Ford announces performance packs for all-new 2015 Mustang
by Canadian Manufacturing Staff
Performance packs for Mustang GT, EcoBoost models feature retuned suspension, new brakes
DEARBORN, Mich.—The redesigned Ford Mustang hasn’t even hit dealerships yet, and already the latest rendition of the famed pony car has a bevvy of bolt-on kits available from the factory.
As Ford Motor Co. takes orders for the 2015 Mustang ahead of its fall release date, the automaker announced bolt-on performance kits available for the EcoBoost-equipped fastback and GT fastback and convertible models.
Available for both the EcoBoost and GT models, owners can add a host of handling options to their sixth-generation Mustang out of the factory, including retuned springs, bushings and monotube rear dampers, a thicker rear sway bar, a K-brace connecting strut towers to the bulkhead, and “unique tuning” for the car’s ABS and electronic stability control and electric power-assisted steering systems.
The performance packs also feature a new centre gauge pack and “additional cooling capability,” though Ford didn’t specify exactly what the cooling capability would be.
Unique to the EcoBoost performance pack, Mustangs equipped with the 2.3-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine will get bigger brakes bolted on, as well as a higher, 3.55:1 final drive ratio and 19-inch black wheels.
The EcoBoost performance pack brakes will fill the wheels to the tune of 352 millimetres up front and 330 millimetres in the rear.
The front brakes will also feature four-piston, 46-millimetre fixed aluminum calipers, while the rears will see single-piston, 45-millimetre floating iron calipers help bring things to a halt.
The GT performance pack features the same brake setup out back, but larger, 380-millimetre discs up front with six-piston, 36-millimetre fixed aluminum Brembo calipers, and an even higher final drive ratio, at 3.73:1, with a Torsten differential.
The GT pack also includes a front strut tower brace and front splitter, as well the same 19-inch black alloy wheels.
According to Ford, the new GT performance package includes the same brake package found on the 662-horsepower 2014 Shelby GT500.
“We set out to create an all-new Mustang that would go, handle and stop better than any previous Mustang, while also being a better all-around daily driver,” Mustang chief engineer Dave Pericak said in a release.
If the results are true to what Ford claims—track testing found the 2015 Mustang GT with the performance pack “consistently” topped the lap times of the 2012-13 Mustang Boss 302—then that’s exactly what drivers can expect from the newest pony car from the Blue Oval.
