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Help needed! The next-generation Ford Mustang V8 problem that Ford cannot yet figure out

Can a Mustang coupe exist without a 5.0-litre V8 nowadays? (Image credit: 7th Mustang)

Ford has admitted that it has a serious problem with the coming Mustang that it cannot seem to figure out.

With the new-generation S650-series Mustang set to surface globally within the next 12 months, the Detroit-based product planners are fast approaching a decision that can make or break the legendary sports car moving forward.

Speaking to the Australian media in South Australia late last month, Ford Performance chief engineer, Carl Widmann, revealed that the problem with the future Mustang is also core to what makes the series so popular with sports car buyers around the world – its V8 engine.

More specifically, the issue is whether to keep developing the iconic V8 during and beyond the coming seventh-generation iteration in the face of ever-increasing emissions and fuel consumption targets in key markets, especially in Western Europe, where sales of the existing S550 version have been strong in countries like Germany.

“The V8 won’t be going away any time soon,” Mr Widmann said. “Mustang buyers expect a V8, right?

“We know we can make a V6 with twin turbos that would be faster and more powerful than any V8 nowadays, but is that what Mustang fans really want?”

Of course, it needs to be made abundantly clear right now that the new S650 Mustang will continue with a V8 option for several years to come.

Our first look at the new Ford Mustang! (image credit: Mustang7G) Our first look at the new Ford Mustang! (image credit: Mustang7G)

Rumours suggest that some sort of hybridised technology will be introduced in some V8 versions that make up the overwhelming number of Mustang sales in most countries including in Australia, leading to further speculation that the future of a manual gearbox version might be up in the air too.

The Ford Performance engineering veteran with generations of Blue Oval devotion courtesy of his father and grandfather working at Dearborn stretching back to the middle of last century added that it is a question that needs to be addressed, as electrification inevitably takes over within the performance vehicle sphere.

When questioned about the 5.0-litre V8’s future, Mr Widmann admits that he does not want to see it discontinued, as it is inexorably linked with the Pony Car legend.

“What do we do about Mustang buyers who insist on the 5.0-litre V8?” he said. "It's what buyers want."

With the current Mustang Mach 1 pumping out 345kW of power and 556Nm of torque and the US-market Shelby GT500 flagship’s stroked 5.2-litre V8 version delivering 567kW and 847Nm, both Ford and the hardcore band of brand loyalists are far from finished with old-fashioned American muscle.

In a US Autoweek magazine interview last year, Mr Widmann was very clear about Ford’s attitude to the V8 in Mustang.

“I don’t think the gas engine has met its day in the near term, there are still a lot of fans of it,” he said in the article. “In other words, Ford will continue to build Ford Mustang V8 models as long as customers keep buying them.”

Whatever transpires in the future, Ford is flat-out preparing the current (dating back to 2014) version's successor for market right now.

Recent spy shots of the S650 Mustang have surfaced showing a modernised yet still extremely cautious evolution of the existing model’s styling, especially in the sharper nose-cone area.

Whether today’s underpinnings carry over to the newcomer, albeit highly modified where required, or the 2024 version adopts a variation of another Ford platform, has yet to be confirmed. However, it seems that the much-speculated all-wheel-drive version won’t materialise after all.

That said, the car’s interior and particularly the dashboard, is a much stronger departure from the existing version, which is believed to have been originally styled at Ford Australia’s design studio in Melbourne. New digital instrumentation and a large horizontal touchscreen are expected, and speak to the dramatically upgraded and vastly improved multimedia and safety technologies heading to the new Mustang.

Word is that the S650 Mustang will debut in about March or April next year ­­– to coincide with the original model’s 59th anniversary, with production commencing later in the year.

It is also conceivable that Ford may time the on-sale or delivery dates to commence in March, 2024, in line with the series’ 60th anniversary.

Whatever transpires, there’s much more to come about the world’s favourite Pony Car, so watch this space.

Do you think the core Mustang can survive without a V8? Let us know in the comments section below.