Eric's Autos: 2024 Ford Mustang

Sixty years ago -- the Ford Mustang's first year -- the Mustang had no competition to worry about. That changed quickly, due to the Mustang's popularity. Within three years of its 1964 debut, the Mustang had to face multiple competitors, including the Chevy Camaro.

It's about to change back to the way things were in '64 -- when there were no other pony cars besides the Mustang.

But for a different reason.

What It is

Ford's Mustang is the pony car -- the one that defined the type and which competitors like the Camaro and the Dodge Challenger, which have both been canceled, emulated. It is a compact, four-seater coupe/convertible that does not offer all-wheel drive but comes standard with rear-wheel drive and is available with both a manual transmission and a V8 engine. Those are some of the things a pony car must have in order to be a pony car.

Prices start at $30,920 for the base coupe with the EcoBoost (that is, turbocharged) four-cylinder engine; this version of the Mustang comes standard with 17-inch wheels, leather interior trim and a six-speaker stereo; a convertible version of the same thing lists for $39,020.

A V8-powered Mustang GT -- same designation as back in '64 -- stickers for $41,960, and for that you don't get twice the mileage but you do get close to twice the horsepower. You also get a six-speed manual -- two more gears than you got back then. GTs also get upgraded brakes and GT-specific exterior styling, including a functional hood vent to relieve air pressure under the hood at high speeds.

At the top-of-the ticket is the Dark Horse -- a GT upgraded with a MagnaRide adaptive suspension, "active" exhaust (you can open up the pipes at the touch of a button to free up some power and hear it) plus an oil cooler, unique-to-this-trim 19-inch wheels and specific exterior/interior styling and color choices. Also included is a premium 12-speaker B&O audio system.

What's New for 2024

All Mustang trims get revised exterior styling and a new LCD instrument cluster.

What's Good

-- It survives.

-- Standard turbo four is stronger than most of the V8s available in Mustang for most of its life to date.

-- Backseats make up for the small trunk.

What's Not So Good

-- Standard turbo four is not available with a manual transmission.

-- All-flatscreen display may not age as well as the car itself.

-- The same government strong-arming that forced the Camaro and Challenger off the market is likely to eventually do the same to Mustang.

Under the Hood

The Mustang comes standard with a 2.3-liter, four-cylinder engine stronger than most of the V8s that were available during most of the Mustang's production run, which began in 1964 and hasn't ended yet. It makes 315 horsepower and 350 foot-pounds of torque -- enough to get the base Mustang to 60 mph in just over five seconds. That's quicker than almost all the V8-powered Mustangs made from '64 through the early 2000s.

And none of those could go 33 highway miles on a gallon of gas.

The GT comes standard with a 5.0-liter V8, the same size as the V8s available in early Mustangs back in the '60s. However, none of those V8s made 480 horsepower -- or 486 foot-pounds of torque. Enough to get this version of the Mustang to 60 mph in just over four seconds.

Mileage with this engine -- and this transmission -- is 14 mpg city, 23 mpg highway, which is about 5 mpg higher than you'd have gotten out of a V8-powered Mustang with about 200 less horsepower back in the '60s and early '70s.

On the Road

Who says you can't have your cake and eat it too?

Thirty years ago, Ford loaned me a brand-new Cobra R to test-drive. It was the hottest Mustang you could buy back then. A street-legal racecar with a 5.8-liter (351-cubic-inch) V8 that made 300 horsepower, paired with a five-speed manual. The car was built for all-out performance, so weight-adding, power-sapping things such as backseats, power windows and air conditioning were deleted. The car didn't even have a radio . And you had to have a road racing license to buy it.

Thirty years later, anyone can buy a new four-cylinder Mustang that is the performance equal of the V8-powered '95 Cobra R. With backseats -- and standard AC. Ford has even managed to make the four sound like a V8; when equipped with the available performance package and "active" exhaust, it can make you forget all about the V8.

Especially when you floor it.

The sole detraction is the mandatory 10-speed automatic -- but not because it doesn't shift with double-clutching ferocity when in Sport or Track mode. There is nothing objectively wrong with it. But subjectively, it'd be more fun to command the turbo four's 315 horses via the more direct connection of a manual transmission.

At the Curb

In addition to being a very fun car, the Mustang is also a reasonably practical car -- for the kind of car that it is.

In part because it has backseats. These can be sat in too -- by smaller people, for short hops. But they're not so much for people as they are for the stuff that might not fit in the Mustang's trunk, which is surprisingly spacious (13.5 cubic feet) for the kind of car it is. As a reference point, a compact sedan such as the current (2024) Honda Civic has a not-much-larger (14.8-cubic-foot) trunk, and it is considered a "practical" car.

The Rest

The one thing you may not like about this car is the new-for-2024 all-LCD dashboard that completely replaces analog gauges with virtual gauges.

On the upside, the LCD display displays a wealth of information about almost everything you might want to know about the car and its capabilities -- including cornering/braking G-forces, 0-60 mph times and so on. The display is also configurable. You can toggle through at least four different instrument displays, some with analog looks and others that have bar-graph-style looks and a variety of different colors to suit.

The Bottom Line

The past is our present, again. Only this time, there probably won't be any new entrants to rival the car that started it all.

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Eric's latest book, "Doomed: Good Cars Gone Wrong!" will be available soon. To find out more about Eric and read his past columns, please visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.