2.3 EcoBoost vs. GT from Value POV

[DropTopBob]

The only thing lacking in the 2018 is the active exhaust or a better exhaust note.

I got the Ford Performance Borla Sport Axelbacks...sounds GREAT!

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[320guy]

I got the Ford Performance Borla Sport Axelbacks...sounds GREAT!

That’s one of my top contenders. Do you have any drone in highway speeds? I’m also looking for the MBRP Street or do the active exhaust convertion eventually when the guarantee runs out. I found the AE harness under my car, but I would have to change the rear valance and update my digital display settings. Don’t know if that would void warranty.

 

[DropTopBob]

NO drone at any rpm or speed. Throaty purr at idle, aggressive growl on acceleration and some nice pops and cracks on deceleration.

 

[Faceme]

Turbo charged engines are supeior to NA?
Some of you guys are dillusional.

The only reason to get the 4cyl is for financial reasons. Or if you really really like stock turbo cars like mr.dillusional.
I came from a bolt on ecoboost and it was a fun car. But to me, the sound, power, reliability and the fact that i have a gt was well worth the switch for ME.

 

[Bull Run]

I've driven and/or rode in all trim levels of Mustangs and here are my thoughts for the best trims depending your goals:

Keeping it bone stock:

Want the fastest out of the box: GT350R
Good city DD: Ecoboost (plenty of low-end grunt)
Good all around DD: GT (happy revs up whereas the EB runs out of breath, don't have to wind it up like Voodoo to get usable power)

You can spend $3.5K to $4 (much cheaper if you get used parts) on EB to get it as fast or slightly faster than a stock GT, but you're pretty much maxed out on a stock block at that point and you can kiss your warranty goodbye. whereas the GT has plenty of room to grow and still has its warranty intact. This is my fourth Mustang and got the EB because I wanted to try something different. It's pretty fun to drive while modded out, my car buddies are impressed with how far along it went, and being almost 200 lbs lighter up front does make a difference. However, I only went this far because I'm prepared to drop cash for a built motor if I go ecoboom.

As for affordability, that's very subjective; you have guys at one extreme end that say a car's affordable if they can make monthly payments, even if they have to get gap insurance because they didn't put enough down. On the other end, you have guys who say a car's affordable only if you have 3-6 month of emergency savings, max out your 401K, IRA, kid's college savings, etc, and pay cash for the car. I say Mustangs in all trims fall under the "toy" category since there are much cheaper options to get you from point A to point B.

 

[Oryx]

I still can’t believe they didn’t put a variant of the F150 V6 Ecoboost in the mustang years ago. Tons of torque and hp, common engine and imagine where the tuning would be on those would be today.

 

[tw557]

Turbo charged engines are supeior to NA?
Some of you guys are dillusional.

The only reason to get the 4cyl is for financial reasons. Or if you really really like stock turbo cars like mr.dillusional.
I came from a bolt on ecoboost and it was a fun car. But to me, the sound, power, reliability and the fact that i have a gt was well worth the switch for ME.

Well there certainly is nothing disillusion about a turbo or supercharged engine being superior N/A motor. It takes so much engineering and designing to make a N/A motor efficient. The fact is a piston pulling air into a cylinder can only fill it up so much then thats it. FI engines can have very simple designs and be much smaller in volume and get incredible power output simply because they pump in as much pressure as they want. Plus the pressure can be tuned to deliver the curve just the way they want it like a perfectly flat torque curve. So, yes turbo is superior to N/A.
But to say the ecoboost 4cyl turbo is superior to the Gt is quite a stretch. Although since a GT is not FI, its bottom end torque is disappointing to me. There is no doubt that a v6 turbo would be superior than the coyote with gobs or torque and great HP and even good gas mileage. BUT since our cars are not professional race cars where subjective performance is not a consideration, but actual faster laps times are all that matter, many customers drive what ford will produce and they want a big V8 that roars even if its not the most superior motor. Personally I would love a full on Ecoboost mustang to drive everyday which would be honestly much more fun then a stock GT. But I'll admit deep down I like the respect that the V8 gets and the sound of the big motor too.

 

[prostovovatt]

I'll go through my Mustang list again for the purpose of this thread, and I'll skip the other cars with -

2012 Boss 302
----
2015 GT Premium PP (leather recaros) - bought new
2013 Boss 302 Laguna Seca (The GT PP wasn't enough)
----
2017 Mustang Ecoboost PP
2018 Mustang Ecoboost PP w/101a

I test drove the 18 GT when I had my 17 Ecoboost and was underwhelmed. For my driving - mostly city, sitting in traffic - I wanted the nimbleness of the EB, the GT just felt like a boat in comparison. Now that I have FBO and tune, I invested a total of $32k in my car and it can hang with GTs all day just fine.

Basically, personal preference is what you should let guide you.

 

[prostovovatt]

Although to elaborate on that - the resale value of the EB is shit. Unfortunately for me but very fortunately for those who may be in the market for a mustang.

 

[Bull Run]

Although to elaborate on that - the resale value of the EB is shit. Unfortunately for me but very fortunately for those who may be in the market for a mustang.

I think that crappy resale value applies to all Mustangs in general. Used GT350 prices are getting close to $40K now. But yeah, either way, get it used and let someone else take the initial depreciation hit.

