Ford calls its Mustang an icon; there's no reason to argue that. The Ford Mustang is one of those cars everyone recognizes, whether they are car enthusiasts or not. But as you can tell by simply looking around a parking lot, recent years have been hard times for cars. The crossover SUV has become the American vehicle of choice. Ford has responded to this by offering a wide variety of crossovers. Despite this trend—and to the relief of pony car fans worldwide—the Detroit automaker retains the Mustang as its only "car" offering.
For the 2024 model year, Ford has unveiled the seventh-generation Ford Mustang. As part of an introductory event in Arcadia, California, I tested and evaluated the new 2024 Ford Mustang EcoBoost and its Mustang GT sibling. JD Power last reviewed the 2020 Ford Mustang. That was among the last of the sixth generation. The 2024 Ford Mustang EcoBoost reviewed here is the first of the next generation.
For the 2024 model year, Ford offers the seventh-generation Mustang in three primary variations: EcoBoost, GT, and the all-new Dark Horse. Powered by turbocharged 4-cylinder engines, the EcoBoost models are generally the least expensive of the 2024 versions. Customers can choose between fastback coupe and convertible body styles, offered in base and Premium trims. The least costly Mustang EcoBoost—the base coupe—has a manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) of $33,160, including destination and acquisition fees. In Premium trim, the EcoBoost coupe has an MSRP of $38,685.
The base EcoBoost convertible, which has a higher level of standard equipment than the coupe, bases at $41,260, including fees. The EcoBoost Premium convertible with even more standard equipment has a starting price of $44,185. For comparison purposes, the least expensive 2024 Mustang GT with the 5.0-liter V8 engine has a base price of $44,090.
The test vehicle I evaluated in the San Bernardino Mountains north and east of Los Angeles was an EcoBoost Premium coupe. With the High Performance package and MagneRide damping system, the car had a suggested price of $43,910, including destination and acquisition fees.
Photo: Jack R. Nerad
Now in its seventh generation, the Ford Mustang still clings to the twin goals of the original: go fast and look cool. It is fair to say that the EcoBoost delivers on those two goals as well as any of the generations that preceded it. Inside and out, this car not only looks cool, but Ford also fills it with cool features.
Chief exterior designer Chris Walter and his team conquered the difficult task of creating exterior styling that is immediately recognizable as a Mustang and offers a new, modern take on the car's classic shape. To accomplish this, they gave the design sharper angles, tri-bar LED headlights, and a shorter rear overhang. Ford designed the coupe's roofline and door openings so the driver could exit comfortably while hearing a helmet—not something that comes into play in the design of a minivan.
For 2024, the EcoBoost and GT have different grilles and front-end treatments. The emotive rear-end design highlights the classic tri-bar taillights. On a more practical note, Ford designed and engineered the convertible top to enable the car to offer enough trunk space to accommodate two golf bags.
As expressive as the Mustang's exterior is, the car's interior exhibits a more dramatic transformation. Making a solid right turn away from the traditional instrumentation of prior Mustangs, the new-gen EcoBoost embraces the pixel. The Mustang's 13.2-inch digital infotainment touchscreen accompanies a 12.4-inch digital instrument cluster. Both are easily configurable. As Mustang Brand Manager Jim Owens said, while older generations personalize their vehicles with mechanical changes, the current generation, having grown up with digital screens, wants to do the same with their cars' instrumentation and infotainment.
You can adjust either display by simply swiping the graphic to rotate the car virtually—something gamers are very used to. The instrumentation adapts itself to the drive mode setting, and the driver can adjust the display's colors and interior lighting to their whims.
The interior designers wanted to create a driver-focused cockpit, and they succeeded. The displays angle toward the driver and the multi-adjustable memory driver's seat makes finding an appropriate driving position easy. Base EcoBoost models have cloth seats, while the Premium trim has heated and cooled front seats covered in ActiveX synthetic. Leather seats are available as an option.
Ford calls the Mustang EcoBoost a 4-seater, but the rear-seat passengers find themselves in the equivalent of Steerage in comparison to the First Class accommodations of the front-seat occupants. The rear seats are well-shaped, but the big issue is legroom—or, more precisely, the lack of it. Designers made the intelligent decision to make the rear seatbacks split-folding. Using that rear-seat space as cargo room is probably the wisest and kindest decision you can make. The Mustang EcoBoost coupe offers 13.3 cubic feet of trunk volume, and the convertible offers 10.3 cubic feet, which is very accommodating for sports-performance cars.
Despite the tight cabin, all Mustang EcoBoost models include dual-zone climate control. You will look in vain if you seek Old School buttons and knobs for heating and ventilating functions. Instead, Ford integrates the controls into the 13.2-inch digital "center stack" display. While not optimum for Luddites, this arrangement is easy for most to get accustomed to.
Behind two classically shaped vents, the console between the seats houses twin cupholders, the shift lever for the automatic transmission, and a handle that activates and deactivates the emergency brake. When purchased, the wireless charging pad lives there, too.
