12.2 s at 118 mph in Car and Driver's test of the 10-speed. Up to 486 horsepower with the optional active exhaust, from a naturally aspirated V8, with a manual still standard.
In Car and Driver's March 2026 test, a 2026 Mustang GT Premium with the 10-speed automatic, Performance Pack and active exhaust reached 60 mph in 3.7 seconds recorded and ran the quarter mile in 12.2 s at 118 mph recorded (Car and Driver). Like every Car and Driver time, the 0-60 leaves out the first foot of rollout; from a true standstill it's about 3.9 s derived.
The six-speed manual is slower: 4.2 s and 12.5 s at 114 mph recorded in Car and Driver's 2024 test (Car and Driver), and 4.3 s and 12.5 s at 114.7 mph recorded for MotorTrend (MotorTrend). Ford publishes no U.S. 0-60 time. It rates the 5.0-liter V8 at 480 hp, or 486 hp with the active exhaust claimed (Ford). Since the last Camaro and Challenger were built in December 2023, it's the only V8 pony car on sale.
Ford revealed the seventh-generation Mustang, code-named S650, in Detroit on September 14, 2022. CEO Jim Farley called it "a big statement at a time when many of our competitors are exiting the business of internal combustion vehicles" (Ford release).
Fifteen months later both rivals were gone. The last Camaro left Lansing in mid-December 2023, and the last Challenger, a Demon 170, followed on December 22 (Road & Track). Dodge's new Charger has a six or a battery, which leaves the GT as the only V8 two-door of its kind.
Every figure carries its label. claimed means Ford said it. recorded is timed on an actual run: an instrumented test, a certified or verified record run, or a maker's own pass on a drag strip's timing system. verified means an official body, here the EPA or NHTSA. reported is press we couldn't trace to a primary source. derived is our math. Here's how we label numbers.
Each bar fills at the real speed of that car's 0-60 time. The automatic Mustang is the race's figure; the two manual bars are the same car's tests with the six-speed. Car and Driver and MotorTrend omit the first foot of rollout; Tesla's claim subtracts it too.
Critics love the six-speed, a Getrag MT-82 (the Tremec goes in the Dark Horse), but it loses every timed sprint. Ford's ratios explain most of it: first gear times the axle is 4.696 x 3.55, or 16.67:1, in the automatic and 3.237 x 3.73, or 12.07:1, in a Performance Pack manual, so the automatic multiplies torque about 38% more off the line derived (Ford).
The manual also needs a clean clutch launch. Ford fits launch control to manual cars only, and Car and Driver still got its best run without it: "To extract maximum performance, don't use either." MotorTrend launched its automatic by brake-torquing the engine to 2,000 rpm instead. Edmunds' slower manual numbers don't say whether rollout was subtracted, so they're shown apart.
Studio views are our own generated illustrations, not Ford photography or design data. The second slide is a real photo.
Tap a marker. Figures are Ford claims unless noted. Studio views are our own generated illustrations.
The GT hood carries heat extractors over a V8 that peaks at 7,150 rpm, just 350 rpm short of its reported 7,500 rpm redline. Power is still near its peak at the limiter, so the quickest shifts come late.
5,038 cc, 12.0:1 compression, port and direct injection, and for this generation two air boxes feeding two throttle bodies. 480 hp at 7,150 rpm, or 486 hp at 7,250 rpm with the active exhaust.
A 12.4-inch digital cluster built with Epic's Unreal Engine sits beside a 13.2-inch center screen. Physical climate and radio buttons are gone. Ford says that was popular in its research; Jalopnik counted it against the car.
The filler is on the driver's side, behind a door with no cap underneath. The EPA lists regular gasoline, but Ford's power ratings assume 93-octane premium (fueleconomy.gov).
A Torsen limited-slip differential (3.73:1 with the manual, 3.55:1 with the automatic), Brembo six-piston front brakes on 390 mm rotors, 255/40 front and 275/40 rear 19-inch summer tires, and the electronic drift brake.
The optional active-valve exhaust is worth 6 hp and 3 lb-ft. Automatic cars can rev the engine from the key fob with Remote Rev (Road & Track).
