle car in high school.
Since its introduction in 2015, the Mustang EcoBoost has proven to be a worthy contender in the sports car arena. Though it’s more “sport-ish” to die-hard V8-heads, its got 310 horsepower (with 93 octane) and 320 lb-ft of torque. That already beats late-model S197s with 3.7-liter V6 powerplants and comes really close to early S197s with 4.6-liter V8s.
Premium Trim, Performance Package
The design homogeny of Ford’s 2018 Mustang lineup means that the EcoBoost shares most of the same outer looks and accents as its GT big brother. This particular Oxford White pony is a premium trim model, which has high-quality leather with Midnight Blue accent stitching, Midnight Blue-stitched floor mats, and a digital cluster gauge.
It’s also equipped with the performance package which includes a 3.55 gear limited-slip differential, 19-inch low-gloss aluminium factory wheels mated with Pirelli PZERO summer tires, a strut tower brace, thick swaybars and larger brakes. Similar to the GT Performance Package 2, this EcoBoost also has MagneRide dampeners.
Touted 10-speed Transmission
Let me go ahead and place a disclaimer before we continue on to the next segment. Bear in mind that the 10R80 auto transmission in this Mustang is essentially the same one in the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 because it is a joint creation between Ford and General Motors. Apropos to this, the tranny performs very differently between cars because it is calibrated for different elements, respectively. Regarding the EcoBoost, it performs well while shifting upwards manually in all of the modes. Downshifting, on the other hand, is a completely different story.
Since dual clutch systems preselect gears for you according to your acceleration or braking, there will naturally be some lag in between shifts. In this case, there are times where this car is seems to struggle when analyzing where you currently are in the RPM range. This causes it to over-rev while rev matching as you shift down. As you can imagine, this results in an uncomfortable lurch forward.
While in automatic mode, the 10R80 tends to aggressively upshift depending on what driving mode you are in. For example, if you are in Normal mode, you will easily find yourself in seventh or eighth gear when you’re barely at 30 to 35 miles per hour, whereas in Sport and Sport+, the tranny backs off somewhat and allows the engine to more easily access its power band. This behavior obviously boils down to maximizing MPG, however an EcoBoost with the options like this one begs to be driven in the sportier modes, and I of course obliged.
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