2017 Ford Mustang vs 2018

What's the difference?

The EcoBoost is the thinking-man’s Mustang. For all intents and purposes, it looks identical to the more expensive GT, and it gives nothing away to its burlier brother in real-world driving.

And if you dropped a couple of grand of those savings on judicious suspension tuning, the Mustang EcoBoost – already pretty handy in the corners – will leave the GT in its wake on the right road.

However, the issues surrounding the Mustang’s safety must be factored in if you’re considering using the rear seats. Even acknowledging that the V8 was the car test by the safety bodies, body construction, seat arrangement and safety aid fitment don’t vary between the two cars, and it’s a very poor score for a modern car.

The Mustang GT is unique in Australia as a relatively affordable high-powered rear-wheel-drive coupe. It’s also accessible in that it’s easy and fun to drive. This car lives us to its iconic name and in my view is the best Mustang Ford has ever created.

Being given the gig to design a new Mustang must fill a designer with equal amounts of pride and terror. Over six generations, some iterations have been more hit than miss, but the latest car manages to capture the elements needed to bring the essence of the original into a new era.

Its pumped guards, long bonnet, fluted sides and raked windscreen are unapologetically muscle car, while the view of the twin-creased bonnet from behind the wheel is arguably one of the coolest in today’s motoring world.

The headlight treatment brings the Mustang into the new decade, while its taillights and swooping rear silhouette celebrate more recent generations of the car. Overall, the effect is still head-turning a year after launch – and key to the success of the EcoBoost is that it doesn’t look dissimilar to the V8-powered GT.

In fact, different exhaust outlets and smaller front brake rotors are the only telltale signs you’re missing four cylinders. It even shares its black 19-inch rims with the GT.

On the inside, it’s perhaps not quite as convincing. The shape of the dished three-spoke steering wheel with its prominent horn pad and the twin-tube instrument cluster is inspired by days long gone - but it actually works very well.

The excess of chrome trim contrasting against a drab dash panel isn’t great, though, while the piano key switches below the multimedia screen are poorly marked and a bit at odds with the rest of the centre console.

American car makers lag behind their counterparts from… well, pretty much everywhere when it comes to finishing interior design details, especially when it comes to the small things like switchgear graphics.  Sure, there’s a retro thing going on with ‘revolutions per minute’ and ‘ground speed’ markings on the instruments, but when a Hyundai i30 has nicer interior graphics, the time has come for Ford to lift the bar.

And buttons! So many buttons! Festooned on and around the steering wheel, centre stack, around the light switch…  it’s like a switch factory exploded inside the car.

Okay, let’s be honest with each other – the main appeal of the Mustang is its looks. Yup, this thing could be powered by a couple of cocker spaniels and have a top speed of Kyle Sandilands’ walking pace, and people would still be shouting “shut up and take my money”.

The good news is the V8 engine in the GT is magnificent, and you can read all about that magnificence below, but all you need to know right now is the grunt matches those restyled, but still drop dead gorgeous looks.

So how have the Mustang GT’s looks changed? Look at its face. The bonnet has lost its gunsight ridges and grown large nostrils and that nose curves down now more like a Jaguar F-Type thanks to the grille being placed lower. The LED headlights have been restyled and so has the bumper and the circular fog lights have been replaced with LED strips.

It’s hard to make out in the images but the contours of the black plastic skirting the front spoiler are beautiful – I’ve never written that in any review ever before, and I found myself getting a bit lost in the little details like that are all over the new Mustang.

Look at the lines in the bonnet, see how they flow to the side of the car; check out those perfect door gaps; and see how the back bumper is fixed to the rear of the car – it’s a three-dimensional join with a gap that’s almost seamless. Below is a new quad exhaust system – yes, twice as many exhaust tips as before - set in a sophisticated grey rear diffuser under those new LED tail-lights.

If the previous Mustang looked great, then this is polished greatness.

What wasn’t at all great about the last model was the cheap feel of the cabin with its hard plastics and uninspiring fit and finish. Ford took the criticism seriously and this updated Mustang has a more refined ‘export’ interior. That means a better-quality fitment and feel to the materials used – brushed aluminium instead of chrome trim in places, optional leather power adjustable Recaro seats, softer plastics and a stunning 12.4-inch virtual instrument cluster. The refinement could still be better, but it’s a noticeable improvement.

