Rationale for choosing Ecoboost HPP over GT?

[FreePenguin]

Some people don’t require a GT.

When I bought mine the V6 was $27k and my GT was $41k. Saving 14k was tempting.

I honestly was perfectly happy with my eco boost, sold it for financial reasons. but again, ive been driving my 2012 scion tc brand new off lot since 2012 June lol. it has 160hp. and im happy *manual* too.

idk, I do lust over a GT (well I wouldn't want a gt, id want a mach 1) and if money was zero issue, id probably own one. but I am money conscious and long term I may get mad at myself at the extra mpg expenses and insurance and interest on loan etc.

I think the 4 cylinder, and maybe the future electric hybrids etc, are what id look into. what it comes down to is, 1 outside looks, 2 inside looks, 3 manual. and a good stereo. id rather have no exhaust and amazing music, than a loud ass exhaust and no music.


but I love all mustangs, its just a lot of them are outside of my price range. (I see myself getting another one in another 5 years or so) when new generation comes out. though id be hard pressed to not look at a electrified ford maverick for my lifestyle, kayaks, bicycles, rucksacks and hiking etc, with a small amount of towing capacity.

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[JohnnyGT]

Eco is fun for what it is. Stock it falls on its face approaching redline. GTs rev to the end yet still want some more.

It's still a fun car. Just not what a Mustang should be.

 

[ice445]

The HPP is incredible, I seriously considered one when I was shopping. You get so much for your money. The car out of the box is ready to play in basically any environment, while still being easy to live with and having tons of features. It's a shame it doesn't get more recognition.

I ended up with my base GT because of the 5.0L though, it's just that good in my opinion. It turns a good car into a great car. You don't really get to wind it out legally that often, but when you do it really feels like an event. And of course the sound.....I also find modding lots of fun, so I didn't mind some of the crudeness of starting with the base model. But I absolutely understand why some people wouldn't want to deal with it.

 

[Gnatsum21]

I bought an used Ecoboost because I didn't know Jack about Mustangs, I thought a Mustang is a Mustang. Those people exist too!
Edit: the Eco was a BLAST!

 

[Gnatsum21]

..
For every GT owner that looks down on the HPP driver, there is some M1 driver wondering why you got just a GT. Or some GT500 enthusiast that thinks if you don't drive a Shelby, you are missing out.
..

Oh trust me, us GT/Ecoboost schmucks can feel the "love"..

 

[PhillyMike]

Interesting responses. When I was considering buying a GT I had a rental ecoboost (not HPP) for a week while traveling for work- figured it would be a good way to make sure the daily livability and ergonomics were good. It was a hoot to drive, but never considered an Ecoboost to buy.

Despite the fact that the GT is 10K more comparing apples to apples, and the ability to get much more out of that 10K on the street is pretty small, I still got the GT. It's just that V8 sound and feel... it isn't rational. Honestly it isn't at all.

If I'd wanted a rational sports car, vs a nostalgic muscle car with sports car ambitions, I probably would have gotten a turbo 4 or 6 in a different platform that was lighter and tighter. BMW M2 comes to mind...

Not a market for it, but would have been cool if Ford had put the 2.3HPP engine in a M2 sized RWD sized car.

 

[cahouston]

A fully loaded Eco HPP will run you about $41,005. Technically the GT base option msrp is $38,345. I personally have never seen a GT sell for 38k. No one options the car with the absolute base option except for the rental car agencies. Adding the 10At will add about 2k to the price tag anyways.

I think for a lot of the people there is still a misconception that our v8s are terrible on gas milage and are underivable. So people opt for the eco boost to "save money" on gas and be an easier daily driver. My GT gets about 30 mpg on the highway and in normal D mode its actually quite easy to drive.

So I honestly think the rationale for buying an HPP comes down to the buyer either not fully understanding the GT and how good it really is. Or they want to save on insurance, as the GT is a lot more on that point.

However, I do have to admit the HPP is a very very good car, light and a surprisingly stout engine, just not worth the 41k most people pay for it IMO.

I lucked out that I found my 2019 GT premium with nav, active exhaust, A10, 3.55 gear, and blackout package dealer discounted to $38K (had 4 miles on it when I test drove it) in December 2019. Downside, it came with a dealer-installed slight infestation of brown and black widow spiders under the hood and under the chassis (not inside). Dealer had it exterminated for free.

Hence the name...Natasha!

