9/2/2009

Ford made updates to its Mustang for 2010, and even won a few comparison tests against the Chevy Camaro and Dodge Challenger, but it still lagged behind in horsepower, by a vast margin. Ford’s Mustang GT V8 engine only has 315 hp, compare that to the Camaro’s 426 hp and the Challenger’s 376 hp. To be fair, the Mustang has a smaller V8, but 315 hp is a number you’re more accustomed to seeing on a V6 spec sheet. Ford is going to correct this for 2011, and we’re impressed!

Let’s start with the V6. For the 2011 release, the old 4.0 liter truck engine will finally be replaced with a 3.7 liter V6 powerplant that actually creates horsepower. The V6 in question is the same engine that produces 273 hp in the Lincoln cars, but according to The Mustang Source, the engine should be tuned to about 315 horsepower for the Mustang. If you’re keeping track of the math, that’s a 105 hp increase over the current Mustang V6 and only 10 hp less than the current V8! No wonder Ford didn’t want this news to go public yet, as it could make current Mustangs a hard sell. A 300-plus horsepower V6 engine will make the Mustang comparable with a Camaro V6 (304 hp).

Even more exciting is the 400 horsepower 5.0 liter V8 dubbed ‘Coyote.” The powerplant should also be available with a six-speed manual transmission, a first for Mustang. Once again, this is an improvement of a massive 90 horsepower, and will be better suited to compete with the Camaro SS’s 426 horses.

One notable powerplant not mentioned above is Ford’s new EcoBoost V6 found in the Taurus SHO. The 365 hp turbo was most likely too close to the V8 to make the larger engine worthwhile, and we’re assuming that’s why they went with the naturally aspirated 315 hp V6 engine. While Ford has now amply taken care of engine needs, it is still unknown if they will give the Mustang a proper independent rear suspension. Maybe it won’t even matter, as the current "underpowered" 2010 Mustang GT still beat out its much more powerful foes in many comparison tests.

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