11 Things You Didn鈥檛 Know, And Two Things Ford Won鈥檛 Tell Us

11 Things You Didn鈥檛 Know, And Two Things Ford Won鈥檛 Tell Us

There鈥檚 a lot of 鈥淣ew鈥?worth digesting when it comes to the 2015 Mustang-from the rear axle to the 2.3L EcoBoost, all the way down to a fundamentally different chassis (S550). We鈥檒l walk you through some of the commonly known differences from the 2014 Mustang to 2015, as well as some of the cool features and performance aspects you might not have known about. There are a few takeaways from key interview with Ford鈥檚 chief engineer in charge of building the 2015 Mustang, Dave Pericak. Here are some of the more noteworthy comments from Ford and other sources over the past year-10 things you might not have known about the New Mustang. 1. Benchmarking against the Porsche 911 & BMW M3:Ford wasn鈥檛 very shy about what cars they were measuring the 2015 Mustang against. The known list may be short, but it was certainly an impressive one-the likes of the Porsche 911 and BMW M3 set a specific and aspirational goal, one that Ford intended to exceed.

Without being said, it鈥檚 fairly obvious that the 2015 Mustang would be measured against the Camaro, but to take on the heavy hitters from Germany required an entire shift in thought and approach. And that鈥檚 exactly what Ford has said they鈥檝e done in developing the 6th generation of America鈥檚 greatest ponycar. This new focus around building only 鈥渁spirational vehicles鈥?calls for a level of engineering that puts the Mustang at or above that of the toughest competition and, for the time being, Ford is claiming success in this category. 鈥?Again, not trying to be the 911, but reaching beyond. And we used the BMW M3 (E9X) we beat it with our Boss 302 on the track. 3. The 2015 GT uses parts from the BOSS 302: In fact, the new GT has many of the same parts internally as the Boss 302, a on a lighter, shorter and wider platform. Even if the GT receives only a mild bump in horsepower when compared to the S197 Coyotes, there will undoubtedly be a significant performance upgrade over the 2014s, you鈥檒l just have to look past simple power ratings to see it.

4 & 5. Independent Rear Suspension and a new front suspension: With that aside, back to talking about the IRS. Early in the car鈥檚 development, it became clear to the Ford engineers that the front suspension they鈥檇 borrowed from the 2014 Mustang GT was not going to be able to keep up with the abilities of the new IRS. This called for a redesign of the front suspension geometry that resulted in a double ball joint and full subframe construction in the front of the car. This, according to Ford, has resulted in a more precise, accurate feel and improved all-around handling. 6. No solid rear axle (SRA) as an option: One thing not addressed is how this new IRS will fair on the drag strip. It鈥檚 been announced that the production 2015 Mustangs will not come with a solid rear axle, not even as an option on anything less than the Cobra Jet.

The IRS has officially replaced the solid rear axle that has been a mainstay for the Mustang since its inception. Despite a temporary experiment with IRS in the 1999-2004 Cobras, a solid rear axle can be found under virtually every production Mustang pre 2015. Those days are over. IRS has replaced the SRA and Ford will not be looking back. They鈥檝e also gone on to say that it would take a 鈥渟ignificant tear-up鈥?to try and even get an SRA under the 2015, requiring re-piping of the exhaust and likely cutting of the floor. 鈥?we know our customers love to go out and drag race in the weekend and we鈥檒l make sure it鈥檚 all durable. 7. The 2015 Cobra Jet 鈥渃ould鈥?have an SRA: This still leaves one to wonder about the 2015 Cobra Jet. As a dedicated race car that already has a 9鈥?rear, it鈥檚 highly unlikely Ford will mess with such a proven straight track performer as the Cobra Jet.

9. S550 will be lighter than the S197: It has been said that the GT may receive a 200lb weight reduction, though Ford has been very tight lipped with anything regarding weight specs. An earlier 鈥渓eak鈥?had some model losing as much as 400lbs off what a comparable S197 would scale in at. If that鈥檚 the case, expect those trimmings to be saved for the top-of-the-line Shelby model. 10. The EcoBoost 4 cylinder is faster than the V6: Apparently, the V6 was re-tuned to lose 5HP over 2014 models. Again, not confirmed, but it would make sense. The 4 cylinder is supposed to be the premium model-as revealed by a leaked Ford survey-and in order to appeal to those other than gas conscious buyers, also had to has to have a desirable amount of power. 11. The V6 will not be sold outside of the US: And this might be bad news for the future of the V6. Ford may only keep the V6 around until they are ready to offer the EcoBoost V6 in its place, or until sales numbers no longer justify building one. 鈥?the V6 will stay in the US, except for some minor export markets. 200lbs and the Shelby possibly losing 400lbs, but these are, at the moment, unconfirmed by Ford. 2. Exact Horsepower Numbers: As of right now, the unconfirmed numbers have the EcoBoost 4 cylinder at 305HP, the V6 dialed down to 300HP and the GT somewhere in the range of 435HP from the factory. Like the weight specs, these numbers have not been confirmed by Ford, but have surfaced in a number of rumors and mentions lately. Like the car鈥檚 weight, they鈥檙e still getting these numbers finalized before making news.