Interestingly, the EcoBoost is only offered with the automatic transmission because S550 buyers hardly specified the manual in conjunction with the turbo motor. Clearly, Ford feels that the recipe of the sixth-gen Mustang is good enough to bake a great seventh-gen cake, but it’s still a little disappointing to those who were expecting something truly innovative.
On that note, it seems that cost played a factor in the decision not to pursue a hybrid Mustang yet: “It’s important to keep the EcoBoost in the base car to keep things affordable and attainable,” said Krenz. “So the question of why not a hybrid or whatever? Affordability. It’s very important that it’s accessible. It’s always been the Mustang way, right?”
While we wish there was more in the way of technical innovation to talk about, at least we know that this platform leaves no room for excuses when fans start to demand high-performance models with more power.