2019 Ford Mustang EcoBoost Test Drive (The Car Guide)
When we daydream about owning a Ford Mustang, the soundtrack of our momentary escape from reality involves an octet of pistons singing in unison. Not a quartet.
We might be misjudging people, but a Mustang without a V8 engine isn’t an object of desire, and more a compromise for what we were really longing for. Is the EcoBoost powertrain really a compromise? Yes and no.
Shelby GT350 aside, the 2019 Ford Mustang is available with one of two engines, as the 3.7-litre V6 was canned after the 2017 model year. That leaves us with the 460-horsepower, 5.0-litre V8, and the turbocharged, 2.3-litre four-cylinder engine that belts out 310 horsepower and 350 pound-feet of torque. Hefty numbers for a four-pot soul, although that’s using 93-octane fuel.
To give the EcoBoost engine some audible character, Ford added a fake sound generator, but that gets partially drown out when we choose the Active Valve Performance Exhaust System, an option for both powertrains. It includes four selectable modes, such as Quiet when we don’t want to bother our neighbours, Normal, Sport and Track. The latter two are obviously louder, and at wide-open throttle, the Mustang EcoBoost sounds like a very angry weedwhacker.
Good or bad? Well, since it would be dumb to try emulating the Coyote V8’s growl, Ford might as well try something different with the EcoBoost mill. It’s more comparable with other four-cylinder sports cars like the Subaru BRZ and the Toyota 86.
Despite the smaller displacement, the Mustang still serves up good performance …
