The 2018 Mustang looks to be droping the v6 as an option and more then likely throwing more boost/bigger turbo at the 4.
Are we going to miss the v6?
Personally I like the sound and feel of n/a v6 and see their decline as a bit sad.
Also, the 2018 is said to have a 10 speed flappy paddle auto. Would that even work on track (road course hpde) or for autocross? Seems like an aweful lot of shifting.
V4? LOL
A 10-speed slushbox is not ideal for track use, but you could certainly make it work.
In reply to Sky_Render:
He said V4....
In reply to Fr3AkAzOiD:
As far as missing the V6? No.
Growing up with a poster of the SVO Mustang on my wall, I might be a little biased.
P.S. We saw you edit V4 to 4. We are watching you.... 
https://www.youtube.com/embed/E0amO_lJks8?list=PLGvTvFzdMg_OIya3r7lFUJvdvtXSZmdD5The ZL1 seems to do just fine with the 10-speed. Fast forward to 11:26 for the side by side lap comparison of the manual vs the auto
Yea yea, laugh it up. Had v6 in there by mistake and only changed the number and forgot to drop the "v" as I was getting my girl ready for school.
Edited due to car humiliation.
If that's the worst mistake you'll make you're having it easy. And, BTW, I happen to like old Saabs.
The only thing really to worry about would be making sure the transmission cooler is up to the task of keeping the fluid temp in check during hot weather/long sessions.
What about weight? How much does a ten speed flappy paddle situation add over a manual box?
In reply to FlightService:
Thanks for posting the vid, for anyone who didn't watch it they state how much faster the auto shifts compared to the manual but at the end they put it head to head against a 6 speed manual on Big Willow and the manual is 1/2 a second faster.
Unless I counted wrong they were droping 3 to 4 gears in some of those corners.
I haven't driven the 4 banger (I said 4 banger...) Mustang, but have driven the V6 many, many times as I've toyed with the idea of buying one repeatedly. I liked the V6, but I didn't love it. Too little low end torque. It felt fairly flat below 4000rpm. I know all the magazines put the 0-60 times for the V6 w/6spd in the low 5s, but it never felt that way to me, it felt like 7 or more. This is one of those "It's faster than it feels" cars I guess. I just couldn't bring myself to pull the trigger and buy one just for that reason. If the turbo 4 has much more low end torque, I guess it's a good thing. But I'd have to drive it and see how it feels.
Auto boxes get better and better all the time. I'd have no issue buying the 10 speed auto, in fact if I ever get another Mustang I guarantee it will be 2 pedal no mater 4, 6 or 8 cyls.
Which V6? The EcoBoost seems like a great candidate for the Mustang. Maybe too much?
If it's the old 3.8L good riddance. Not to say the 3.8L doesn't have potential, in stock form it is a waste of gasoline.
Adrian_Thompson wrote: Auto boxes get better and better all the time. I'd have no issue buying the 10 speed auto, in fact if I ever get another Mustang I guarantee it will be 2 pedal no mater 4, 6 or 8 cyls.
Yep. 10+ years ago it was a different story, but these days, automatics are so good, you're not really losing anything except the feel and involvement of a manual. Which, I get is a big part of driving for a lot of people. It was for me for most of my life. But these days, give me a modern auto and I'm just fine.
The 2.0 ecoboost in our MKC has great power delivery. Feels more like a v6 tuned for mid range grunt. I'd imagine the 2.3 is even better.
bentwrench wrote: Which V6? The EcoBoost seems like a great candidate for the Mustang. Maybe too much? If it's the old 3.8L good riddance. Not to say the 3.8L doesn't have potential, in stock form it is a waste of gasoline.
The 3.8 has been gone for over a decade. It was upsized to 4.0L, still sucked. In 2011 the V6 went to the NA 3.7 GDI V6 (think ecoboost minus the turbos) and made 300hp. Wife and I drove a V6 with perf pack (diff, gears and shocks). It was plenty powerful. If the interior hadn't been so horrible, I may have never purchased the Forte.
I'm not surprised at the v6 going away. As far as autos, advancements are incredible.
Semi related, I've only driven two flappy paddle cars, a manumatic chrysler mini van and a subi cvt. Both felt as disconnected manual shifting in a video game. I hope to drive a proper DCT or such at some point, but my takeaway from the vanilla mobiles was just leave the thing in D.
I've driven the turbo, V6, and V8 - they each have their charms. I found the turbo to be surprisingly agile. The V6 is smooth power delivery and you gathers speed rapidly without feeling fast. The V8 is a V8.
All of them are off the table for me - I stopped by the dealership with my kids Saturday morning to test them out. Somehow, such a big car has so little back seat room. The Camaro, in comparison, is like a Cadillac in the back.
My 8 year old son told the dealer he prefers the M3 because it has more room in the back. My 4 year old daughter told the dealer she prefers the M3 because its prettier.
In reply to Fr3AkAzOiD:
What I find interesting is it is the mid-corner speed where the auto was slower. Sometimes as high as 5 mph.
Could have been something else different between the cars runs.
In the end, I ain't Randy Pobst and I will probably never have his skills, so 1/2 second would be good enough for me.
