Ford Mustang, Chevy Camaro and Dodge Challenger are one of the most iconic trios which will remain unforgotten by us enthusiasts forever. But recently, we have seen this trio getting separated because Dodge announced their last Challenger, the Challenger SRT Demon 170, which is limited to only 3,300 units, means this is the final production year for the Challenger, and with that, Chevy also has announced their last Camaro with revealing the Collector’s edition on several trims of the 2024 Camaro across the lineup, which means the year 2024 will be the last year for the Camaro. And when Ford launched the Mustang Mach-E in 2019, we thought this was the end of the real Mustang, and for the future generation, the Mustang will be remembered as an electric family SUV. But in 2022, Ford surprised us with the 7th generation of the Mustang, the real one, and with that, Ford also announced that it will be in production till April 27th 2029.
Talking about the exterior looks of the 7th generation Ford Mustang, it now gets a boxier front end than the previous gen, has a hexagonal shaped front grill with more angular headlamps, has got a more bulgy hood than before with a functional hood scoop, the front bumper also got a lot more aggressive, moving to the side it looks more pointer from the front end, talking about wheels, you can choose different alloy wheel options from 19″ to 20″, and the rear shoulder lines can look a bit Camaroy to some people, and now moving to the rear, it gets a new design for the taillights, blacked-out rear bumper with the quad exhaust system, helps to add more muscle at the rear, and also you get a fixed rear spoiler only with the Mustang GT Premium and the Mustang Dark Horse.
Talking about performance, the 7th gen Mustang gets 3 powertrain options, a 2.3L Ecoboost inline-4 turbo, which puts out 315hp @5500rpm and 400Nm of peak torque paired with a 10-speed automatic transmission then, comes the GT with a 5.0L naturally aspirated V8, pumps out 480hp @7150rpm and 567Nm of peak torque @4900rpm, paired with a 6-speed manual or a 10-speed automatic, and the 3rd one is the Dark Horse with the same 5.0L V8 but has 500hp @7250rpm and 567Nm of peak torque @4900rpm, paired with a 6-speed manual or a 10-speed automatic. Ford has also changed the steering ratio making it a bit faster to manoeuvre, they also added automatic rev-matching and has added an e-brake which acts as a hydraulic hand brake developed with a Formula D driver named Chelsea Denofa, which helps you to go sideways, which makes it more engaging to drive, with the GT performance pack it gets equipped with a torsion rear differential with a better axel ratio, and it gets the line-lock system, the coolest way to heat your rear tyres. You can now also wake up your neighbours by revving your Mustang by just pressing the lock and unlock buttons on the key fob in a sequence.
Now moving to the interior, there is a twin-screen setup for the instrument panel and the infotainment screen, except the base Ecoboost base non Premium, which gets 2 separate screens, where the instrument cluster shows you different style gauges, line-lock data and other driver-specific data, and the infotainment screen will show you the rearview camera, your driving modes, climate control and much more, as standard you get automatic comfort seats for the driver and the manual seat for the co-passenger, but Ford also provides an option of Recaro bucket seats as well. The new flat-bottom steering wheel also looks better than the traditional steering wheel of the previous gen. Overall the 7th gen Mustang’s interior is well-equipped and has a more modern touch compared to its previous-gen Mustangs.
By seeing all these updates, we can say that the 7th generation Mustang is the most well-equipped generation of Mustang ever, and we can hope and expect some new updates that we will see in upcoming generations of the Mustang till 2029. But as a sad part, we Indians won’t be able to see or experience the 7th generation Mustang on Indian roads until and unless Ford drops another bomb and decide to return to India with a bang again.