 

[dtheo]

have you seen Corvette buyers? They are extremely self-selecting and not at all a representative cross-section of society. Mustang (and Charger/Challenger, Camaro), while obviously a niche unto itself is intended to and designed to appeal across the board to all 'common' income and age groups.

BMW, Merc, Caddy, Audi also offer cheap(er) I4 models and I6/V6+ for the well heeled. If The only 3 series you could buy was the full-zoot M, there would be no 3. If audi only sold the S-trim, there would be no car at all since the 'A' is what pays the bills.

I see your point, in my humble opinion, I am fine with Ford not offering cheaper versions for any reason. I want to elevate the brand and performance, Ford wants to cater to the masses. I don't care much for the masses.......

 

[shogun32]

The filthy, ignorant, poor, huddled masses are what keep the lights on. A certain Belgian ale company is learning that lesson.

 

[ShadesOfBloo]

I bought an used Ecoboost because I didn't know Jack about Mustangs, I thought a Mustang is a Mustang. Those people exist too!
Edit: the Eco was a BLAST!

I mean, if you know much about Mustang history you know 6-cylinder (or less) engines have always been standard, and have outsold V8s every year.

I think there was one month where V8s outsold the other engines, because in November 2015 a lot of people took delivery of V8 cars they'd pre-ordered.

 

[Desmodeous]

People wanting Ford to "elevate the brand" to justify their own arrogance and irrational choices. How exactly could they do that? They could put a W-16 in it and it will still be a Ford. Bless it.

 

[Angrey]

There's only two rationales that work for choosing an ecoboost over a V8 in the mustang platform:

1) I'm broke and simply can not afford it.
2) I just want the styling of the mustang and performance isn't a top concern.
3) I'm concerned about fuel economy (which is basically #1, just reconfigured to recurring costs vs up fronts).

I think the car groups make item #1 WAY WAY too controversial, especially among mustang enthusiasts.

I'd love to be driving a Porsche GT2RS (CF package). I could probably afford it if I wanted to live with 3 roommates and eat Ramen noodles for B/L/D and didn't care about investing for the future.

There are a TON of expensive cars that I would love to drive, I simply can not afford it. Not sure why that's such a touchy subject in the mustang community.

My first mustang was a 2V GT (used). At the time, I simply couldn't afford an SVT product. Things change over time.

Ford and Chrysler and Dodge (and others) develop these lesser variants to sell more cars. They know there's a certain percentage of people that want a Jeep Wrangler for the looks (at one point they actually sold a 2 wheel drive wrangler). Same with mustang and camaro and to a lesser degree, Corvette, etc.

It's just fine to acknowledge that you can't afford something. There's no need to come up with a zillion flimsy excuses or lie to ourselves to justify driving a lesser car. There's probably 1 in 1000 peope who plan to keep a lightweight, sup'd up eco for shoebox HPDE events where it actually makes sense from a performance perspective to choose an EB or the older 6 cylinder variants. 999/1000 it comes down to...........what you can afford.

 

[bigred90gt]

I was solidly in the "mustang needs to be a manual, v8, and not convertible" even before I bought my first one back in 2000. My wife bought a 2018 base model ecoboost and aside from random rental cars, that was my first real experience with one over any length of time. It was plenty peppy for me, considering we live in Houston and drive in some of the worst traffic known to man on a daily basis. I tried to talk her into taking my 00 GT to trade in and letting me take her 18, but she would have lost out on probably $15k trade value, so it was a no-go. When I started looking to buy another mustang, I was actually going to go look at and test drive a 19 EB Premium auto. In a last minute search I expanded the radius and found the 16 GT PP. It had less miles, and was around $7k more than the EB, but the test drive sold me on it. Who ever had it before me basically never drove it, as it only had 16k miles on it in december of last year at nearly 7 years old. It was serviced by the local ford dealer in Conroe every 3-4k miles.

As someone who has had 16 5/6 speed manual GTs and swore I would never own less than a V8 in a mustang, I now would have no problem with the EB. When I was looking, I had not done any research and did not know the HPP version existed, or else I very well might be in one of those.

Still cant do a vert though.

 

[shogun32]

Still cant do a vert though.

if I need to wear ear plugs and expose myself to wind-burn it'll be in leathers, helmet and 160HP/liter.

 

[bigred90gt]

if I need to wear ear plugs and expose myself to wind-burn it'll be in leathers, helmet and 160HP/liter.

I rented a convertible BMW 650 for a drive down the PCH and through a redwood forest near San Franciso. I have no problem with all of that. It was a nice drive, even though it was a bit chilly. I just don't like the way convertibles look and never see myself owning one.

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