2023 Ford Mustang v8 2022 Ford Mustang: styling faceoff

 

Mustang 2023: between recycling and restyling

Announced as a new generation of Mustang, the reality is much less ambitious since the brand (like many others) generally only changes its chassis every two generations (the trend even goes up to 3 or even 4 because current chassis no longer really require improvement, whether in terms of efficiency or crash-test safety).
The generations of the early 2000s had also done the same way, using the technique of restyling to last almost 11 years (from 2004 to 2015).
And if the previous generation had already benefited from a restyling in 2018, we can still see this 2023 edition (end of 2023 in France if all goes well, which is no longer guaranteed at this time full of troubles and bad surprises) as yet another restyage.

Technical?

Technically we are therefore dealing with an almost identical version with engines that remain based on the 5.0 V8 and the 2.3 Ecoboost, and we suspect that France will no longer be entitled to the V8 ... For the Ecoboost it should also be difficult without hybridization because this engine is already too ambitious for our grid of CO2 penalties.
No, the real question is whether it will really arrive here, because remember that the V8 is unsaleable (30,000 euro penalty) and that the Ecoboost has been abandoned here so much it reduces the aura of the Mustang to nothing. (customers shunned her).
And while a mid-size hybrid V6 could save the day, there's nothing going for it yet...
The Mustang should therefore possibly see its sales and its success decline in Europe from this generation, already that it was not the glory on the current one either.

Cockpit?

It is on the side of the passenger compartment that there will really be something new, because the brand is taking the opportunity to bring it up to date by integrating a double screen panel which has however become the norm, and therefore the wow effect will be moderate. However, with two handsets of 12.4 and 13.2 inches, we can say that we have reached dimensions here that are enough to wake up an epu this wow effect, because with a total of 25.6 inches we are here in what is more generous .
Of course, all this is wrapped in a marketing layer that will name this SYNC4 / SYNC New Generation infotainment system.

We notice two types of interiors with different integrations of the screens and the presence or not of an old-fashioned mechanical handbrake (certainly for the most playful versions ...)

Conclusion

Basically this Mustang 7 can be summed up in a "go around there is nothing (or rather "not much") to see" ...
The goal here is to limit development costs by taking as much of the old while giving it the benefit of barely modified bodywork in an attempt to create an illusion of novelty. We could therefore have hoped for a little more from this new generation with a more distinct style and technologies that are more oriented towards electrification. But hey, it's something that seems reserved for the Mustang Mach e, because yes, the Mustang already exists in electric (if you can call it a Mustang)...