The Gen 4 Coyote keeps the 5.0-liter V8 of 2011 but feeds it differently: two air boxes, two 80 mm throttle bodies, new four-into-one exhaust manifolds and revised cams, with a 7,500 rpm redline reported (Hot Rod). Ford rates it at 480 hp, 20 more than the 2018 to 2023 GT, and at the 2022 reveal said it was "set to deliver the most naturally aspirated horsepower of any Mustang GT" (Ford).
The extra power didn't make it quicker. Car and Driver's 2024 manual was "69 pounds heavier than an identically equipped S550," and its 4.2 s and 12.5 s were "roughly the same as the previous generation's performance."
Stock S650 GTs land between 12.2 and 12.7 seconds, depending on gearbox and tester. That's where the old S550 and the last Camaro SS ran too: Car and Driver's 2018 automatic GT did 12.1 s at 120 mph (Car and Driver) and its 2019 Camaro SS automatic matched the new car's 12.2 s at 118 mph exactly (Car and Driver).
2026 prices are Car and Driver's, which appear to include destination. Times are the quickest instrumented runs we found.
The base V8 car, with the six-speed manual standard and the 10-speed as an option.
486 hp with the $1,595 active exhaust. EPA city, highway and combined for the automatic; 15 / 23 / 18 for the manual (fueleconomy.gov).
The trim Car and Driver ran to 3.7 s and 12.2 s, and the GT you can buy as a convertible.
Car and Driver's test car came to $69,580 with the $5,660 Performance Pack, active exhaust, Recaro seats and MagneRide (Car and Driver).
Forged rods, a Tremec six-speed and coolers for track days, from the same 5.0.
Times for the automatic, MotorTrend recorded. Only 0.2 s quicker than an automatic GT in the quarter.
Four years of the S650, with the GT itself barely changed and the headlines going to its siblings. Scroll sideways.
Ford reveals the S650 Mustang and the Dark Horse in Detroit.
Production of the 2024 Mustang begins in Michigan reported.
Car and Driver runs 4.2 s and 12.5 s, about the same as the old car.
The automatic convertible beats the manual coupe: 12.2 s against 12.5 s.
The final Challenger follows the last Camaro out of production.
The Mustang turns 60, counted from its 1964 World's Fair debut.
2025 V8 Mustangs go up $2,600 to $3,645 reported (Car and Driver).
Joey Logano wins the Cup championship in a Mustang Dark Horse.
Matt Payne and Garth Tander win the Bathurst 1000 in a Supercars Mustang.
Ford unveils a supercharged 5.2-liter Mustang reported. The power figure comes later: Ford now lists 795 hp claimed (Ford).
Car and Driver's automatic GT sets the figures our race uses.
148,663 Mustangs from 2024 to 2026 get new ground eyelets over a risk of lost drive power verified.
38,685 Mustangs sold in the U.S. through September.
A new purple, a few deleted features and no change to the GT's V8 reported (Mustang Fan Club).
Reviewers split four ways. These are opinions, quoted with links.
"The latest Coyote engine is almost EV-like in how quickly it reacts."MotorTrend, 2023, Car of the Year review
The same review listed "These Coyote engines make us howl" and "Great manuals" as pros, though the Mustang didn't win.
"As the last of a dying breed, this legendary steed does its best to keep the American muscle story alive."Car and Driver, 2026 review
Car and Driver rates the 2026 car 9 out of 10 with an Editors' Choice award.
"Steering feel that's so dead it may as well be a steer-by-wire system."Lawrence Hodge, Jalopnik
He also faulted the price and the touchscreens, and still called the car "damn good."
"Awful automatic-transmission tuning."MotorTrend, 2023, Car of the Year review
That's the 10-speed behind every quick number on this page. On the street, testers prefer the manual; on the clock, the automatic wins.
The consensus: the V8 and the manual are the reasons to buy it, and being the last V8 pony car makes critics forgive the numb steering, the screens and the price, which rose about 16% for the base GT from 2024 to 2026 derived. Nobody claims it's quicker than the car it replaced; it's a 12-second car with more power, more weight and no rivals left.
