06 WHAT’S NEW
“With this vehicle we have been focusing
on positioning it as being more sporty
than mainstream Ford vehicles”
tuning. The initial tuning we did in
North America, so we sent a couple
of my guys over there.”
The US and European versions of
the Mustang Mach-E have a lot of
commonality, but there are also key
differences in how the cars are set up, as
van Noyen explains, “The fundamental
layout of the suspension is the same,
but we can play with all the tuneables
including the springs, dampers, jounce
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VehicleDynamicsInternational.com •May/June 2020
bumpers, and steering tuning. We also
have unique tyres. They have summer
tyres in the US, but we typically run
with all-season tyres, which makes quite
a big difference to handling.
Spring selection
“The spring selection is different, too.
We work with slightly stiffer springs
than the North American team, and we
also work with different engagements
of the jounce bumpers,” explains van
Noyen. “But we try to keep all the rest
of the bushings the same, so we have
been developing those together with
the North American team.”
Once the common elements were
established, the European test
programme started in earnest, based
at Ford’s Lommel Proving Ground in
Belgium. The vehicle dynamics team
develops European Fords on a variety
of roads – both private and public –
including some in the Ardennes forest in
southeast Belgium, which are similar to
some of the worst road surfaces on the
continent, in order to put the vehicle
dynamics through the wringer.
The decision was made that the
Mach-E should be ‘slightly sporty’, to
appeal to buyers who want some spirit of
the classic muscle car Mustangs in their
charging
Rear-drive bias
Entry-level versions of the Mach-E feature a permanentmagnet
motor and single-speed transmission at the rear
axle, with the option to upgrade to dual-motor all-wheel
drive. Darren Palmer, Ford’s global director for battery
electric vehicle product development, says the front motor
is pared back slightly to assist traction, which also gives
the car a rear-wheel drive bias, though the system can
supply torque independently at each axle, depending on
available grip. Power output is higher for the extendedrange
battery pack.
“We couldn’t have an electric Mustang if the
performance wasn’t credible,” he continues. “Engineers
showed us what we could do with the equipment we had,
and the range of performance, from fast to supercar. So
we knew we had the ingredients for the Mustang
programme.”
Global production will take place in Mexico, and chassis
components are near identical in all markets, with only
minor calibration changes to meet regional preferences.
/VehicleDynamicsInternational.com