A long time ago – back in the ’80s – Ford offered buyers who couldn’t afford (but badly wanted) the performance you got if you bought a Mustang GT in a more affordable package called the LX 5.0 – which was functionally a GT but without the unnecessary (as far as performance) amenities that came standard in the GT. Which for that reason came standard with a higher MSRP.
Well, Ford is offering something like that again – for the same reason.
The current Mustang GT – base price $46,800 – is much too expensive for most young guys who lust after cars like this. The GT has become – for the most part – a car for older guys who can afford to have some fun again, probably because the kids are grown and maybe the wife is gone, too. The problem – for Ford – is there are only so many middle-aged (and older) guys who have the money and still want to drive a car like the Mustang GT, which sits low and rides hard. When your knees are shot and your back is sore, you’re probably more in the mood for something like an Explorer ST or maybe a Lincoln Navigator. Assuming the alimony and child support haven’t put you into an old Fiesta.
Enter the 2027 Mustang RTR – which is a re-take (in a way) on the ’80s-era 5.0 LX idea.
The RTR does not come stripped – and it does not come with the GT’s 5.0 liter/six-speed drivetrain, either. But it does come with a bevy of high-performance handling upgrades for drifting, which is a kind of fun young guys are into. In case you’re not hip, drifting is the art of controlled sliding and it’s become a very big deal in motorsports as well as on the street, among the the hooligan set – which is and always has been mostly young guys looking to raise some hell and have some fun.
The RTR Mustang is made specifically for that sort of fun. RTR – Ready to Rock – was founded by Vaugn Gittin, Jr. – who is a professional hooligan. This is a compliment, a nod to the healthy exuberance of youth. You can almost hear Waylon Jennings singing.
Just a good ol’ boys, never meaning no harm . . . beats all you ever saw, been in trouble with the law since the day they were born . . .
That was a different time and a different generation but it’s the same spirit.
The RTR package includes a recalibrated version of the GT’s available MagnaRide adaptive suspension and an Electronic Drift Brake, to break the ass end of the rear-drive Mustang loose, so you can get sideways – or drift – through the curves. It’s basically throttle oversteering on ‘roids, with the aim being to deliberately slide and roast the rear tires for the sheer hooligan fun of doing that. Also part of the RT package are adjustable strut mounting points, beefier front and rear swaybars, stiffer subframe bushings as well as bigger Brembo brakes with 15.4 inch front rotors and six piston calipers. The RTR also gets the GT’s more powerful cooling fans and an “anti-lag” system for the 2.3 liter Ecobost turbo four that’s under the hood. Basically, it uses electronics to maintain turbo velocity when the driver lifts off the throttle – so that when when he gets back on the throttle, it doesn’t take that long second (or so it sometimes feels) for the boost to wick back up.
You also get: Tarnished Dark Anodized outside rearview mirror caps, special graphics for the hood, rocker and rear quarter panels as well as the GT’s rear spoiler and 19 inch sport wheels with increased offset, plus “RTR” badging.
Unfortunately, what you can’t get is a manual transmission – because Ford no longer offers the 2.3 liter Ecoboost four with anything other than a ten speed automatic. The GT is the only Mustang you can get with a manual, which arguably is at least as critical to having fun as the 5.0 liter V8. Put another way, imagine how much more fun the RTR could be if you could get one with a manual – even if you can’t get it with the GTs V8.
The fact is the base 2.3 liter Ecoboost four is much stronger than the 5.0 V8 that was part of the ’80s-era LX 5.0 package. Back then, you got 225 horsepower out of the 5.0 liter V8. Today, you get 315 horsepower and 350 ft.-lbs. of torque – of that Ecoboosted 2.3 liter four.
Back in the mid-1990s, when I was a young hooligan myself, Ford loaned me a Cobra R for a whole week. The Cobra R was a street legal race car, with a fuel cell, the last of the 351 V8s and a Tremec five speed. The 5.8 liter V8 made 300 horses. I made use of every one, too – on a banshee run from DC to Manhattan in the middle of the night. I made it in a little over two hours and 15 minutes. You do the math. And I got away with doing it, too. Point being, the R was as edgy as it got, Mustang-wise, circa ’95. Very few people got to drive the R. Anyone can drive a new Ecoboosted Mustang, which is quicker and faster – and has AC and rear seats, too.
The R had neither.
So the engine’s not an issue – and neither is the performance. But this RTR would be a lot more fun with a manual.
It’s also be nice if it were more affordable. The RTR’s MSRP is $43,705 – which makes it nearly as expensive as the base GT. To be fair, if you bought a GT with comparable enhancements, it’d sticker out closer to $60k. Still, the fact remains that this kind of fun does not come cheap anymore.
Back in the day, it did.
You could have bought a brand-new ’85 LX 5.0 notchback coupe for $6,989 to start; the hatchback stickered for $7,345. That works out to about $22-$23k in today’s money. Which is why, back in the day, young guys could afford to raise a little hell.
It’s a shame most can’t today.
. . .
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