You can have your GT as a Fastback or Convertible. Both have the same new front and rear treatments, the only big difference in the bodies apart from the roof is the aerial on the Convertible’s boot lid.

What you can see is the reinforcement which has gone into the structure of the Convertible adding about 60kg of extra weight, too.

While the Convertible carries off a great execution of an automatic soft top roof (there's no retractable hardtop option), it looks better with the tonneau cover off, but nothing quite beats the teardrop shape of the Fastback’s hardtop.

Also, the Fastback lives up to its name and is actually faster to 100km/h than the Convertible. What the heck? I’ll tell you why in the engine specs section below.

This is just an update, so the Mustang’s dimensions don’t change – well, not much anyway. The wheelbase stays the same at 2720mm, and the new front and rear treatments have only added a mere 5mm for an overall length at 4789mm, while width including mirrors (folded out) is 2097mm.

It’s not a massively long car but it can feel that way looking out over that powerboat like nose – you can read more about what the Mustang is like to drive in the section below.

If you’re keen to find out what the interior dimensions are, and which ones have changed then dip into the section on practicality. 

Oh, and the Ford badge – have you spotted it yet? There’s only one Ford badge on the outside of the Mustang and it’s almost invisible – you ‘ll see it high in the middle of the windscreen near the rear-view mirror. It’s a Blue Oval sticker and you can really only spot it if you’re standing right in front of it.

For front seat passengers, the Mustang is a cool rig. Comfortable buckets are slung low in the car, and are generously proportioned. They’re not overly supportive when it comes to hard cornering, but nearly 1000km of driving during our week with the car proved that they were more than comfy.

The two cupholders are decently sized, but you’re not getting any kind of bottle in the tiny, hard-to-access door pockets. A shallow lidded bin hides a USB port and can hold wallets and phones, but there are precious few other places to stash stuff.

Rear-seaters are not very well catered for in terms of knee and foot space, though the two seats are beautifully trimmed. The backs can also be lowered to increase the Mustang’s 408-litre boot capacity, but the aperture will restrict your ability to load big items. 

Even though the are two ISOFIX mounts in the back seat, it would be such an ache to get little wrigglers in and out that you’d almost be tempted to call a babysitter rather than load them in.

The Mustang has four seats, but those rear ones don’t offer much in the way of legroom – not for me anyway. I’m 191cm tall and I can’t sit behind my driving position – not even nearly. I have seen shorter adults sit back there though, so if you had to ferry an extra couple of people somewhere occasionally you could with those back seats.

Room up front is excellent – leg and shoulder room is good, and headroom was ample enough for me to wear a helmet with plenty of clearance while on the track.

Storage isn’t bad. The boot space in the Fastback is 408 litres while the cargo capacity of the Convertible is 332 litres.

There’s two cupholders up front, thin door pockets and a centre console bin that’s not quite deep enough to close with a 500mL bottle in it.

The GT now costs more than it used to – at least $6000 more depending on the version. So now the automatic Fastback lists for $65,990, while the manual is $62,990. The Convertible automatic lists for $74,338 including luxury car tax (keeping in mind that the LCT threshold is $66,331 for non-fuel-efficient cars.)

Coming standard on the GT is the clever and colourful 12.4-inch instrument cluster, an 8.0-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, sat nav, a 12-speaker stereo with DAB+ digital radio, LED headlights, adaptive cruise control, reversing camera, rear parking sensors, the selectable drive modes, push-button start, active exhaust with quad tailpipes, and 19-inch alloy wheels with Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tyres.

Is it good value? Well the price increase over the outgoing model is steep, but you’re getting more equipment and technology, more grunt and a better-quality cabin. Plus look at it like this: the Mustang GT with a manual is the only rear-wheel drive V8 coupe you can get in Australia for less than $65K. Still think it’s too much? Well, how about this: the Kia Stinger V6 is $59,990. Did McQueen drive a Kia? I think not.

So, the answer is still: yes, it’s good value.

What are the rivals to the Mustang? Well, the answer is: there aren't any direct ones in Australia - not at the time of writing. Sure there's the Kia Stinger, but that's a four-door. There's Nissan's 370Z but that's smaller and not a muscle car. Then there's the Chevrolet Camaro (sold by HSV), however, which will be in Australia before the end of the year and it will be the perfect competitor to the Mustang.

