The seventh-generation Ford Mustang returns with an EcoBoost trim, albeit without a High Performance Package.
The 2024 model year is a significant milestone for America’s original pony car. Most notably, the 2024 Ford Mustang got a redesign and retained its engine options with a power bump. However, Ford saw fit to omit a Mustang EcoBoost High Performance Package from the 2024 lineup. Still, even with the omission, the EcoBoost might not be any worse off.
Ford didn’t include a High Performance Package for the 2024 Mustang EcoBoost, although fans might not miss it
In 2020, Ford unveiled the Mustang EcoBoost with a High Performance Package. The package meant an extra 20 horsepower over the now-discontinued, standard-spec S550-generation EcoBoost. That’s right; a turbocharged 2.3L four-cylinder Mustang outmuscled the 3V V8 engines of a decade prior despite half the displacement and number of cylinders.
However, the 330-horsepower Ford Mustang EcoBoost High Performance died with the sixth-generation pony car. Instead, the Blue Oval renewed the four-cylinder EcoBoost for the 2024 model year sans Hi-Po option. While that sounds like a net loss to the Mustang lineup, it just isn’t.
Specifically, the 2024 Ford Mustang EcoBoost boosts power from 310 to 315 in its current spec. What’s more, the new EcoBoost recorded a 0 to 60 mph time of 4.5 seconds, about as quick as the pre-facelift V8-powered Ford Mustang GT models from the previous generation.
However, Car and Driver’s evaluators never had an opportunity to test the High Performance S550 against the latest EcoBoost. Given the previous EcoBoost High Performance’s 330-horsepower output and shared 10-speed automatic transmission option, there’s a solid chance that the S550-generation four-banger wouldn’t have bowed to the new model without a skirmish.
Ford says the 2020 Ford Mustang EcoBoost with a High Performance Package would hit the arguably important 60 mph benchmark in the mid-four-second range. That puts it on par with testing of the admittedly less powerful S650-generation EcoBoost Auto.
Furthermore, the current EcoBoost survives in a segment devoid of its closest rival, the four-cylinder Chevrolet Camaro. Chevrolet dropped the four-pot Camaro for the 2024 model year. At the intersection of eco-warrior and muscle car fan, you’ll find only the Mustang EcoBoost.