Six big upgrades in the 2018 Ford Mustang

When Ford Philippines released the 50^th anniversary Mustang in 2015, I was one of the first to sign on the dotted line and grab the keys. That version, with its independent rear suspension and movie star looks, really blew it out of the park.

 

But when the revised 2018 edition was announced, it took me all of a minute to decide to upgrade. It was no mere facelift, but a significant upgrade. Will a normal person notice the difference? Maybe not. But as someone who drives his cars like he stole them, these differences meant something to me, especially that all-new 10-speed transmission. Here are the best bits of the 2018 Mustang:

1. Active Exhaust – A brilliant feature, and one you might not imagine you needed until you hear it. Who needs a stereo when you have those open quad pipes singing their tune. Active valves modulate the sound coming from that 5.0-liter V8. There are four settings: Quiet, Normal, Sport and Track. In Quiet mode, it’s softer than a Honda Jazz. A Ford engineer developed this feature when he drove a Shelby GT350 one morning and a neighbor called the cops on him. That gave him the idea to make the Mustang a more responsible citizen.

 

But when you do want to wake the neighbors, switch to Track mode and it goes triple the loudness of the old GT. Yes, triple.

2. Magneride active suspension – Significantly alters the ride character of the Mustang. Quickly softens and hardens the suspension damping using sensors around the vehicle, and depending on, among others vehicle speed, brake pressure, acceleration. The new Mustang is certainly softer when it needs to be. On a bad patch of road on Katipunan, it is much more comfortable than the previous GT. The big party trick is its Sport+, Track and Drag modes. The active suspension results in zero wheel hop. If you have floored a Mustang before, then you know that wheel hop can impair its acceleration. Now, there are no issues. You can feel as confident as Superman when you floor it. The Mustang just digs in and pulls.

3. Gauges – The configurable gauges give lots of options to personalize the Mustang instruments to your liking. Developed by ex-video game designers, the 12-inch all-digital LCD instruments offer different types of layouts and displays up to eight gauges. I personally like the clarity and the configurability, as they add to my involvement.

4. Engine and drivetrain – this is the biggest change in the Mustang. More power is on tap now, with 460hp. While the engine makes more power, it’s the way it puts the power down that makes the biggest difference. The 10-speed automatic transmission is very fast, and the close gear ratios keep the engine in the power band at all times. The final gear ratio of 3.51 versus 3.15 also makes a difference. The Mustang GT almost feels like a turbo now at lower revs—in a good way—with the abundance of torque. The 7500 rpm redline is a happy surprise.

 

Another smart change is that the transmission no longer annoyingly cuts off the fuel anymore at redline in manual mode. The transmission just upshifts: bam, bam, bam. As for downshifts? It has that sweet, rev-matching throttle blip.

 

With this new engine and transmission, the 5.0GT beats a GT350 in a straight line, for the quarter-mile consistently. Its not just how much power the new Mustang has….it’s how it’s put down and kept in the sweet spot that counts.

 

 

5. Tires –Staggered tires (255 front 275 rear)  shows that the Ford engineers are serious about the Mustang’s handling. The Michelin Pilot Sport 4s has a night and day difference vs the Pirellis. It’s the first installation in an American production car. The tires, coupled with the Magneride suspension, help the traction immensely, to confidence-inspiring levels. The new six-pot 15-inch Brembo brakes are strong. (The 50th anniversary GT had four-pot brakes.) In the real world, it’s worth easily a car length’s difference in a hard stop situation from moderate speeds, which is huge.

6. Looks and toys – Other new toys include the new power folding mirrors. The Sync 3 (which the 2015 didn’t have) is very responsive. Android Auto and Apple Car play integrate well with a smartphone. Having Waze on the screen is a godsend. The center mirror is frameless now, which is a nice touch, though the side mirrors have lost the blind spot monitoring feature (no more yellow dot). Ford has changed the materials inside to make them all soft touch. But it still doesn’t have a spare tire.

All in all, Ford engineers went way beyond what a typical mid-cycle facelift or refresh typically delivers. Most refreshes are cosmetic in nature. While there certainly are cosmetic changes to the car, the big changes are inside. They changed not one, not two, but five major components of this car: a new, more powerful engine; an new-age digital dashboard; a real trick active exhaust system; the sports-car worthy Magneride suspension; and the real deal: the mega-quick 10-speed transmission. This tightly woven combination of upgrades is a home run for what was an already excellent car. The Mustang is even better than ever.