Ford's new cut-price super 'Stang - the Mustang EcoBoost High Performance - is being built right-hand-drive ready, unlocking Australia as a market for the Focus RS-engined muscle car.
And in better news, Ford in Australia sounds equally open to the idea, telling CarsGuide; "we’re constantly working on what’s available for local Mustang customers".
The new High Performance 'Stang, officially revealed at the New York Motor Show, still packs a 2.3-litre, four-cylinder engine under its bonnet, only this time it's taken from the brand’s Focus RS hot hatch.
The change means this four-cylinder Mustang now packs a 246kW and 475Nm punch - up from the 224kW and 441Nm on offer in the standard car. The result is a claimed sprint to 100km/h in the “mid-four-second range”, and a flying top speed of 250km/h.
The extra urge is complements of a larger twin-scroll turbocharger, and there's a new radiator and a new engine calibration to partner with the Mustang’s 10-speed automatic or, happily, the six-speed manual.
And thanks to an engineering process that largely takes place post-build, the EcoBoost High Performance is as easy to offer in right-hand drive as any other Mustang that arrives in Australia.
"The beauty of this package is that I designed a turbo that fits all the inlet and outlet tubes, so the assembly plants can't tell the difference between the two engines, apart from the barcode," Mustang chief engineer, Carl Widmann, told CarsGuide.
Also working in our favour is the fact that Australian-spec Mustangs already arrive with most of the performance kit included on theEcoBoost High Performance as standard kit.
"The (EcoBoost High Performance) is now what was the Performance Pack, plus an active exhaust, and an engine, as well as a slight cosmetic change," Widmann says.
"So in the world of parts for Australia; the exhaust - you have it. The chassis system - you have it. The engine is bolt and go. And Australian requirements can be signed off the same as the USA."
It's a point not lost on Ford in Austalia. While yet to confirm the new cut-price perfomance model, a spokesperson told CarsGuide that local enthusiasm for the Mustang range hasn't gone unnoticed in the USA.
“We’ve just celebrated the 55th anniversary of Mustang, and seen some fantastic results on track with the Ford Performance Mustang Supercar in 2019, so we know that there is considerable passion and desire from Australians for more customisation and specialist models like Mustang Bullitt," says Ford Australia spokesperson, Damion Smy.
"With that in mind, we’re constantly working on what’s available for local Mustang customers as we know that they closely follow what models and options are available overseas.
“Carl Widmann attended our most recent 2018 Mustang launch, and has seen first-hand the appetite and enthusiasm for Mustang in Australia.”
The EcoBoost High Performance will land in the USA towards the end of this year. And Australia? Watch this space...
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