The 2020 Ecoboost Ford Mustang convertible…
Ecoboost engines are real cool. Don’t let the Eco in the name fool you. Mated to a 6-speed, the Ecoboost Ford Mustang Convertible is giggly fun & engaging on the street. Very Euro feeling. They make zippy, low-end, light-to-light power. They pop & burble when you start getting heat in them. And they’re pretty restricted from the factory… meaning they respond to aftermarket mods really well, and are therefore genuinely FUN to own & modify. You know – like enthusiast-type cars should be.
The problem is…
It’s almost impossible to drive an Ecoboost Mustang without comparing it to the 5.0 Mustang GT. That’s the curse of the Mustang Ecoboost. For example: Our staff guy Mike Sanders (who owns a 650whp supercharged Mustang GT), took this car around the block. When he came back a few minutes later, I said, “It’s actually pretty cool right?!” To which he responds, “Nope it feels slow & broken.”
…Ok.
But from his perspective, as soon as you start the Ecoboost Mustang, it just sounds “wrong” without the V8 behind it. And then just as you start to have a little fun, you pull up at a redlight next to a Mustang GT, and you instantly feel like you’ve still got your training wheels on lol. And for those reasons, all the cool feelings about the Ecoboost Mustang get watered down. The Ecoboost Mustang convertible is an Enterprise rental car. It’s a college girl’s car. Leading me to the conclusion that the biggest drawback about the Ecoboost Mustang… is that it’s in ‘Mustang packaging’.
So I spent the week with this Ecoboost Mustang, trying to be in the moment, and trying to block-out any comparisons to a Mustang GT.
And you know what? I seriously began to enjoy it! You could really rip this car around with the top down. Kick it at every stoplight, and pretty much mash it all around town. And you could do it without drawing too much attention, running over mailboxes, crowd surfing, and bringing out the police helicopters.
Reality is: Ford’s got the Mustang so sorted & dialed-in… that even the “slow” engine these days is really good.
And while Mike ragged on the Ecoboost Mustang, he’ll be the first to admit, his supercharged S550 Mustang gets driven the least of all his cars. Why?? Because it’s just too much. It’s too intense. You can’t even start the thing without Karen calling the cops. It’s got an ‘all or nothing’ type of power. And in the real world, it kind of plays out to be more frustrating than fun, because you really don’t get to unleash it much.
So over the course of the week, I stopped comparing this car to the GT… and started comparing it more to the Miata & 86…
The Ecoboost Mustang Convertible is obviously not as compact, nimble, & true as a those cars. But it’s got more power, and more aftermarket power-potential for less buck. AND – with the Mustang’s decent backseats, I could bring the whole family with me, which means it’s got at least 50% more usage potential in my life. So it has it’s place.
My gut tells me Ford restricts the Ecoboost Mustang a bit to keep the V8 GT on a pedestal.
If you pay attention, you can feel Ecoboost being held back in the powerband. I know this car will unlock horsepower & make all the cool turbo sounds with the right intake/exhaust mods. Plus – the turbo is easily accessible, and there’s a ton of room to work in the engine bay. If you’re interested in aftermarket potential, check our our article on the CP-E Ecoboost mustang.
If you have style, vision, self-confidence, and don’t care about any comparisons to the GT…
The Ecoboost Mustang Convertible could probably be one of the most fun & and rewarding new platforms to modify in the real world. Honestly. Imagine a modern S13 convertible… but with a horse on the steering wheel lol. Not to mention, there’s a jillion of these things on the road already, and the vast majority of Americans can’t drive stick anymore. So it’ll be interesting when resale prices fall & you can grab a 2nd hand 6-speed Ecoboost Mustang for dirt cheap.
