Ford Dealers Now Taking Orders for 480-HP Bullitt Mustang
Small tweaks add 20 horsepower to the pony car’s already crowded stable, and one can be in your driveway late this summer.
As the launch of the film-inspired 2019 Ford Mustang Bullitt approaches, Ford announced Thursday that orders for the limited-run pony car are open, with deliveries beginning late this summer.
Ford also revealed that the Bullitt Mustang will get a minor horsepower hike over the Mustang GT upon which it is based, as the 2018 Mustang GT lays down 460, as opposed to the Bullitt's 480. Considering that the GT made a mere 435 for the 2017 model year, the ever-upward trend that the GT's power curve is following makes 500 horsepower look within reach by the generation's end.
The horsepower bump is thanks to alterations made to the car's intake system and tuning. An 87-millimeter throttle body, larger than that found on most Mustangs, inducts air through an altered intake, where it travels into the Shelby GT350-derived intake manifold, and into the cylinders. When combined with 93-octane gasoline, doled out by a lightly retuned computer that accounts for the extra air in the engine, the 5.0-liter V8 makes the 480 horsepower, and 420 pound-feet of torque, with improved engine sound exiting through a blackened, four-tip active exhaust system.
The extra power is all the Bullitt Mustang needs to plow its top speed up to 163 mph, over the GT's 155. This is still short of the GT350's 170, and the alleged 200-plus of the GT500.
Buyers can have their Bullitts in Dark Highland Green, as all the photos show, or Shadow Black. Standard on all are 19-inch aluminum wheels, Brembo brakes, a chrome-edged black grille, and a mock gas cap with the Bullitt logo on display on the rear bumper. Inside, the leathery interior opts for green stitching across the dashboard, seats, center console, and door panels.