The longitudinally mounted 2.3-litre inline four-cylinder engine uses a single turbocharger to generate 233kW at 5600rpm and a healthy 423Nm of torque at 3000rpm.

It’s not very vocal – like, at all – but the big capacity four is a smooth, punchy and pugnacious unit that does a great job of propelling a relatively big car.

Shipping standard with a six-speed manual gearbox, our tester came equipped with the $2625 six-speed auto; both are offered with a limited-slip diff as standard. Interestingly, the auto is slightly shorter geared in its final drive ratio than the longer-legged manual.

There’s a four-cylinder Mustang? Yup, it’s called the EcoBoost, but only the V8 GT was available for us to drive at the Australian launch. That was fine by me, as I’m of the thinking that it’s a V8 or nothing when it comes to muscle cars. [full disclosure: I have a Ford V8 tattoo on my arm].

That V8 is the same 5.0-litre Coyote engine which was in the previous GT, but Ford has developed it further and squeezed another 33kW of power and 26Nm of torque out for a new grand total of 339kW (about 455 horsepower) and 556Nm.

The six-speed automatic transmission has been given the heave-ho and now there’s a quick shifting 10-speed auto, while the six-speed manual has been redesigned to handle more torque (but remains unavailable in the Convertible).

All Mustangs are rear-wheel drive with a limited slip differential. You won't find an all-wheel drive in the line-up.

How fast is the V8 Mustang? Well, testing showed the previous GT could nail 0-100km/h in about 5.5 seconds despite the claims of it being a sub-five second car. Ford says the updated Fastback can do it in 4.3sec thanks to that quick shifting 10-speed automatic while the Convertible is only 0.2sec behind it – don’t forget it’s about 62kg heavier. With the manual gear box Ford reckons the Fastback can make the jump to 100km/h in 4.6 seconds. Impressive figures, but we haven’t yet tested them. 

We used 54 litres to cover 532km of mixed terrain driving in the EcoBoost, giving us a real world combined fuel economy figure of 10.1 litres per 100km, against a dash-indicated average of 9.8L and Ford’s claim of 9.3L/100km.

Its 59-litre tank does need 95 RON as standard, which will increase ownership costs. 

If you’ve ever owned a muscle car you’ll know about fun:fuel relationship. Both fun and fuel are both directly proportional to each other. So, at best you’ll use 12.7L/100km – that’s Ford’s consumption claim for the GT automatic (both Fastback and Convertible) after a combination of urban and open roads. The manual uses a smidge more, at 13.0L/100km. 

If you’re seriously worried about fuel usage, then the EcoBoost four-cylinder model could be perfect for you because it looks identical to the GT only nowhere near as thirsty. But then it also sounds and feels like a four cylinder.

As for a plug-in hybrid or electric Mustang - never say never, well that's what Mustang chief engineer Carl Widmann told me. While he said he wasn't working on one right now, he didn't rule out a future EV model. 

It’s no surprise to learn that the vast majority of Mustang sales to this point – 6200 last year, and already more than 6000 to the end of August this year – have been for the V8 version. Let’s face it, if you’ve lusted after a ‘Stang for the past decade, you’re going to get the best one you can.

The four-cylinder EcoBoost might give away 73kW and around 100Nm to the V8, as well as a lot of aural theatre, but it gives the coupe a sense of agility that’s not found in the 90-odd kg heavier GT. All of that weight is removed from over the front axle, too, instantly imbuing the EcoBoost with excellent steering feel and communication.

Aussie-spec Mustangs are fitted with a raft of sporting bits and pieces as standard, including stiffer front springs, a thicker rear swaybar (which, conversely, helps the front end turn into corners better), extra bracing and a limited-slip diff.

It rides firmly and with a lively, up-on-its-toes demeanour that some passengers might find a little tiring, and I’m not convinced that the dampers are all they could be when it comes to controlling those firm springs – but the Mustang is a two-door sports car, and a busy ride often comes with the territory.

With 233kW and 432Nm from the 2.3-litre four-potter, there’s plenty of urge across the rev range to keep the Mustang’s groove on.

It does have a tendency to stay perched in the top half of its suspension travel, though, and it could stand to be a little more supple and controlled.

