Or it can send things in the opposite direction. During the development of the 2015 Mustang, one move set off a chain reaction that irreversibly altered the Mustang for the better. Granted, it was a big change: swapping out the old solid rear axle for an independent one. Partially derived from the aluminum and steel components supporting the tail of Ford’s Fusion sedan, the Mustang’s new independent suspension brings unprecedented refinement—unprecedented for a Mustang, anyway.
The new independent rear suspension consists of an aluminum knuckle attached to a rubber-isolated steel subframe by means of a lower control arm, an upper lateral link, and a toe-control link. A fourth locating device, which Ford calls an integral link, transfers acceleration and braking forces from the knuckle through the control arm to the subframe. Manual-transmission Mustangs have a cast aluminum differential carrier, while automatic cars use cast iron for that component.
Chief engineer Dave Pericak swears that a new front suspension wasn’t part of the initial plan for this sixth-generation Mustang, but after it had fitted the new independent rear, his team realized that the front suspension it had been working with was now outmatched. And once the team started down that rabbit hole, the result was a complete chassis tear-up. In went a new design with a completely different geometry and a new subframe, which just happens to be lighter and stiffer than the individual crossmembers on the old car. Pericak calls it a “significant time, money, and engineering investment,” but admits that the improvements would not have been as marked without it.
Atop the new suspension, Ford placed a new body that is also lighter and stiffer than the outgoing one. It is a beguiling design, too, inviting long stares and walkarounds, and devoid of the bloat that makes other retro designs look like old cars wearing fat suits. The result is a decisive abolition of the distinction be-tween pony car and sports car. In spite of an increase of about 150 pounds in curb weight—the inevitable result of safety and electronic gear, as well as the independent suspension and bigger brakes—the Mustang doesn’t feel fat.
Thanks to the stiffened front end, the steering wheel twitches in your hands, communicating textures, undulations, and grip levels as you drive down the road. Turn the wheel and the car responds as quickly as if you’d poked it with a needle. Wheel and body control are just as tight. Dive into a series of challenging turns in the Mustang and you’re not driving a car, you’re wearing wheels.
That connection is furthered by the GT’s smooth, responsive V-8. Five
liters is small for the Mustang’s class, but the 5.0’s 435 horsepower
and 400 pound-feet of torque aren’t inadequate by any measure. Snappy
throttle calibration makes slight output adjustments easy, and the
six-speed’s closely spaced ratios keep the driver engaged. Refinement
has also come, finally, to the clutch and shift linkage, neither of
which requires as much muscle to operate as in last year’s car. We do
wish that Ford would have left the exhaust alone, though the polite
factory-fitted stranglers will make those working in the aftermarket
overjoyed.
Oddly but happily enough for us, amidst all this urbanity, Ford somehow
decided that it would offer the first production car with line lock.
Engage the system while stopped and the front brakes hold the Mustang
stationary as burnouts not even your 16-year-old self could have
imagined boil off the unbraked rear tires. We can’t figure out how that
made it past the lawyers.
However they were distracted, the bean counters must have been with the
legal team, because every detail in the cabin seems fussed over. With
its stitched leather, matte-silver toggle switches, and faux
turned-aluminum trim, this interior boasts meticulousness heretofore
absent from mainstream American cars. There’s an element of toyishness
in the sheen of some of the plastics and the Duplo-scale toggle
switches, but that puerile charm gets to the heart of what we love about
the Mustang. It reminds us that driving a great car can be play,
something that even grownups enjoy.