 

[Hellman109]

They ditched the 6cy for the global model because in many countries they charge based on displacement or cylinders and such, where a V6 with less power and fuel economy will just cost too much for them to sell internationally.

Also I doubt they'll release a factory engine with more power then the NA V8, I actually presumed the annouced hybrid would be the Ecoboost, but, that could easily be faster then a GT so Im not quite so sure.

Overall both the Ecoboost and GT are great cars, Ive driven a few GTs and I really miss the turbo sounds, even though I dont have a VTA BOV or anything.

 

[Faceme]

Well there certainly is nothing disillusion about a turbo or supercharged engine being superior N/A motor. It takes so much engineering and designing to make a N/A motor efficient. The fact is a piston pulling air into a cylinder can only fill it up so much then thats it. FI engines can have very simple designs and be much smaller in volume and get incredible power output simply because they pump in as much pressure as they want. Plus the pressure can be tuned to deliver the curve just the way they want it like a perfectly flat torque curve. So, yes turbo is superior to N/A.
But to say the ecoboost 4cyl turbo is superior to the Gt is quite a stretch. Although since a GT is not FI, its bottom end torque is disappointing to me. There is no doubt that a v6 turbo would be superior than the coyote with gobs or torque and great HP and even good gas mileage. BUT since our cars are not professional race cars where subjective performance is not a consideration, but actual faster laps times are all that matter, many customers drive what ford will produce and they want a big V8 that roars even if its not the most superior motor. Personally I would love a full on Ecoboost mustang to drive everyday which would be honestly much more fun then a stock GT. But I'll admit deep down I like the respect that the V8 gets and the sound of the big motor too.

Yea i agree with your points about FI, but the engine itself is not superior, the set up may be. But if you really want power and performance, slap a super charger on the gt for 6k and your faster than a lambo in a straight line. Thats why i said, the 4cyl is for financial reasons. If you want performance, and you wanna stick with the mustang, go for the gt.

 

[tw557]

Since I've had a few turbo cars in the past I have realized and now respect FI technology fully as superior technology. Probably my future plan will be a supercharger on the coyote. I love the sound of the supercharger. Honestly it will be a bit more power then I want to drive pretty spirited on the back roads. Plus the heavy nose. I really feel the twin turbo 6 would be my perfect setup.

I certainly bought my ecoboost based on 10000 less then GT. Money no odject, I'd have a gt for sure. At one point I REALLY planned on trading up until the multiple test drives had me expecting and wanting more. Especially torque. That's when I realized they tuned the gt as a screamer at the expense of low end torque. And since NA, there will always be a compromise between top end vs torque that a FI engine won't have to compromise. That's why I would rather ford have gone to a large size (6.2ish) if staying NA or smaller 3.6ish turbo like the engine in the Raptor. Even The new Edge St has 380 tq out of a 2.7.

 

[Go On 3]

I think it really depends on a couple things:

1) Are you comfortable modding your car?
2) How much value do you place on the glorious sound of that V8 wailing, as opposed to the wimpy sound of the turbo 4?

I went with a fully loaded Ecoboost, including premium and performance packs, and it cost me about $10k less than a similarly equipped GT. After $2000 in mods, I'm now running mid-12's; so I'm roughly neck and neck with a stock GT (pre-2018 models, since mine is a 2015, that is what I compare it to). So as far as I'm concerned, I have a car that is just as quick, a little lighter and more nimble, theoretically much better gas mileage, and a bit better as a daily street ride, given it's mountains of bottom end torque. All that while having an extra $8k in my pocket (which I plan on blowing on a larger turbo and brake / suspension upgrades), so clearly that is a win. At least for now.

I say "at least for now" because the EB Mustangs are not going to hold their value anywhere near what the GT does. When it comes time to sell, the asking price for a GT will almost certainly be double that of an EB. And lets be real, while a modded EB is awesome and all, a GT is already more car than a lot of (most?) people can handle. You don't need to modify a stock GT to have an absolute blast in it; whereas the EcoBoost only really comes to life once you throw a tune on it.

And then of course there is the aforementioned sound. We all know the GT's sound like sex. The EB however; I've only found one exhaust for it that I liked enough to actually purchase (Flowmaster American Thunder w/ Series 10 mufflers) -- and even then, it's just okay. All the others sound like rice, sound different but not particularly appealing or sound like a stock EB, just louder. I can see that being a deal breaker for some people.

I hate to give the cop out answer, but it's true, you really cannot go wrong either way between these two cars.

 

[Rick B]

Since I've had a few turbo cars in the past I have realized and now respect FI technology fully as superior technology. Probably my future plan will be a supercharger on the coyote. I love the sound of the supercharger. Honestly it will be a bit more power then I want to drive pretty spirited on the back roads. Plus the heavy nose. I really feel the twin turbo 6 would be my perfect setup.

I certainly bought my ecoboost based on 10000 less then GT. Money no odject, I'd have a gt for sure. At one point I REALLY planned on trading up until the multiple test drives had me expecting and wanting more. Especially torque. That's when I realized they tuned the gt as a screamer at the expense of low end torque. And since NA, there will always be a compromise between top end vs torque that a FI engine won't have to compromise. That's why I would rather ford have gone to a large size (6.2ish) if staying NA or smaller 3.6ish turbo like the engine in the Raptor. Even The new Edge St has 380 tq out of a 2.7.

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