With 233kW and 432Nm from the 2.3-litre four-potter, there’s plenty of urge across the rev range to keep the Mustang’s groove on, and the six-speed auto works well in standard mode to keep the car in the right ratio.

The auto’s sport mode, however, is pretty average. It does very strange things to the shift pattern at light throttle, making it awkward and clumsy around town. It can be overridden with steering wheel-mounted paddles, but honestly, plain old ‘D’ works perfectly well. 

Thanks to its decently sized front brakes with four-piston calipers, independent rear suspension, that limited-slip diff and a nice long wheelbase, the EcoBoost is definitely the pick of the two Mustangs when it comes to driving dynamics.

One thing, though; a 12.2m turning circle is ponderous and annoying in a large van, and is doubly so in a rear-wheel-drive sports car.

It gets me every time I slip into the driver’s seat of the Mustang – that bonnet stretching away out in front like the bow of an offshore powerboat. Just piloting it out of the airport car park felt like I was moving away from a marina and into open water where I could squash my right foot hard against the floor. But you don’t need to open the throttle fully to feel or hear anything from the GT because the active exhaust system lets you change the note from Normal, Quiet and Sport to Track. Sport is plenty loud enough and just cruising at 70km/h that exhaust note growls beautifully and will bark if you prod the accelerator.

The Mustang shrinks as you drive it – well it seems that way because after steering the GT for 15 minutes that large powerboat feeling disappears as you begin to get a sense of its size. 

Starting out in the automatic Fastback and using the shifting paddles to climb through the gears I found that it was better to leave the transmission in Drive – 10 speeds is a lot to choose from and when you’re up around ninth it’s easy to get lost and end up hunting back through gears to find the best one to overtake that truck in front.

All of our test cars were fitted with the optional MagneRide adaptive dampers which are capable of adjusting up to 1000 times per second on the fly for better ride and handling. The 100km from Adelaide to Tailem Bend would be a good test for how that coped with ordinary Australian roads while The Bend Motorsport Park at our destination would give a better picture on the handling.

Not having a car fitted with the standard suspension was a bit cheeky, as I have nothing to compare the MagneRide cars to, but in comparison to the previous car (which wasn't available with adaptive dampers, even as an option) the ride on the potholed and coarse-chip roads was definitely more comfortable and composed, almost luxury car-like even rolling on those 19-inch, 40 profile Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tyres (255 front, 275 rear).

The Bend is one of the newest racetracks in Australia and the surface was pristine – until we arrived. Within a few hours we’d painted it with rubber because – science.

Yup, the track had been cordoned off into a handling section while the main straight was turned into a drag strip because the Mustang GT has a Drag Strip Mode – I kid you not.

First, handling – I’ve driven more nimble and agile cars, but the Mustang GT is a muscle car, and it performed well for one, with good grip, direct and accurate steering, and it powered like an absolute beast out of the corners. And in Track mode that exhaust note roars into battle like a Viking that’s got out of the wrong side of bed.

Drag Strip mode is sort of Mustang speak for launch control, and it ensures continuous torque through the gears without any ‘downtime’ between the shifts. It works superbly and hilariously well.

You may also like to know also in the name of science that the GT can break traction through first second, third and fourth gears.

A two-out-of-five-of-stars ANCAP rating in 2017 has been addressed by Ford in this latest update with the addition of advanced safety equipment such as AEB, Lane Keeping Assistance and forward collision warning. But - and it’s a big but - the updated Mustang has been tested and scored three ANCAP stars losing marks for poor child protection and rear adult protection in the rear. Whiplash protection was also given a low score. It’s a disappointing score for a new car and we’re hoping Ford can continue its work to improve occupant protection further.

There’s also traction and stability control, ABS and a suite of airbags.

In the back you’ll find two ISOFIX points and two top tether anchor points.

Ford sells the Mustang with a three-year, 100,000km warranty that can be extended at a cost.

It also offers a fixed price service program across the Mustang’s suggested 12-month/15,000km service interval period, with five years of servicing costing $1850 in total. That’s pretty good for a turbocharged sports car.

As mentioned, the EcoBoost needs a diet of 95RON fuel at a minimum, which will increase running costs over the car’s life.

Ford’s Mustang GT is covered by a five-year unlimited kilometre warranty. Servicing is recommended annually or every 15,000km and is capped at about $500 a visit for the first 10 years (it's a lifetime capped-price service plan).