REVIEW | Ford Mustang Mach-E Rally - Sliding about in a 'Muckstang'
My right foot found the ground with a hesitant squelch, the left followed more decisively with a splat. Stepping out of the car and into the quagmire, white sneakers, I noted, were not a sensible choice. To survey the situation, I gained some height on a slippery grass verge. Resting in the ruts we'd carved out of the boggy trail, Ford's Mustang Mach-E Rally looked mischievous and unabashed.
Limited Edition
The colour of a fisherman's welly, this lairy limited-edition Mustang Mach-E made no attempt to blend in. After skidding around in the mud sideways, it wore its coating of Northamptonshire muck very well. With traction control switched off, the all-season tyres – a set of Michelin CrossClimate2s – had kicked up tremendous clods of dirt; their v-shaped grooves, designed for water drainage, had done a spectacular job of scooping up and flinging debris into the air. If tried, 'Muckstang' and I would be found guilty of disturbing the pastoral peace, but dashing through the shallows of a bucolic babbling brook would wash a little of the evidence off. So off for a dip we went.
An EV with Added Excitement
In a market with plenty of options that do little to excite, the Mach-E Rally is a delight. Coaxing you from the tarmac for a bit of light off-roading fun, it's an EV designed specifically for messing about. Sitting above the Mach-E GT, the Rally edition is a rally car reimagined, rather than rally car outright, but still, it warrants a bit of fuss. Sharing a dual-motor all-wheel drive setup with its sibling, as well as a 98.7 kWh battery that zaps out 480 hp and 950 Nm of torque, it's the longer shocks, softer springs and sporty computer programming that give it some guts.
Impressive to passers-by, including the ambulance driver who blue-lighted me (in crawling traffic) to pay compliments to my 'gorgeous' Grabber Yellow ride, the Rally's unsubtly comes as standard. It's also available in grey, black and blue. The chunky racing stripes, the rear-spoiler and the decals on its flanks combine to make a car that looks like its ready to hit the trail, and its styling and stance are ace, but before we get to the nitty gritty of its capabilities, let's appreciate those gloss-white Cosworth-inspired 19-inch shoes.
Day-to-day use
Out on the UK's crumbly mean streets, the travel in the trick suspension – which has a 20mm lift on the GT – makes potholes less of a crisis. During short commutes, days out and trips to the shops, it felt solid, settled and smooth. Fundamentally, it's an SUV, so the Mach-E Rally copes well with urban life. The five doors (sans handles, but with keyless pin code entry), the frunk and boot (100 and 402 litres respectively), the parking sensors and the privacy glass, it's a runabout with muscular looks. Mod cons include a 15.5-inch touchscreen, Apple CarPlay and surround view cameras, but my highlight of the flight deck? I especially liked the seats.
For ease, footwork can be reduced to one pedal, but it was en route from the Midlands to the Lake District that I relinquished control to "BlueCruise," Ford's innovative hands-free system. Adjusting the speed, steering and brakes, so you don't have to, the car can effectively be set to autopilot when on a motorway. The first of its kind to be approved in Europe, it's a technological marvel, but I'm yet to be convinced, and for a frequent long-distance traveller like me, the Rally's target 254 mile range falls short. The best I got was a smidge over 200.
The Rough and Fun Stuff
Giving the Rally some rough treatment on byways and back roads, I felt reunited with longings that driving EVs can rarely appease. Unable to facilitate access to a forest trail to experience the car's full potential (hint, hint, winky face, pretty please Ford,) this was the most challenging environment I could find. Ruggedised with Rallycross tuning, better than average ground clearance, and underbody plates to prevent the motors from getting hurt, the Rally is equipped to endure punishment that would prove fatal for most other EVs. On hard ground, made jagged by rocks, it was remarkably forgiving, but in the wet, I was able to go wild. For bigger slides, I turned traction and stability control off.
What you get for your money
After surviving a 500-combined-mile shakedown – the equivalent of rallycross racing every month for 10 years – the Rally edition Mach-E was made to be fairly robust, but with a starting price of £76,790, I took great care to avoid tree stumps. During torture testing, Ford's boffins gave the Mach-E more mojo with the introduction of a performance setting called RallySport; toggle from the "Whisper" or "Active" drive modes and it can be located within "Untame". Turn it on, and hold tight because I can assure you, this 2.3-tonner lifts off in a flash. Technically speaking, the instant torque will blast you from 0-62 in 3.6 seconds, and top out at 124mph, but for all that oomph, the artificial engine noise is pathetic. For the best acoustic accompaniment, I recommend making the most of the Bang & Olufsen sound system.
A Proof of Concept
In essence, the Mach-E Rally is a performance proof of concept. A hit in the States, only fifty will be sold in Britain. I'll always pine for the noise, and jolts and jostle that a manual transmission and traditional engine provide, but in an off-road-y environment, the Rally experience certainly wasn't one-dimensional. Smudging the lines between electric and combustion thrills, I felt a connection, a twinge of affection, as I got down and dirty with 'Muckstang'.
words by Charlotte Vowden
photography by Henry Faulkner-Smith