As far as the transmission goes, I do prefer the physical interaction of a manual in a way that no flappy paddle electrical switches can replicate. So not for me in a 'classic sports car' feeling car, like a Miata, nor for primarily track use short of nationally competitive or professional racing. But I also have no hate for the idea of a 10 speed auto in modern higher performance street cars. While admittedly I've never driven one, with that many gears I'm not sure I see much need or use for flappy paddles either, regardless of street or track. It just needs to have a well tuned (aggressive and predictive-feeling) 'track' mode, and use the (torque converter locked) gears rather than unlocking the torque converter to keep the rpm's where they need to be in said mode.
As far as the loss of the V6, I've said it before and I'll say it again...The sounds that I have heard vomited by EB Mustangs so far, stock or modified, is the primary reason that the styling of the Camaro is growing on me...Granted my interest would also be more specifically in a convertible, so the sensory experience is what it's all about for me. It's really a shame though that Ford chose not to engineer the sound quality the way Fiat did on the 500 Abarth. Now I don't doubt that the diesel-like delivery of the EB feels great around town, and everywhere else for the masses of people who will never put the pedal all the way to the floor for the whole ride to redline, but even in a sport-cruiser convertible I'm just not sure that low end torque alone (well, along with the looks) would be enough for me. This seems to sum it up pretty well:
Car & Driver said: The same is true of the engine noise. It’s a one-note song, and not a particularly pleasant note at that. This one’s a groaner, always groaning the same groan. Its volume changes in concert with revs, but its pitch never does. There’s not much point in exploring the upper reaches of this engine’s operational envelope. There’s no aural reward for pushing beyond 5500 rpm, where horsepower peaks. It’s a shame, too, because the Mustang is otherwise great fun to drive. Its shifter feels better than the Camaro’s. And the harder you drive the car, the better and more settled it feels. Here was the moment the Camaro sealed its win in this quasi-comparison test: I was in the Mustang, cruising along on a slow portion of our 10 Best testing roads behind executive online editor Erik Johnson in the Camaro. When the road opened up, Johnson floored the throttle. I followed suit. And I was treated to the full immersion experience that is the Chevy’s exhaust. Our test Camaro came with the optional two-mode exhaust, which opens up butterfly valves and cranks the volume in response to heavy throttle. Because the Mustang is pretty much just as fast as the Camaro, I could hang with Johnson and listen as the Camaro’s combustion song rose to its tremulous highs somewhere around the engine’s 6800-rpm power peak. Right at the upper edge of revs, the Camaro’s exhaust begins to resonate at a frequency that makes your ears feel as if they’re stuffed with cotton. It calls to mind the audio of old sports-car-racing footage where the microphones would become overwhelmed by the noise. Each upshift restarts the song, a rising ripsaw until the exhaust system and your ears can’t accept it anymore. Then a moment of relief, then another rising ripsaw. We could listen to this auditory tension-and-release sequence all day.
In reply to Driven5:
I bleed Ford blue, but of the two cars right now, for even money, I wouldn't be buying a Stang. Just sayin'
I like the 3.7. I remember in like 2011 when it came out, I was astounded that you could get a naturally aspirated 300 hp car that got 30 mpg (according to the EPA, anyway) for $24k.
That motor makes a surprisingly decent truck/van powerplant as well...I rented a newish Transit recently and was pleasantly surprised at how much it didn't suck. It also got 22mpg empty at 75mph.
The V6 has always seemed to be the "when you want your Mustang to be a transportation appliance" choice. They've given it pretty good power now, but these never seem to have been aimed at enthusiasts, other than when the V6 was the only engine option in 1974. Ford has had several interesting V6s that could have fit the bill and could have fit in the Mustang - the Taurus SHO mill, the supercharged 3.8 from the Thunderbird, the 3.5 Ecoboost - but they've never put one in the Mustang.
I have yet to drive a car with an automatic without thinking, "This car would be more fun with a manual." Maybe the exist; I just haven't found one yet. You might have to get really aggressive with lockup torque converter engagement to pull this off. (I haven't driven a DSG type transmission yet, but they're not real automatics in my books.)
Ricky Spanish wrote: The V6 is smooth power delivery and you gathers speed rapidly without feeling fast.
That's why I've held off from buying a V6. I know it's faster than it "feels", but if I'm buying a Mustang, I want it to be hairy chested and give me a concussion every time I mash the pedal. There's an ECU tune for the 3.7 that supposedly adds some hp and low end torque, but I haven't been able to sample one.
I really like the sound of the 6th gen Camaro V6. I may even like it better than the V8. I've never found the kind of traditional lower reving/compression/valve "American V8" sound that appealing. I like more the sound of a Merc/BMW or race car V8 sound.
Brian wrote: I'm not surprised at the v6 going away. As far as autos, advancements are incredible. Semi related, I've only driven two flappy paddle cars, a manumatic chrysler mini van and a subi cvt. Both felt as disconnected manual shifting in a video game. I hope to drive a proper DCT or such at some point, but my takeaway from the vanilla mobiles was just leave the thing in D.
This is what's wrong with marketing focus groups and big corporations. We get crap like flappy paddle shifters on cars that don't shift gears! /rantoff.
After shifting 10,000+ times so far in my 2015 GT I think I'll get an automatic next time.
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