Cars —

The 2018 Mustang will have driver assist tech, 10-speed transmission option

No details on price or fuel economy yet, but Ford says performance will be improved.

The 2018 Mustang will have driver assist tech, 10-speed transmission option

On Tuesday, Ford announced its 2018 Mustang, a refresh from the previous generation that debuted in 2015. Although Ford couldn’t share important details like fuel economy and price, the Mustang refresh seems like a thoughtful one. It has driver assist technology, a more aerodynamic design, and performance upgrades for both the 2.3L EcoBoost four-cylinder engine, as well as its 5.0L V8 engine on the GT.

Ars spoke to Corey Holter, Ford’s Marketing Manager for Car and Cross Vehicle Marketing, about the updates to the car. He emphasized that the EcoBoost has been successful in bringing new customers into Ford’s mix, especially millennials, people of color, and women.

Before we saw the car, a spokesperson for Ford told us that the redesign of the interior and exterior of the 2018 Mustang would attract new female buyers, which admittedly put us on our guard. As a tech publication, we're all too familiar with the old “pink washing” gambit used so often by phone companies—that market a product to women by slashing its specs and pandering to a perceived “female” aesthetic.

Luckily, that doesn’t seem to be the case here. The front end of the new Mustang is lowered from the previous design, and the grille is a bit wider. The press materials describe the car as "athletic." And, honestly, the new Mustang will probably appeal to both men and women. When I asked Holter what Ford did specifically to appeal to women (because honestly I couldn’t find what was supposed to appeal to me specifically and not to a man), he said there was nothing specific besides the women Ford has on its design team who “wanted to make sure [the car] had an appeal to everyone.”

The 12-inch instrument cluster on the 2018 Mustang.
Enlarge / The 12-inch instrument cluster on the 2018 Mustang.
Ford

The exterior redesign hasn't purely been aesthetic either. Holter said that Ford has made the car more aerodynamic, which will contribute to bringing down those all-important fuel economy numbers. He added that Ford doesn’t yet know what the fuel economy will be for the EcoBoost or the GT, but the American automaker expects to see an improvement in efficiency from the previous generation.

Both EcoBoost and GT engines are more powerful, but the V8 engine “has been thoroughly reworked,” according to Ford’s press release. The car “is more powerful and revs higher than any Mustang GT before,” due to its “dual-fuel, high-pressure direct injection and low-pressure port fuel injection.” This, too, should improve the car’s fuel efficiency, Ford said. (Note: Ford hasn't released horsepower and torque numbers yet.)

While both cars come in a manual option, the 2018 Mustangs are also the first models to include a 10-speed automatic transmission that shifts “faster than any other automatic we’ve had,” Holter said. He noted that automatic transition was becoming a more popular option with younger Mustang drivers in the US—about 50 percent of GT Mustang owners go for automatic transmissions, while about 90 percent of EcoBoost Mustang drivers go for automatic transmissions.

Both cars will also benefit from a tech upgrade. They have a 12-inch, customizable digital instrument cluster above the steering wheel, with displays for normal, sport, and track mode. Besides that, the driver can alter suspension and steering preferences. In the GT, drivers can adjust the sound of the exhaust system. “There’s a muffler on each valve, and they’ll open up a little bit if you want to make it louder,” Holter explained. “When you start the car up it gives you that vroom.” But if you’re cruising, the car will quiet the exhaust unless you select a louder ride.

The 2018 Mustangs will also be the first of the lineup to have collision-warning capabilities, distance alert, lane-departure warning, and lane-keeping assist. According to Holter, there’s a significant amount of computing power in the car to make all of that work, including “at least 25 computers,” as well as radar sensors and cameras. Holter noted that Ford didn’t have a partner for the driver assist features—all of that has been developed in-house.

Ultimately, Holter said, Ford wanted to make a “daily driver that you can go to a track with and have fun.” While Ford doesn’t have pricing details available just yet, hopefully that dream will pan out when the car goes on sale in fall 2017.

Channel Ars Technica