2015 Ford Mustang EcoBoost: SVO Reborn? - Ignition Ep. 117 - video Dailymotion

MotorTrend

This week on Ignition

Transcript

00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:03 What we have here is the new Ford Mustang.

00:09 It looks ready for the 21st century

00:15 with its modern fascia and tighter lines.

00:18 But what's more interesting than the design

00:20 is that for the first time in 30 years, this one's turbocharged

00:24 and it's a four-cylinder.

00:26 Before you call that blasphemy, consider

00:29 that this EcoBoost makes 10 horsepower and 40 pound-feet

00:32 more than the V6, and it weighs quite a bit less than the GT.

00:36 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:39 [TIRES SCREECHING]

01:09 Mustang EcoBoost certainly isn't the most powerful Mustang

01:12 in the lineup, but it might be the most interesting.

01:14 Why?

01:15 Well, it's because of what's under here.

01:16 [MUSIC PLAYING]

01:20 That's a turbocharged 2.3 liter inline four.

01:25 Now, that displacement is coincidentally

01:27 the same as the turbo SVO from '84, '85,

01:31 although this engine shares nothing with that engine.

01:33 It is just an interesting coincidence.

01:35 Now, when you don't have a V6 or a V8,

01:38 although those engines are optional,

01:39 you have a lot of space in the engine bay.

01:41 And so this four-cylinder makes up for that space

01:44 by adding a turbo.

01:45 Starting with the bottom end, it's built.

01:47 You have forged crankshaft, forged connecting rods.

01:50 You have oil squirting, piston cooling jets.

01:53 You've got direct injection, so there's

01:54 delivering quite a bit of fuel to the engine as well.

01:57 The turbocharger is a twin-scroll unit.

01:59 Now, that means each exhaust port is essentially

02:03 delivering two pulses.

02:05 There's going to be a low RPM side and a high RPM side,

02:07 roughly.

02:08 And that's what's going to help this engine get to boost quick

02:11 and help reduce lag or eliminate it completely.

02:15 We'll find out how effective the system is on the dyno.

02:19 We have some good news and some not particularly good news

02:22 standing underneath this particular Mustang.

02:25 The not so great news is that we have

02:27 the six-speed automatic transmission instead

02:29 of the six-speed manual.

02:30 It's not the end of the world.

02:31 This automatic's fine, but I would

02:33 have loved to have driven this car with a manual transmission.

02:36 Anyway, the good news-- this car has a performance package

02:39 that adds a bunch of different upgrades to the chassis

02:42 to help it go faster, stop better, turn better,

02:45 and on and on, starting with the tires and wheels.

02:49 The wheels are 19 by 9 inches at all four corners.

02:52 The tires are 255/40 Pirelli P-Zeros.

02:55 We have upgraded brakes at all four corners, too.

02:58 On the front, they're 13.9-inch rotors

03:01 with four-piston calipers.

03:02 They're single-piston calipers in the back.

03:04 Speaking of the back, heading back there,

03:07 the exhaust pipe is actually pretty good diameter

03:09 coming down to the cat, although it does shrink up considerably

03:12 the further back we go.

03:14 We also have one exhaust pipe that splits into two

03:17 because, I don't know, reasons.

03:19 Seems to me like you're just adding weight for styling.

03:22 I'd much rather have just one exhaust pipe

03:24 and save whatever weight you added by doing that.

03:27 Further back, we have a 355 rear end

03:30 and the big story, which is what Ford has been flirting around

03:34 with for a long time now, an independent rear suspension.

03:38 Finally, Ford has embraced modern suspension technology

03:41 and thrown away the solid rear axle in favor

03:44 of some actual sophistication.

03:45 And whatever we lose on the drag strip

03:47 by losing the solid rear axle, we

03:49 should more than make up with vehicle handling.

03:52 I can't wait to see how this thing drives.

03:54 [ENGINE REVVING]

03:57 While we recorded peaks of 279 horsepower and 295 pound

04:11 feet of torque, we were happy to see that torque stayed above

04:13 290 for four out of the five runs,

04:16 varying around three pound feet.

04:19 Look at the shape of the power curve, how quickly torque

04:22 increases, and how the curve falls at 5,300 RPM.

04:26 That means the engine should feel great in the low

04:28 and mid range, giving tons of torque,

04:30 but might feel soft when you rev it out.

04:33 Surprised by the lack of high RPM grunt?

04:35 You shouldn't be.

04:36 Look at a power torque graph of the Focus or Fiesta ST,

04:40 and you'll see a very similar shape, though at lower numbers.

04:43 Clearly, this engine was developed

04:45 with a similar mindset.

04:46 And, well, we love that Fiesta.

04:49 [ENGINE REVVING]

04:52 With stability control off in the car in track mode,

04:55 a launch involved holding both pedals,

04:57 waiting for boost to surge and releasing the brake.

04:59 It's an amusing process.

05:02 Through the quarter at 14.1 seconds and 97.8 miles an hour,

05:06 the EcoBoost falls right between the best times we've recorded

05:09 from the Hyundai Genesis Coupe and the Volkswagen GTI.

05:15 [ENGINE REVVING]

05:17 It's 25.5 second figure eight lap

05:19 matches that of the Subaru WRX and Genesis Coupe,

05:24 as does its 0.96 average lateral G.

05:28 It also falls right around the last gen automatic Mustang V6

05:31 performance pack in all tests.

05:33 [ENGINE REVVING]

05:36 [MUSIC PLAYING]

05:41 [ENGINE REVVING]

05:42 [MUSIC PLAYING]

05:46 The Mustang EcoBoost is one of the cars

05:51 I've been most interested in driving this year,

05:53 because it's a turbo four cylinder Mustang.

