POWER PLAY
Radical new Mustang deserves to be pushed
FORD is not a carmaker widely known for taking risks. Iterations of its bestsellers would usually challenge even the most perceptive player of those side-by-side Spot The Difference games we used to get in comics.
It’s usually a headlight here, a chrome strip there, and that’s it from generation to generation. Only when you see five or six of them all lined up together do you notice there actually has been change — it just has been so gradual, no horses were frightened in the evolution of this car.
Sometimes, Ford takes chances. The original Puma was a sporty coupé built between 1997 and 2002, but when the badge was revived two years ago, it was attached to a tasty mild hybrid crossover. That was an understandable move, pilfering legacy kudos for an entirely modern car.
What we never expected was something absolutely radical, namely extending the Mustang badge beyond its V8 5.0-litre US muscle car lineage and attaching it to a full battery electric vehicle. Petrolheads everywhere exploded as one at this act of sacrilege, but here’s the thing — the game is up for cars with 5.0-litre engines, so what everyone is looking to now are cars with similar power on tap, while being a lot kinder to the environment.
In this respect, the Mustang Mach-E delivers. The performance of the standard model (which I’ve yet to drive because it’s late to market here) is impressive, but the GT takes it to a whole new level — when you actually can floor it.
I was in Croatia earlier this week for the international launch and it proved not the best choice to put a car like this through its paces. The Istrian peninsula is beautiful, and for the most part that means a bit hilly. That’s the type of road I want to drive on when I’m testing a family car or a hatchback — unchallenging, pretty, Sunday drive territory.
Along the way, there were more villages than I ever care to see again, and lower speed limits on various stretches; on any 10km stretch, these included 90kph, 70kph, 50kph and 40kph. I had the adaptive cruise control with speed limit sign recognition on, so the car did most of its own slowing down and speeding back up, but how I longed for an autobahn in a car that’s all about speed.
At one point, I was behind another Mustang being driven at a very leisurely pace, so when I saw my opportunity to overtake, I grabbed it with both hands. Luckily, as it turned out, because I could have overtaken the International Space Station.
The power is both instant and terrifying. My head flew back, my eyes watered and I almost had a trouser accident. It honestly was exhilarating, which made it even harder to take when around the next corner I was trundling along at 40kph again.
Finally, there was a motorway leg of the trip, with a speed limit of 110kph and no other vehicles within a kilometre fore or aft. I hit the speed limit for a brief and shining moment, one that confirmed the fact this car has every right to bear the Mustang name.
On 20-inch alloys, with all-wheel drive thanks to motors on both axles, with MagneRide suspension and Brembo brakes, the Mustang Mach-E GT is car you can have a lot of very safe fun in.
There are four drives modes — Whisper, Active, Untamed and
Untamed Plus, though the latter might more usefully be named Lunatic mode.
As for the looks, yes, it’s a mighty handsome car that echoes some of the brawn of its petrol namesake. Inside, it is well built, with a massive 15.1-inch portraitmounted tablet screen that controls most of the functions, and a 10-inch screen on the dash for the basics. There’s plenty of space for five, in comfort. The boot holds 402 litres to the tonneau cover, 519 litres laden to the roof, and 1,420 with the rear bench folded, with another 100 litres of storage under the bonnet up front.
Charging from 10-80% on a 150kW high-speed charger takes 45 minutes, or ten minutes to add 100km of range, with total range available of 500km on a 100% charge.
All the safety systems you’d expect are present, and overall it’s a really enjoyable car. The main argument against buying one is that you’ll seldom be able to use that power in a meaningful way. The main argument for buying one is that, from time to time, you actually will be able to use that power in a meaningful way.
The Irish price has yet to be confirmed, and I suspect that too will play a major part in any purchasing decision.