By William Byrd
Notable hoon Vaughn Gittin Jr. has been sliding around in something with a clear electric whine and posting about it. It was pretty clear from the logo at the end that this was a tarted-up version of the Mustang Mach-E. You know, the last big Ford release before the Bronco that the internet couldn’t stop talking about?
Those videos were followed by some clearly performance-focused aero add-ons.
Now he’s put an image out on social media that clearly answers the question about what he and fellow hoons Ken Block and Hailie Deegan have been up to! The front of the modified Mach-E emerges from the tire smoke. The full vehicle will be released tomorrow (21 July).
So what the hell is going on underneath exactly? Well, the full monty 88 kWh setup in the Mach-E GT with eAWD is a likely starting point. Ford’s eAWD setup allows front and rear motors to distribute power independently to each axle. So you can be sure that the Ford Performance geeks fiddled with the system to maximize power to the rear wheels. The instant torque from the electric motors will surely melt rubber with ease.
Outside, expect the normal over-the-top drift-mobile add-ons that you would expect from cars that Gittin and Block usually drive. I’m curious to see what sort of competition the Mach-E ends up participating in, if any. Or will this just be a show-off car to try and silence the critics that this isn’t a real Mustang? I’ll admit, the frenetic whine from the electric drivetrain is pretty intoxicating, so I’m excited to see what gets released tomorrow.
Jeff Glucker
The more I see the Mach-E the more it looks like the Escape. That’s not a compliment when you called it “Mustang”. If they are suffering from the “base model skinny tire” phenomenon (as all Mustangs have since ’64), a swoopy performance focused promotion could help that, but we’ll see.
I feel the same way. It looks more like the Escape than it does the Mustang, and the contrast is made even more explicit in the video William posted below, where the Mach-E is side-by-side with “legit” Mustangs. If not for the iconic vertical taillamp elements, it’d be a tough sell.
What bothers me even more, though, is the huge silhouette of this vehicle.
I can’t remember, did the Mach-E have the ability to turn the front and rear axles in the opposite direction to do burnouts like this?
That’s not whats happening in the picture… if the front axle was spinning backwards then the smoke, at least at ground level, would be shot out in front of the vehicle. My guess is that it’s chained to something (obscured by smoke) so the vehicle stays stationary, like Block’s AWD Hoonicorn burnout.
Rear axle might be spinning backwards? Agreed, more likely chained down.
Video is posted, it’s spinning in a circle.
Not the first Ford SUV with electricals capable of producing lots of smoke.
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/_1hScfPCBdU/maxresdefault.jpg
Yeah they may want to make sure the tire pressures are just right on that Mustang SUV. Just saying.
It’s an electric right? So what I’m thinking when I see that picture is what kind of eMPG are they thinking they getting out of that.
Depends on whether the calculation is based in distance traveled or number of wheel revolutions. Once you overcome friction and get the tires spinning, vehicle mass and drag are nonissues.
Only .2 treehugs/second.
https://electrek.co/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/07/Mach-E-1400-Reveal-Photos-5-2000.jpg
https://cdn.motor1.com/images/mgl/KpylM/s1/ford-mustang-mach-e-1400-lead.jpg