Pseudo-Rumor Of The Day: 2014 Ford Mustang To Get Focus RS Turbocharged 4-Cylinder
The official sports car of the British underclass (that can afford to move out of the council estate) is the Ford Focus RS, a fluorescent display of 4-wheeled vulgarity. The British motoring press follow the progress of the Focus RS like we follow crappy celebrity gossip (well, they do too), and the latest such report has turned up an interesting tidbit about one of our home-grown working class heroes, the Ford Mustang.
With the departure of Volvo from the Ford empire, the 5-cylinder turbocharged engine used by the Focus RS is gone, and Ford will predictably be replacing it with some kind of turbocharged GDI 4-cylinder engine. Top Gear (the magazine, not the show) got to chat with Ford RS engineers, who apparently spilled the beans on a 2.3L turbocharged 4-cylinder with “at least 320 bhp.”
According to reporter Paul Horrell
This engine is timed to go into the Mustang in around 2014, but a RS Focus will probably get extra boost. The engine will also need to be re-engineered for the Focus’s transverse mounting.
An Ecoboost Mustang has long been the stuff of internet rumordom since the mid 2000’s, but a twin-turbo V6 seemed to be the choice of gossip-mongers and content aggregation sites everywhere. While the boosted V6 is very much a GM think (think Buick Grand National), a turbocharged 4-banger ‘Stang has happened before, in the form of the cult classic Mustang SVO. The SVO was also a legendary sales flop despite the SVO’s overall competence.
More by Derek Kreindler
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2.3==>>320?! wow
Oh geez, I drove an automatic Merkur with the same turbo 2.3 Pinto motor that came in the Mustang. It ran dangerously hot at the redline getting onto the freeway, and felt very sluggish around town. Why would the Focus possibly get a higher boost than the Mustang?
How about Ford's Oz I6? The current turbo version produces 416hp and 417lb-ft.
What the Mustang really needs is a 4-banger in the 150~200HP range - a real entry level motor and not a third performance motor family muddying up the lineup. Unless they're planning on dropping the V6 or the V8 for 2014 of course.