Three reasons why I’d opt for the EcoBoost Ford Mustang over the V8 version

Ford say that more than 60 per cent of UK Mustang deposits so far have been for the V8 model. The quintessential muscle car engine is proving popular with UK buyers despite the lower MPG figures and the subsequent implications for owner’s bank accounts.

The V8 is a riot, but having driven both, here are the reasons why I would opt for the smaller of the two engines on offer this side of the Atlantic:

1.Fuel economy

Ford say the EcoBoost will return 35mpg versus the V8’s expected 20.8mpg combined. As someone who commutes to work by car those figures make the EcoBoost a genuine real-world prospect for me, and the V8 a pipe dream.

2.Noise

The V8 sounds terrific, and while the engineers have done an admirable job channelling the note of a muscle car through the EcoBoost’s twin exhausts, there’s no getting away from it that the noise is not quite as raw, not quite as loud and not quite as ferocious as the V8. That for me is the selling point. I live in suburbia, and once they’ve got over the envy at the jaw-dropping good looks, the volume of that big V8 is going to wear pretty thin with the neighbours after a week or two of successive late finishes.

3.Refinement

The triumph of Ford’s 5.0l V8 in this car is that the merest dab of the accelerator and you’re rewarded with an instant lion’s roar in – as far as I can tell – just about any gear. The engine goads you into misbehaving and it’s so simple to drive that it’s easy to get, just a little, over exuberant. It’s Floyd Mayweather – undeniably good and shouty with it. The EcoBoost is Manny Pacquiao – it’s powerful when you want it to be, but doesn’t feel the need to shout about it when you don’t. Who cares if the mouthy one would win in a straight fight?