In our latest round of spy photos, the shutterbugs snapped the mid-cycle refresh for the S550 Mustang. The redesigned Mustang is slated to debut in the first half of 2017 for the 2018 model year.
Having started production in July 2014 for 2015, the current Mustang is a bit of yesterday’s news. When you consider that the sixth-gen Chevy Camaro outsold its arch nemesis in September 2016, it all becomes a lot clearer for the Ford Motor Company and Mustang enthusiasts. The refresh is dearly needed if Ford wants to keep the S550-generation Mustang afloat.
As you can see from the following spy photographs, the fastback and convertible pre-production prototypes wearing Michigan manufacturer plates are camouflaged like there’s no tomorrow. Be that as it may, it’s fairly easy to catch a glimpse of the headlights. For 2018, the Mustang will get LED-ringed headlights. Up front, it’s fairly easy to spot that the 2018 Mustang flaunts a slightly modified bumper and a more aggressively styled front grille.
From the side profile, differences between the 2017 Mustang and the 2018 Mustang are virtually nonexistent, down to the shape of the mirrors. At the rear, both prototypes display makeshift exhaust pipes and no valence panel. Look even closer, and you’ll also spot that the bumper is more fluidic in design, whereas the tri-bar taillights bring nothing new to the table. That said, the design of the 2018 Mustang is more of an evolution, not a revolution.
Photo: CarPix
As far as the inside it’s concerned, these pics don’t show much. But anyway, it’s a given material quality will go up for this redesign. What’s more important, however, is what the revised pony hides deep down in its stomach. The biggest mechanical update will come in the form of the Ford 10R80 10-speed automatic. Developed alongside GM and already used by the likes of the F-150 3.5-liter EcoBoost, F-150 Raptor, and Camaro ZL1, the 10R80 brings forth better fuel economy and faster upshift times than Porsche’s PDK.
What’s not so clear about the 2018 Ford Mustang is whether the go-faster GT350 and GT350R will kick the bucket to make way for the all-new Shelby GT500 or if the GT500 will be produced concomitantly with the GT350. If the latter scenario unfolds, that would be a first in Mustang history.
Recent reports penned output for the upcoming Shelby GT500 at 810 HP, which is a lot of get-up-and-go if I’m honest. On that note, there is still no certain about what’s going to lurk under the hood: the 5.8-liter Trinity V8 or a force-fed version of the 5.2-liter Voodoo flat-plane crank V8.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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