Stallion unleashed as new Ford Mustang gallops into South Africa

Introduced just shy of two years ago, Ford used the first day of the Kyalami Festival of Motoring on Thursday, 29 August, to reveal the all-new Mustang in preparation for its limited sales launch in October.

60 years of Mustang

Its arrival culminating in its 60^th anniversary this year, the internally named S650 or seventh generation Mustang succeeds the outgoing S550 the Blue Oval states had occupied 84% of the segment it competed since debuting locally in 2016.

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The first generation officially made by the Flat Rock Plant in Michigan with the steering gear on the right, sales for South Africa throughout the last eight years stand on 4 081 units with a smidgen over 4 100 likely once the run-out phase ends.

No cost Performance Pack

Debuting initially in Fastback GT guise only, the Mustang also gets the Performance Package as standard as opposed to it requiring additional forking out as in North America.

Mounted on 19-inch alloy wheels finished in ebony black or what Ford calls tarnished dark aluminium, the Performance pack comprises a Torsen limited slip differential, tower brace front suspension struts, the MagneRide adaptive suspension, a secondary oil cooler and the active sport exhaust system.

Providing stopping power are 390 mm at the front and 355 mm at the rear Brembo brakes that add additional cooling vents behind the wheel arches.

As in the States, the South African-spec Mustang retains the driving mode selector with six settings; Slippery, Normal, Sport, Track, Drag and Custom, plus the Remote Rev function that allows the engine to be revved from the key fob.

Spec sheet

Inside, the S650’s interior sees the inclusion of the new wraparound cockpit made-up of a 13.2-inch SYNC 4A system infotainment system, and the customisable 12.4-inch digital instrument cluster.

The former angled towards the driver with the steering wheel from the Mustang Mach-E included, the Mustang GT Fastback’s list of standard features comprise wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, heated and cooled sport seats finished in Black Onyx leather, a 12-speaker B&O Play sound system, dual-zone climate control and a wireless smartphone charger.

Notable safety and driver assistance systems are Adaptive Cruise Control, Rear Cross Traffic Alert, Traffic Sign Recognition, Reverse Brake Assist, Evasive Steer Assist, Lane Cantering and Active Pothole Mitigation.

‘Natural’ Coyote howl

Residing up front, the latest generation of the normally aspirated 5.0 Coyote V8 provides exclusive power to the rear axle via the recalibrated 10-speed automatic gearbox co-developed with General Motors.

For South Africa though, power and torque are reduced, more than likely as a result of fuel quality, from 362kW/567Nm to 328kW/540Nm. For the moment, no performance figures are known.

For the limited few initially

Available in a choice eight colours; Dark Matter Grey, Oxford White, Absolute Black, Iconic Silver, Race Red, Vapour Blue, Lucid Red and Atlas Blue, the Mustang will have an initial allocation run of 150 units for the 2024 with pricing to be announced on 1 October.

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