When we initially heard rumors about an off-road Ford sports car, something along the lines of a Lamborghini Sterrato or Porsche 911 Dakar came to mind. It was controversial for Ford to dub its all-electric mid-size SUV a Mustang to say the least, but that gamble paid off with a strong performance vehicle and a strong sales performer. Now the U.S. brand is building on its new EV pedigree with a rallycross inspired Ford Mustang Mach-E Rally, which debuted this morning at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in the UK.
Ford is remaining strangely tight-lipped about the new Mach-E Rally EV SUV so far, only releasing a batch of images and the news that Ford Performance rally driver Ott Tänak will pilot the new Mach-E Rally up the hill at Goodwood. “Mustang Mach-E took the freedom and fun of Mustang and made it free from emissions. Now with Mustang Mach-E Rally, we’re providing our customers the freedom to venture off the asphalt and beyond the beaten path,” said Darren Palmer, Vice President, Electric Vehicle Programs, Ford Model e.
So far, it’s unclear what modifications have been made to rally-ify the Mach-E, but we can at least spot a few changes. The Mach-E Rally will likely arrive based on the regular Mach-E’s all-wheel drive GT performance trim, which is good for 480 horsepower and 600 lb-ft of torque in its standard configuration, but could get a boost for this new model. We also think we see about an inch of a lift, and the Rally rides on 19-inch rally-inspired wheels. It’s likely the Mach-E Rally also get a tuned version of Ford’s available MagneRide suspension system. The standard GT is good for around 270 miles of range, but we expect a Rally model to come in lower than that (especially if it wears knobby gravel tires for production).
We should learn more later this year, with orders opening up this fall and production set to begin likely early next year.
Read the full article here
