A four-cylinder Mustang is now the coolest one

Friday, 2 August 2019

A Mustang with added Focus RS DNA? Throw in an 80s colour scheme and you've convinced us!

In the early 1980s turbos were a big thing.

Sure, forced induction wasn't anything particularly new, but the concept (and more specifically, the actual word) had caught the general public's imagination in a big way.

Porsche had debuted the 930 (otherwise known as the 911 Turbo) in 1975 and by the early 80s turbos were literally everywhere - vacuum cleaners had 'TURBO' graphics down the side; it was the name of a brand of chewing gum; British Heavy Metal legends Judas Priest released an album called Turbo; and, of course, many cars with simply no business having turbos had turbocharged versions rushed into production (often disastrously) simply to allow the marketing department to slap huge (and brilliant) TURBO stickers down the side of them.

Three-spoke alloys? Check. Garish, clashing colours? Check. White interior? Check. The 1980 Mustang Cobra Turbo ticked all the boxes.

And call it a perverse streak deep inside me if you like, but I have always considered the garish 1980s Fox-body Ford Mustang Turbos to be some of the most awesome examples of this 1980s turbo-mania, so have always harboured a deep desire to see a current-generation 2.3-litre EcoBoost Mustang in a garish colour, with its power ramped up and fantastic TURBO graphics. Just because.

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And thankfully Ford New Zealand seems to agree with me (albeit in a somewhat toned-down way to what I would prefer), with the announcement that the company will be bringing the recently revealed Mustang High Performance 2.3L to these shores early next year.

The High Performance 2.3L also gets a red, white and blue 'Pony Tribar' badge on the rear.

The High Performance 2.3L was born from an unofficial 'passion project' by a few Ford engineers who decided to strap the Focus RS's 257kW 2.3-litre EcoBoost engine into the Mustang.

'The Ford Performance Focus RS 2.3-litre engine is a high-revving marvel, and anyone who's driven this EcoBoost engine instantly loves how quickly it responds and delivers power,' said Carl Widmann, Mustang chief engineer. 'When our team got the chance to try this specially built engine in a Mustang, we immediately agreed, 'We have to do this.''

A spun aluminium insturment panel and a numbered dash plaque set the High Performance 2.3L apart inside.

Following the experiment with the RS engine swap, the team was given an official green light for a production program to 'strengthen the Mustang's entry-level performance offering' in les than 10 months, or just in time for Mustang's 55th anniversary.

To make their project a reality, members of the Mustang team travelled to Valencia, Spain, home of the Ford Performance-tuned 2.3-litre engine, to convince plant management to build a new variant of the turbocharged four-cylinder specifically for Mustang.

The 2.3-litre engine shares its DNA with the engine in the brilliantly feral Focus RS.

Having secured production of the die-cast alloy block and high-performance cylinder head, the engineering team specified a 5 per cent larger 63-millimeter twin-scroll turbo compressor and a larger radiator, then calibrated the engine to run both Ford's 10-speed automatic and 6-speed manual transmissions.

The result is an engine that produces 236kW of power and 448Nm of torque, which is 12kW and 7Nm more than the standard 2.3-litre EcoBoost. While this may not seem like a huge increase, it's not really about producing more power according to Widmann.

'It's the broader torque curve that delivers 90 per cent of peak torque between 2,500 and 5,300 rpm, which is 40 per cent wider than the base EcoBoost engine,' he said.

'Plus, horsepower holds stronger up to the 6,500-rpm redline – enabling more usable power and torque for enthusiasts to enjoy.'

And it's not just the tweaked engine either - the High Performance 2.3L also gets an active quad-tip exhaust system and chassis and aerodynamic upgrades from the Mustang GT and its Performance Package.

An alloy strut tower brace was added to stiffen the chassis at the front, while larger four-piston fixed caliper brakes with 13.9-inch front rotors are also fitted. A new performance calibration tuning has been applied to the electronic-controlled power steering, antilock braking, stability control and five driver-selectable drive modes, while a a 3.55:1 limited-slip rear axle is also included.

Differentiating it from the base EcoBoost car and the V8 GT, the High Performance 2.3L gets a large black front splitter, a blacked-out grille with offset Mustang tri-bar pony emblem, 2.3L High Performance Package side badges and magnetic gray side mirrors and raised blade rear spoiler.

And while it doesn't get massive TURBO graphics, the bonnet stripes that fade out as they approach the windscreen and a very nice 80s touch.

Another nice 80s touch is the range of new colours Ford will be offering the High Performance 2.3L in - Twister Orange, Grabber Lime, Rapid Red Metallic Tinted Clearcoat and Iconic Silver.

'The High Performance 2.3L helps extend Mustang's already broad appeal,' said Kay Hart, Ford Australia and New Zealand President and CEO.

'With distinctive looks, increased equipment level and bold colour choices, this turbocharged model is a welcome addition to the line-up, bringing a freshness to the range while still being pure Mustang.'

The High Performance 2.3L will go on sale locally in February next year and will cost $65,990 for the 10-speed auto (sorry manual purists, but less than 5 per cent of you actually buy manual Mustangs, so that's not on the menu), or just $1,000 more than the current entry-level EcoBoost Mustang auto.

Oh, and plus whatever the cost of hitting the local sign writer and having massive TURBO stickers in the perfect 80s font made up for it, of course.