First Look: 2010 Ford Mustang
Ford claims the Mustang is the most owner-customized car sold in the U.S. Ford Racing will offer a dealer-installed supercharger that boosts power past 400 horses and preserves the Mustang's factory warranty. Traction control and the Advance Trac electronic stability-control system will come standard, offering full-on/full-off, and performance modes. Ford says you can perform burnouts in the full-on mode. There are new wheel designs, and sizes are up one inch each to 18 inches standard, 19 inches optional for the GT, with 235/50R18 or 245/45R19 Pirellis. (The personalization program will offer 20-inch summer tires.)
The outgoing model's optional Pony handling package with its rear anti-roll bar becomes the V-6's only suspension setup. Wheels and tires are also up an inch in diameter on the V-6, with 215/60R17-inch BFGoodrich tires standard, and the GT's standard 18-inch Pirellis optional.
Considering the heavy competition, Dodge Challenger and Chevrolet Camaro, it's commendable that weight is up just 15 pounds on the GT (attributed to the bigger wheels) and about 35 pounds on the V-6, thanks to wheels and the rear bar. So the 2010 Mustang is in the 3380-3555-pound range, 370 to 495 pounds lighter than comparable Challengers.
The 2010 Mustang goes on sale this spring just as the pony/musclecar era peaks out. Mustang/Camaro/Challenger's traditional buyers are aging. A strict, new Corporate Average Fuel Economy looms just as buyers seek out clean, green, fuel-efficient cars. For the next-generation Mustang that Ford will begin designing as soon as this one premieres, the biggest challenge is ahead: How to make the next one smaller without making a retro Mustang II.