Ford Motor Company · Sep 14, 2022 · 52:25
Doug DeMuro · Sep 15, 2022 · 17:47
Ford Racing · Apr 2, 2023 · 2:18
Edmunds Cars · Aug 3, 2023 · 3:41
Throttle House · Jul 25, 2023 · 23:47
StangMode · Sep 1, 2023 · 11:45
MotorWeek · Sep 11, 2023 · 6:14
Hennessey Performance · Sep 27, 2023 · 2:36
Throttle House · Sep 28, 2023 · 28:02
MotorTrend · Oct 4, 2023 · 9:31
Edmunds Cars · Mar 13, 2026 · 17:30
TheStraightPipes · Jul 29, 2026 · 11:32
The GT uses a Getrag MT-82 six-speed. The Tremec TR-3160 goes only in the Dark Horse, though some dealer pages say otherwise.
Ford's track apps list launch control for manual cars alone. MotorTrend launched its quicker automatic by brake-torquing it to 2,000 rpm.
Ford built the 12.4-inch cluster with "the same Unreal Engine 3D creation tool used in modern video games."
The Coyote fires 1-5-4-8-6-3-7-2, the same order as Ford's flathead V8 of the 1930s.
Car and Driver's 2018 automatic GT ran 12.1 s at 120 mph. The 2026 car, with 26 more horsepower, ran 12.2 s at 118 mph.
In 2025 Ford sold 51,620 Mustang Mach-Es in the U.S. and 45,333 Mustangs. In 2026 the gas car is up 17.9% through September.
The pony faces left. Lee Iacocca's explanation: "The Mustang is a wild horse, not a domesticated racer."
In 2018 Ford built its 10 millionth Mustang, a Wimbledon White GT convertible, the same color as the first serial-numbered car of 1964.
Remote Rev starts and revs the V8 from the key fob, on automatic cars only.
In our quarter-mile model the Mustang GT finishes 21st of 21, on Car and Driver's 12.2 s. Last place has no slower neighbor, so here are the two cars just ahead of it:
Car and Driver measured 3.7 seconds for a 2026 Mustang GT Premium with the 10-speed automatic, Performance Pack and active exhaust, leaving out the first foot of rollout as it always does. With the six-speed manual, Car and Driver got 4.2 seconds and MotorTrend 4.3. Ford publishes no U.S. 0-60 time.
12.2 seconds at 118 mph in Car and Driver's 2026 test of an automatic GT, the figure our race uses. MotorTrend also got 12.2 seconds, at 116.8 mph, from a heavier automatic convertible. Manual cars ran 12.5 seconds at 114 to 114.7 mph in both magazines' tests.
Ford rates the Gen 4 5.0-liter Coyote V8 at 480 hp at 7,150 rpm and 415 lb-ft of torque, or 486 hp and 418 lb-ft with the optional active exhaust. Both ratings assume 93-octane premium fuel.
The automatic. In both Car and Driver's and MotorTrend's tests the 10-speed was 0.4 to 0.5 seconds quicker to 60 mph and 0.3 seconds quicker in the quarter mile. Its first gear and axle multiply engine torque about 38 percent more than the manual's. Ford still offers launch control only on the manual.
Ford claims an electronically limited 155 mph for GTs with the Performance Pack, and Car and Driver lists 155 mph for both cars it tested. We found no published top speed for a GT without the pack.
Ford lists the GT Fastback from $47,800 MSRP. Car and Driver lists $49,795, which appears to include a destination charge of about $1,995. By Car and Driver's figures the GT Premium is $54,075 and the Dark Horse $67,075, and its GT Premium test car came to $69,580 with options.
Labels. Claimed: Ford said it. Recorded: timed on an actual run: an instrumented test, a certified or verified record run, or a maker's own pass on a drag strip's timing system. Verified: an official body, here the EPA or NHTSA. Reported: press reporting we couldn't trace to a primary source. Derived: our math, explained in the methodology guide. Race figures come from the lineup in our quarter-mile simulator, which uses Car and Driver's 2026 automatic test for this car; see every car in the race. Sources disagree on three counts: Car and Driver printed the Performance Pack's rear tires as 275/35R-19 where Ford lists 275/40R19; Ford.com and Car and Driver differ by $1,000 on the GT Premium convertible after allowing for destination; and 2024 EPA ratings differ by 1 mpg depending on whether the car has stop-start.
Images. Blue-grey GT photo: Fercavanha, CC0, cropped with the background blurred so other cars' plates can't be read. Engine photo: Chris Woodrich, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; our edit is shared under the same license. The hero and the studio views are our own generated illustrations. None are Ford photos. The hero and front view simplify the GT's two hood vents into one wide panel; the photo shows the real layout.