Taken in its entirety, the 2024 Ford Mustang interior is a sea change for the model. Some might decry its veer from the familiar norm, but most will applaud its intelligent embrace of new technology. It isn't a rehash of a previous Mustang interior. Instead, it offers Mustang buyers both young and old an easy-to-use presentation. Traditional Baby Boomer Mustang buyers won't find it intimidating, and younger buyers will enjoy its virtually limitless capacity for personalization.
Photo: Jack R. Nerad
The Mustang's 13.2-inch digital display looks like an iPad on a shelf. Optionally, you can configure the digital instrument cluster to combine with the center display behind a single piece of glass angled toward the driver. In either setup, the center display offers clear, crisp graphics and provides the gateway to the well-regarded Ford Sync 4 infotainment system.
In the Mustang EcoBoost, the Sync 4 system offers standard-issue functions like Bluetooth connectivity, Apple CarPlay, and Android Auto without drama or connection issues. The voice-command functions work well using "natural voice" prompts versus required phrases. The center stack display can also highlight a wide variety of driver-oriented information related to drive modes and in-car telemetry. The optional navigation system offers real-time traffic info via SiriusXM Traffic. You can activate it with your voice, and the maps have pinch-to-zoom capability.
A 6-speaker audio system is standard in the base Mustang EcoBoost model, with a 9-speaker system optional. That 9-speaker system is standard in the EcoBoost Premium trim, while a 12-speaker B&O sound system by Bang and Olufsen is an optional upgrade.
On the advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) front, the new Mustang offers customers Ford Co-Pilot 360. The standard system includes blind-spot warning with rear cross-traffic warning and braking—tech that is often optional for other vehicles. Ford makes other electronic safety tech available optionally, including adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go capability, lane-centering assistance, automatic emergency steering, and reverse brake assist.
Connectivity in the 2024 Ford Mustang EcoBoost comes via the FordPass app. To those who subscribe to the service after the trial, it offers niceties like remote engine start, door locking and unlocking, and vehicle location.
Photo: Jack R. Nerad
Some might look at the 2024 Ford Mustang EcoBoost as the "base" model, capturing all the limited appeal of other, prior-generation base-model Mustangs. But Ford execs quickly point out that the 2024 Mustang EcoBoost is a performance car. To prove it, they cite not only the 315-horsepower, turbocharged 4-cylinder engine but also the availability of a wide variety of optional "go-fast" stuff.
The 4-cylinder EcoBoost engine is a carryover from the previous-generation Mustang. Ford mildly retuned and reconfigured it to deliver five more horsepower than its 2023 iteration. The automaker teams it with a 10-speed automatic transmission. The engine's most appealing feature is its fat torque curve. It offers 350 pound-feet of peak torque at a very accessible 3,500 rpm, making it flexible in around-town, part-throttle driving.
In the hills and mountains above the eastern Los Angeles suburbs, the EcoBoost engine acquitted itself well in low and medium-speed turns with plenty of quick acceleration for the few straight stretches of road I discovered. On the fabled Los Angeles freeways, the 2024 Mustang EcoBoost has all the flexibility you need.
Another sign that the Mustang EcoBoost isn't just a one-size-fits-all "profiler" is the standard drive modes. As a driver, you can adjust steering effort, engine response, and transmission and electronic stability control settings via a half-dozen drive modes. They include Normal, Sport, Slippery, Drag, Track, and a customizable setting containing up to six individual profiles. As you select each mode in video game fashion, graphics in the digital instrument panel change to highlight its unique aspects.
The Mustang EcoBoost with the Performance package earns its stripes as an enthusiast's car. Happily, Ford doesn't confine the Performance package to the Mustang GT. In the Mustang EcoBoost, the package includes valuable items like a front tower brace, Torsen limited-slip differential, wider rear wheels and tires, and larger rear Brembo brakes. A MagneRide magnetically adjustable active suspension is optional.
One feature bound to gain a lot of attention is the electronic "drift brake." Standard with the Performance pack on all Mustang models, the parking brake offers a mode that facilitates drifting. Perhaps more important, Ford says it quickened the EcoBoost's steering ratio for more precise control.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rates the EcoBoost at 26 mpg in combined city/highway driving. With the optional Performance package, EPA-estimated fuel economy dips to 24 mpg combined, and it might be worth the sacrifice.
Photo: Jack R. Nerad
When surveying the 2024 Ford Mustangs, you might ask yourself if you are an EcoBoost or a GT person. According to Ford execs, the differences between the two aren't as stark as you might guess. And they aren't as age-oriented as you might think, either. That said, the Mustang EcoBoost is less traditional and cheaper than the Mustang GT. It doesn't offer all the performance the 480-hp GT can deliver. Still, it is a satisfying enthusiasts' car, especially when equipped with the Performance package. In base form, the MSRP is well below the average new-car transaction price, and even with the Performance package, it is still a superior bargain versus many performance-oriented competitors.
Jack R. Nerad has reviewed cars, trucks, vans, and sport utilities for over three decades. He also managed the editorial efforts of Motor Trend magazine, JD Power, and Kelley Blue Book. Jack is currently the host of the SportsMap Radio Network program America on the Road, available on Apple Podcasts, iHeart Radio, Spotify, Stitcher, and other outlets.
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