Review: 2020 Ford Mustang EcoBoost High Performance Package -- Are Four Cylinders Better Than Eight? (Winding Road)
“Don’t knock it till you try it” is one of the most applicable sayings when talking about lower-powered sports car trims. All too often, enthusiasts dismiss them as slow, unenthusiastic, or sometimes even worse, rental-car-spec. The latter is by far the most damning.
EcoBoost Mustangs are popular rental cars. They aren’t terrible, but they’re nothing special, especially when compared to what Ford is capable of with higher trims. The GT, GT350, GT500, Bullitt, and soon-to-debut Mach 1; the Mustang has a ton going on with a V8 under its hood.
But so does the EcoBoost, actually. Turbo four-cylinder sports/pony cars are slightly-overlooked, because they don’t have top specs in regards to horsepower, torque, and 0-60. However what they don’t have in specs, they actually make up for in other ways, especially when they’ve got accompanying tuning to make the most of their benefits. The biggest and most apparent benefit: less weight over the front-end.
In our case, the 2020 Ford Mustang EcoBoost High Performance Package with Handling Package (say that five times fast) surprised us, and really drove home “don’t knock it till you try it”. Here’s how it did so.
Thanks to Ford for tossing us the keys for this review. The 2020 Mustang EcoBoost’s base price is $31,685, and after adding on the High Performance Package, Handling Package, Recaro front seats, and delivery, our tester came in at $43,565.
(photo credit: Peter Nelson - Winding Road)