05:56 And we haven't had that since around the time I was born.

05:59 [MUSIC PLAYING]

06:03 So how is it?

06:06 Well, it's interesting, because if you're

06:08 expecting this to be a replacement for the V8

06:11 or a competitive alternative, it's

06:13 not in terms of power delivery and fun factor.

06:17 But it is a significant upgrade over the V6.

06:21 [ENGINE REVVING]

06:23 The steering I actually like quite a bit in precision

06:28 and a little bit in weighting, too.

06:32 You turn the wheel, the car goes,

06:34 and there's not a lot of fuss, not a lot of fake stuff

06:37 happening in between that process.

06:39 It feels natural and tied down.

06:41 The motor is all low RPM.

06:45 It's all mid-range, as we found on the dyno.

06:48 And that's something you really notice when you push this car.

06:50 When you start trying to wring out every last RPM,

06:54 you find out that as the power band gets above 5,500 RPM,

06:59 it gets louder, but you're not necessarily going faster.

07:02 [MUSIC PLAYING]

07:05 And short shifting, that works.

07:07 That's something you have to do in a lot of these mid-range

07:10 engines.

07:11 Although it's not-- revving out engines is a lot more fun,

07:15 let's face it.

07:17 I think my excitement with this car

07:19 comes from the fact that I remember what the base V6

07:22 Mustang was like.

07:23 Even the V6 Premium that they started recently

07:27 and the performance packages that they threw on that.

07:29 It was a better step, but this is such a better car

07:32 than that car was.

07:33 [ENGINE REVVING]

07:38 Now, the problems.

07:39 There aren't many.

07:40 I think the biggest issue that's facing this car is weight.

07:44 This thing is just over 3,600 pounds.

07:47 And when you have 310 horsepower,

07:50 that's what Ford's claim is, that's a power to weight ratio

07:53 in the 11s, which isn't that great.

07:57 This thing may have a higher specific power

07:59 output than most of the $30,000 sporty cars,

08:03 but that weight's really going to hold it back

08:05 when it comes down to performance.

08:07 [MUSIC PLAYING]

08:10 I think what we have here isn't so much

08:12 the second coming of the turbo performance Mustang,

08:15 but a much better realistic Mustang for most people

08:19 to drive around every day.

08:20 I quite like this car tootling around town,

08:27 driving on the freeway.

08:29 The low RPM torque feels great.

08:31 It still looks cool.

08:32 All the features are nice and easy to use.

08:35 The steering is nice.

08:36 And you know, all around off ramps and on ramps

08:38 that have constant changing radii and all that stuff,

08:41 it's really fun.

08:41 [MUSIC PLAYING]

08:45 You start really pushing it like I'm trying to avoid here.

08:49 You start seeing the seams.

08:50 But again, I think that's OK.

08:52 [MUSIC PLAYING]

08:56 [TIRES SCREECHING]

08:59 [MUSIC PLAYING]

09:02 Streets of Willow and the Mustang EcoBoost.

09:25 Got a little 2.3 liter four with a turbo on it.

09:30 And it works.

09:31 [TIRES SCREECHING]

09:35 The body structure is one of the areas

09:37 where the Mustang is way better than it was last year.

09:41 I can feel it.

09:42 I can feel it on the road.

09:43 And I feel it here on the track.

09:45 Very strong body structure.

09:49 It gives the suspension something better to hang on to.

09:51 [TIRES SCREECHING]

09:54 All right, this pony and this cowboy are all warmed up.

09:57 It's time to turn the clocks on, see what kind of time

10:01 we can run with a little EcoBoost turbo four

10:04 cylinder here at Willow Springs.

10:05 [TIRES SCREECHING]

10:09 [TIRES SCREECHING]

10:12 [TIRES SCREECHING]

10:16 [TIRES SCREECHING]

10:20 [TIRES SCREECHING]

10:24 [TIRES SCREECHING]

10:28 [TIRES SCREECHING]

10:32 [TIRES SCREECHING]

10:36 [TIRES SCREECHING]

10:42 [TIRES SCREECHING]

10:47 [TIRES SCREECHING]

10:51 [TIRES SCREECHING]

10:57 [TIRES SCREECHING]

11:00 [TIRES SCREECHING]

11:05 [TIRES SCREECHING]

11:10 [TIRES SCREECHING]

11:15 [TIRES SCREECHING]

11:19 [TIRES SCREECHING]

11:25 [TIRES SCREECHING]

11:28 [TIRES SCREECHING]

11:32 [TIRES SCREECHING]

11:37 [TIRES SCREECHING]

11:41 [TIRES SCREECHING]

11:53 [TIRES SCREECHING]

11:56 It may not be the performance-oriented version

12:00 we had hoped, but the EcoBoost makes a very pleasant non-V8

12:05 entrant into the Mustang lineup.

12:06 Matching performance and price of similar cars

12:11 provided you option it reasonably.

12:14 It's by no means a replacement for that V8,

12:16 but nor is it the penalty box the V6 used to be.

12:19 It's better than that car in every way.

12:22 Plus, its higher fuel economy rating and strong low RPM

12:25 power delivery make the compelling choice

12:27 as a fun, sporty daily driver.

12:29 [LAUGHTER]

12:40 You just have to whip sound effects.

12:45 Sirens don't even need to add sound effects.

12:47 [HISSING]

12:49 [HISSING]

12:52 [HISSING]

12:54 [HISSING]

12:57 [HISSING]

12:58 [CLICKING]

13:01 Good?

13:03 Three?

13:07 No.

13:09 That's hot.

13:10 [HISSING]

13:13 [HISSING]

13:17 [BLANK_AUDIO]

2015 Ford Mustang EcoBoost: SVO Reborn? - Ignition Ep. 117

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