UK V8 Mustangs Are 5 HP Less Powerful Than US V8 Mustangs

Switching to RHD means a more restrictive exhaust for Ford Mustangs headed to the UK.

Good news for the UK market because it looks like the 2016 Ford Mustang is finally making its way across the Atlantic Ocean and onto some proper European roads. The bad news according to our Aussie friends earlier today (Aug. 24, 2015) over at Motoring.com.au is the fact that due to the RHD conversion and a more restrictive exhaust manifold having to be fitted on means that the exhaust flow is less efficient coming out. To prevent the entire right-hand drive steering rack from hitting the exhaust manifold, some sacrifices had to be made.

Many people who ordered Mustangs were informed of this via a formal letter and a legitimate explanation. We’ve linked the letter for your reading discretion here. It should be noted that Ford says that peak power is the only part of the power curve that is affected. So for all intents and purposes, your normal everyday driving as well as the majority of sprints up to highway speeds shouldn’t be affected. Ford has also said that torque, acceleration and fuel consumption will remain the same. On the rare occasion that a RHD and LHD V8 Mustang should line up next to each other, we reckon when speeds reach above 80 MPH would one Mustang creep ahead of the other. Here’s an illustration of what exactly the differences in manifolds are.

So all UK Ford Mustangs with V8’s now make 306 KW instead of 310 KW. Converting that to HP that’s a change from 421 HP to 416 HP. Keep in mind that the UK measures their engine HP using the DIN system. That is according to Caradvice.au “testing the engine fitted with all ancillaries and the exhaust system as used in the car. The SAE system tests without the alternator, water pump and other auxiliary components such as the power steering pump and muffled exhaust system, so the US figures are higher than the European figures for the same engine.”