Blitz118
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https://www.roadandtrack.com/new-ca...is-not-built-for-sustained-track-performance/
When Porsche launched its first electric car, the company made clear that it had prioritized sustained performance over extended periods of hard usage. Ford is making its position equally clear: the Mustang Mach-E was not built with sustained performance as one of its goals.
That's what Dave Pericak, Ford's global director of icons that headed up the Mach-E's development, told us when asked if the car could handle one or more laps at the NĂĽrburgring. When pressed further, Ford's global EV communications manager Emma Bergg had a simple response: it's an SUV. And she's right, that's not usually priority one for SUV buyers.
Neither are burnouts. We got mixed answers on whether traction control could be fully defeated: a yes from Pericak, followed by no from Chief Program Engineer Ron Heiser, followed by a final answer from Pericak that the team would be making changes before the final release next year. But that left a broader question. If it's not for the track, if it might not rip burnouts, if it's available with all-wheel drive, if it's a four-door, if it's electric, and if it's a crossover, then what exactly links the Mach-E to the Mustang brand?
Because while the Mustang stands for accessible performance and fun, Ford has had a lot accessible performance cars that aren't Mustangs. The Focus RS, for instance, shares an engine with the Mustang EcoBoost High-Performance Pack, which is more than the Mach-E shares with any current Mustang coupe. It was also cheaper than the Mustang Mach-E, as were the Fiesta ST and Focus ST. They're not Mustangs, though.
So if it's not cheap performance nor form factor nor driven wheels nor power source that makes a Mustang, it's not immediately apparent what does. What the Mustang means, Pericak said, is hard to define directly.
"It's hard to put words to, but we know when we do it right," Pericak said. According to him, there's a soul and a holistic experience that defines the Mustang brand. It's not a faster version of a normal car, it's a performance product that has "the whole equation figured out."
But now that equation has new variables. And he'll openly admit that to solve it, you're going to have to make compromises. He noted that there are "inherent limitations in the silhouette of the car" that made development harder. An electric platform can lower the center of gravity on an EV crossover, but by definition it'll never be quite as low and sleek as a coupe or sedan could be. As Pericak put it, "there's a reason that F1 cars don't look like SUVs."
What's important to point out — and Pericak did — is that the Mach-E is not supplanting Ford's mainstay pony car. Track-oriented buyers can still get a Shelby GT350R, burnout enthusiasts will always gobble up GTs, and autocross fanatics can still order an EcoBoost High-Performance Package.
This car likely won't be bought by people deciding between it and a GT500. Instead, the Mach-E is for fans of the Mustang brand — current owners or otherwise — that want to get a new, exciting experience. Those buyers don't care about Nürburgring times and, frankly, the Mach-E is far from the first Mustang that isn't built for abuse on a race track.
The Mustang, Pericak concluded, is about more than just accessible performance. It has to be rooted in authenticity. It wouldn't be authentic if they made their electric car exactly like the internal-combustion versions that came before it, just like he says it wouldn't be authentic to put fake vents on a Mustang. And though we were quick to point out that the textured front plastic bit on the Mach-E GT certainly looks like a fake grille, Pericak's larger point was clear.
It was created by Mustang engineers to drive like a Mustang. Since it can deliver that — the intangible Mustang soul Pericak describes — he says it's a true Mustang. Until we drive a finished version, we can't say if that's the honest-to-God truth or just marketing speak.
When Porsche launched its first electric car, the company made clear that it had prioritized sustained performance over extended periods of hard usage. Ford is making its position equally clear: the Mustang Mach-E was not built with sustained performance as one of its goals.
That's what Dave Pericak, Ford's global director of icons that headed up the Mach-E's development, told us when asked if the car could handle one or more laps at the NĂĽrburgring. When pressed further, Ford's global EV communications manager Emma Bergg had a simple response: it's an SUV. And she's right, that's not usually priority one for SUV buyers.
Neither are burnouts. We got mixed answers on whether traction control could be fully defeated: a yes from Pericak, followed by no from Chief Program Engineer Ron Heiser, followed by a final answer from Pericak that the team would be making changes before the final release next year. But that left a broader question. If it's not for the track, if it might not rip burnouts, if it's available with all-wheel drive, if it's a four-door, if it's electric, and if it's a crossover, then what exactly links the Mach-E to the Mustang brand?
Because while the Mustang stands for accessible performance and fun, Ford has had a lot accessible performance cars that aren't Mustangs. The Focus RS, for instance, shares an engine with the Mustang EcoBoost High-Performance Pack, which is more than the Mach-E shares with any current Mustang coupe. It was also cheaper than the Mustang Mach-E, as were the Fiesta ST and Focus ST. They're not Mustangs, though.
So if it's not cheap performance nor form factor nor driven wheels nor power source that makes a Mustang, it's not immediately apparent what does. What the Mustang means, Pericak said, is hard to define directly.
"It's hard to put words to, but we know when we do it right," Pericak said. According to him, there's a soul and a holistic experience that defines the Mustang brand. It's not a faster version of a normal car, it's a performance product that has "the whole equation figured out."
But now that equation has new variables. And he'll openly admit that to solve it, you're going to have to make compromises. He noted that there are "inherent limitations in the silhouette of the car" that made development harder. An electric platform can lower the center of gravity on an EV crossover, but by definition it'll never be quite as low and sleek as a coupe or sedan could be. As Pericak put it, "there's a reason that F1 cars don't look like SUVs."
What's important to point out — and Pericak did — is that the Mach-E is not supplanting Ford's mainstay pony car. Track-oriented buyers can still get a Shelby GT350R, burnout enthusiasts will always gobble up GTs, and autocross fanatics can still order an EcoBoost High-Performance Package.
This car likely won't be bought by people deciding between it and a GT500. Instead, the Mach-E is for fans of the Mustang brand — current owners or otherwise — that want to get a new, exciting experience. Those buyers don't care about Nürburgring times and, frankly, the Mach-E is far from the first Mustang that isn't built for abuse on a race track.
The Mustang, Pericak concluded, is about more than just accessible performance. It has to be rooted in authenticity. It wouldn't be authentic if they made their electric car exactly like the internal-combustion versions that came before it, just like he says it wouldn't be authentic to put fake vents on a Mustang. And though we were quick to point out that the textured front plastic bit on the Mach-E GT certainly looks like a fake grille, Pericak's larger point was clear.
It was created by Mustang engineers to drive like a Mustang. Since it can deliver that — the intangible Mustang soul Pericak describes — he says it's a true Mustang. Until we drive a finished version, we can't say if that's the honest-to-God truth or just marketing speak.
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