The rumors and buzz around the all-new seventh-gen Ford Mustang have got us scratching our heads. From a supposed spy shot that has annoyed hardcore Mustang fans, to the advent of a hybrid Mustang that people are still finding hard to digest, the upcoming ‘Stang will surely take the world by storm.
The bits that we know of include the facts that the next-gen Mustang is internally known as S650, it will be built on Ford’s modular platform, and the design language will be more “sporty” than “muscle”. But amidst all the anticipation, Ford dropped an easter egg in their recent press release regarding new job opportunities in the Midwest. They mentioned that the all-new 2024 Ford Mustang will be manufactured at Flat Rock Assembly Plant.
And in one of the images indicated at the pony car, the “O” in “7th GENERATION” neatly hid the shift pattern of a six-speed manual gearbox. This is great news as we were all prepared to hear the demise of the stick shift with the upcoming Mustang, because hybridization was an obvious path. Thankfully in the case of the all-new seventh-gen Mustang, the car gods have heard our prayers!
Ford Mustang And Its Infamous Relationship With Stick Shifts
The Mustang’s riff with its manual gearbox started in 2011 when Ford started using the Getrag MT82 transmission. The Tremec T5 and TR-3650 used before this was a gem and could take all those tire-shredding torque with ease. That wasn’t the case with the Getrag six-speed manual.
The earlier iterations of this gearbox were riddled with issues. These included RPM lockout, jerking, gear slippage, premature wear, gear clashes, and even complete failure. The MT82 had an aluminum construction with internals designed to make gear shifts smoother. Well, things didn’t go the “smooth” way.
This gearbox was designed to work with smaller four-cylinder motors, and it couldn’t handle the Mustang’s V8 charisma. In 2018, Ford slapped in an upgraded MT82-D4 transmission to take care of all the issues. But it couldn’t revive the Mustang’s sour chemistry with a stick-shift.
The EcoBoost Engines Were Nails On A Sinking Ship
Global fame posed the hardest challenge for the Ford Mustang. And the V6 EcoBoost motor that was introduced in the sixth-gen Ford Mustang was a controversial move to attain global recognition. A big brawny V8 and smoking rear wheel tires are a no-brainer in the US, but people in other countries valued fuel economy and practicality over clouds of smoke.
And that’s why Ford decided to pack engines other than a V6 or V8 into the Mustang. Sixth-gen Mustang saw the introduction of a 310hp 2.3-Liter EcoBoost inline-4 engine. This was a way of slipping through the heavy tax duties that various other countries levied on bigger engines. First a flawed stick-shift and now a four-cylinder in the Mustang; the fans were not happy with how this ship was sinking. Dont even get us started how they reacted to the electric Mustang Mach-E!
Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 With A Stick-Shift Would Have Been Godly
Amidst all this, the true blue Mustangs were the likes of the Shelby GT350 series. But that also changed (for better or for worse) when Ford decided to pull the plug on the GT350 and GT350R after 2020. And that was the end of high-powered nostalgic stick-shift madness.
The only Shelby that survived was the 760hp GT500, and it is offered only with a seven-speed DCT. We don’t know how a stick-shift would have fared with this monster because we don’t have one! The Shelby GT500 never intended on being a series production machine. So Ford should have at least given the option of a high-performance stick-shift in the Shelby. It would have been Godly!
Automatic Gearboxes Are Quick But It Doesn’t Strike The Right Chords
The automatic gearbox used in Ford Mustangs sure has its fair share of perks. The advantage of having a precision mind tracking the engine output and optimizing gear shifts helps to enjoy some of the best launch controls out there. Also, riding around in an automatic-gearbox-equipped Mustang is a much “simpler” affair than three pedals and a shifter.
The Mustang nameplate is so old that it carries an emotional quotient, and a stick-shift is a major part of the emotion. And people truly adore a Mustang with a stick-shift. Don’t believe us? Well, a low-mileage used Ford Shelby Mustang GT350 sells for over $100,000! 2020 was the Ford Shelby Mustang GT350’s last year, and it had a sticker price of $59,140. Should we say more!
The Radically New Seventh-Gen Mustang Will Balance The Scales
Ford’s recent Easter egg of the all-new seventh-gen Mustang packing a six-speed manual gearbox is exciting news. It shows that Blue Oval still cares for enthusiasts and is bold enough to go analog in this time and age of electrification. But the tricky part is to see how and in which models Ford incorporates the stick-shift.
There are hints of Ford hybridizing both the 2.3-Liter EcoBoost and even the 5.0-Liter V8. Muscle Cars & Trucks had also uncovered a patent that showcased a manual gearbox without the clutch pedal. Frankly, the more you dive into the speculations, the more anxious you get! So let us make it simple for you.
We guess that Ford will incorporate this high-tech manual gearbox with the hybrid powertrains which will also spawn the first-ever fleet of AWD Mustangs. And for the hardcore audience, there will be an old-school V8 with a three-pedal stick-shift, possibly the last of its kind. Either way, the revolutionary 2024 Mustang is set to balance the scales of “manual” trauma that has occurred over the years. And we might have a last chance at owning a modern Mustang with a traditional touch before the sports car concedes to its all-electric only fate.
