Review and test Ford Mustang Mach-E GT

It was the talk of the town when Ford announced in 2019 that their first electric car would be a crossover with a horse in the grille. Everyone with a sixteen-year-old V6 with Shelby stripes spoke of it, but as it turned out: buyers of new Mustangs often had no problems with it. When our British colleagues drove an early Mach-E through the US last year, it was precisely these people who approached them enthusiastically. Some had even ordered a copy.

Decisions that don’t sit well with you fan base don’t necessarily have to be bad decisions. Just look at the countless BMW designs that made the internet swirl and yet (or because of that?) sold well. Ford reports that in the US, as many as 70 percent of Mach-E customers have never bought a Ford before. Those are statistics that make you happy as a manufacturer.

Then came the Ford Mustang Mach-E GT

Nevertheless, the brand hastened to say when the Mach-E was announced that, true enthusiasts, an extra fast version was also coming. What we already knew then was that it was going to be called GT and would go from 0 to 100 km/h in 3.7 seconds. In the world of EVs, that still sounds relatively modest, but you have to keep in mind two things: a) the Mustang Mach-E GT is not a Tesla Plaid or Taycan Turbo, and b) such a sprint time was only recently reserved for exotic supercars. Before you could experience something like this, you were tons lighter. The Mach-E GT costs 75,000 euros.

That is also the only supercar comparison we will make. This Ford, however handsome, is a typical crossover in everything: high, heavy, full of helpers to relieve its driver, practical and spaciously furnished. But then sexy and blazing fast. If you look at price and performance, its only real competitor at the moment is the new Tesla Model Y Performance. But these certainly won’t be the last two EV crossovers to fish in this pond.

Not a gray copy for a while

The Ford Mustang Mach-E GT we have here is the first production GT to set wheels on Dutch soil, and he wants people to know about it. Almost all regular Mach-E’s in our country are made in one of many shades of gray, this one has a color called Cyber ​​Orange. Buttercup-like in the morning sun, deep dark yellow in drizzle, gold and shimmering like a freshly tapped beer at sunset. We don’t get bored of it.

But this striking finish is not unique to the Ford Mustang Mach-E GT. In any case, there is actually very little that shows that you are dealing with the hottest Mach-E. A dark grille and a different front bumper, special 20-inch wheels, a GT badge on the back – that’s about it. Inside you will not be beaten with its potential either: everything is undiminished spacious and practical, with only some Alcantara, sportier seats with bulges at the height of your shoulders and the letters ‘GT’ on the center armrest. It’s all pretty subtle. It’s to Ford’s credit that they haven’t gone completely loose with carbon fiber, aluminum or brightly colored accents, although we would understand if you hoped that your special top model would look a little more special. Oh well, at least you can tick off that orange polish.

The screen of the Ford Mustang Mach-E GT

The layout and operation are also very similar to the regular Mach-E, which is a good thing. You get a small, elongated counter screen with only the much-needed info about speed, payload, range and driver assistance. It shows you exactly what you want to know while driving and is one of the better finds in the Mach-E. Because why a mega display in front of you with navigation maps, menus and settings if you can also find all of that on the central screen, a few centimeters to the right?

There is a lot, a lot to set up on that upright screen, but it works smoothly and smoothly and most of it is where you expect it. For example, you can find all car-related things under the Mustang in the top left of the screen: things like driving modes, one pedal driving and an exhilarating digital ‘engine sound’ are always within reach. The air conditioning control remains permanently at the bottom of the screen; above it you will find blocks with the most recently used functions, such as navigation, telephone and media, so that you can easily switch between them.

So far many positives for Ford

But if it was just a question of whether the Ford Mustang Mach-E GT was fulfilling its electric crossover role, we were done with this story quickly, because it does. The main question is whether it is worthy of Ford’s illustrious Mustang GT badge (since 1965). We already talked about his 0-to-100 time, and sprinting in a straight line has always been an important part of the Mustang party. But what about other enjoyable things that EVs are traditionally much less good at?

The GT is the only one of the Mach-E’s to have an adaptive chassis with magnetorheological dampers. That’s a tongue-in-cheek way of saying that its suspension not only adjusts to riding modes, but also “feels” the handling and adjusts its damping rate countless times per second. This is noticeable in the sense that the GT seems to adapt more to the situation than the standard car, which is sometimes inappropriately stiff. But it never really lends itself – generally speaking, this is still a solidly damped car. It has to be, with such a weight, and you can also expect it from a sporty top version.

How does the Ford Mustang Mach-E GT steer?

The dynamics of the Ford Mustang Mach-E GT will not disappoint anyone. Its 20-inch wheels wear low-profile tires, eliminating the initial wobble of the regular Mach-E – which already handles fine for an EV of this size. This gives the control system more clarity and responds quickly and accurately. The steering wheel is adjustable in depth, but it is a bit too far away for us. The chair also remains higher than we would like and it cannot be tilted. You quickly forget those inconveniences when you put your right foot to work.

The power is impressive in its own right, but the way the Mach-E GT manages it is a joy. We like to act like jerks every now and then when we steer a powerful electric car through a tight bend on a damp road: too clumsy in it, too early on the electric pedal, see what happens. The GT doesn’t need to correct anything, it prevents anything from going wrong. The powers of the two e-motors flow limited to the right wheels and only when you stand up straight again and you can, his brain gives them free rein and you are relentlessly fired. The braking behavior is also impressive: the pedal inspires confidence and manages to balance the regeneration and the brakes themselves in a natural-feeling way.

The Untamed+ Mode

In addition to Whisper (eco), Active (normal) and Untamed (sporty) in the driving modes, you will now also find Untamed+. You would think that this is about transverse fun, but although the safety nets are indeed reduced slightly, it mainly has to do with battery management. In Untamed+, the GT ensures that the temperature of the cells remains optimal and that you can use the power and torque for longer and more consistently, if, for example, you are so inclined to go on a track with your crossover. The power is therefore slightly lower and the energy consumption shoots up. It only works if all parameters are correct and just when we want to test it, the digital switch jumps to gray without explanation. Too little load, too hot, too cold, too open a road? (You’ll get a page-long warning that you shouldn’t use this mode everywhere.) Joost may know, but we also believe it that way: the Mach-E holds its own at speed.

You will see in a number of places that Ford can offer all this for such a price. For example, the backs of the sports seats are made of a vulnerable type of plastic that is already covered in scratches on our (2,000 kilometer old) test car. And you can easily push the side bolsters of the same seats together with your hand – you will not see that quickly with an Audi. But a somewhat comparable Audi is tens of thousands of euros more expensive, and less fast, and standard less complete. What’s more, the Mach-E GT is solid where it counts. The body is very stiff – there is not a crackle to be heard on rotten thresholds, and that while it is whisper-quiet inside. So quiet that someone with whom we have a telephone conversation via bluetooth reacts surprised that we are in a moving car. It cannot be heard at all on the other end of the line.

Exactly what it should be

The Ford Mustang Mach-E GT is blisteringly fast and quite sporty, without making it too crazy. Although it accelerates a Shelby GT500 out of it, it doesn’t flaunt its power, which in itself is rather un-Mustang. In that sense – and oh, a lot of others – it’s hard to reconcile with its gas-drinking predecessors. But look at it: this isn’t a cheeky sports coupe. This is a modern, electric, family-carrying speed weapon in the spirit of the sports coupe. If you ask us, it’s exactly what it should be. Provided in Cyber ​​Orange, of course.