For drivers who want muscle without the luxury-car price tag, this sports car stands out as the best bang-for-your-buck option in 2025. It blends old-school performance with new-school refinement, and makes high horsepower more accessible than ever. Here’s why it’s the top choice for budget-minded thrill-seekers this year.

In order to give you the most up-to-date and accurate information possible, the data used to compile this article was sourced from various manufacturer websites and other authoritative sources, including TopSpeed and the EPA.

Even the Base 2025 Mustang Makes Over 300 Horsepower

With the Chevrolet Camaro off the market for the time being and the Dodge Challenger suffering from an identity crisis, the Mustang is the last member of the holy trinity still standing. It has always offered impressive levels of performance for the price you pay, and it remains the most affordable coupe with over 300 horsepower.

2025 Trims and Pricing

The difference between the most affordable and the most expensive Mustang is quite a lot, with the top-of-the-range Dark Horse Premium costing just shy of $70,000. Though, the Dark Horse does justify its high price tag in a number of ways. If you're looking for the most affordable model, though, the Ecoboost is one of the most affordable new coupes on the market.

If we were talking about the best value for money Mustang, we would suggest the GT. It has a roaring V-8 under the hood and plenty of equipment to make it comfortable as a daily driver. However, the turbocharged four-cylinder Ecoboost is obviously the more economical choice. Even if you went for the Premium model, it'd still be the cheapest new coupe with over 300 horses.

Changes For 2025

For the 2024 model year, the iconic Mustang entered a brand-new generation. It was an update that was becoming increasingly necessary as the years passed, with the outgoing generation feeling more and more outdated the longer it sat on sale. Along with styling updates, the Ecoboost model also received a modest five horsepower boost.

For the 2025 model year, Ford introduced a 60th Anniversary Edition. While you can't get your hands on it anymore, as it was limited to 1965 units. It included 20-inch wheels and the return of the iconic Brittany Blue paint color. You could only get this package on GT Coupes and Convertibles. The only other change for 2025 is a digital gauge cluster setting that imitates the cluster of the '67 Mustang.

Warranties and Maintenance

• Limited Warranty - Three Years or 36,000 Miles
• Powertrain Warranty - Five Years or 60,000 Miles
• No Complimentary Maintenance

There is nothing in Ford's warranty package that will surprise or impress you. The bumper-to-bumper coverage as well as the powertrain coverage are both pretty average. No complimentary maintenance is a bit of a bummer, considering that a number of other automakers include nowadays.

The Ecoboost Mustang Is Better Than Its Reputation Will Lead You to Believe

We think that the Ecoboost Mustang is a pretty impressive sports car for the price that you pay. However, its reputation is not exactly good. Some complain that any Mustang that doesn't have a V-8 isn't a real Mustang. We think this way of thinking prevents people from seeing how truly great the base pony car is.

Performance Specifications

The Ecoboost Mustang is motivated by a pretty impressive turbocharged inline-four. As mentioned above, it received a five horsepower bump for the 2024 update. It comes exclusively paired with a ten-speed automatic and rear-wheel drive is the only setup available. If you want a manual transmission, you'll have to go with the GT. Interestingly, the current Ecoboost has less power than the upgraded Ecoboost Performance from the last generation, which made 330 horses.

While the Ecoboost has significantly less power than the 480-horsepower V-8 in the GT, it only takes an additional three tenths of a second to get to 60 miles per hour. The 500-horsepower Dark Horse is even quicker, though. The base Mustang comes with some impressive kit, and it definitely feels more responsive than the last generation of the muscle car. It continues to prove that muscle cars can do more than just go fast in a straight line.

Fuel Economy

If fuel efficiency is something that is remotely important to you, the Ecoboost performs much better than its V-8 siblings. Even the most efficient eight-cylinder Mustang only manages up to 19 miles per gallon. However, this doesn't mean that the Ecoboost is particularly efficient, with more powerful cars being lighter on fuel. For example, the 382-horsepower BMW M240i matches the combined fuel economy figure of the Ecoboost.

Safety and Driver Assists

• Pre-Collision Assist with Automatic Emergency Braking
• Lane Keeping System with Lane Centering
• Blind Spot Information System
• Adaptive Cruise Control with Stop-and-Go
• Auto High-Beam Headlamps

The Mustang comes pretty well equipped from the word go when it comes to safety features. The standard package is called Ford Co-Pilot360 and it comes packed with features, including adaptive cruise control and lane keep assist as standard features, which is a rarity.

The NHTSA has put the sports car through its paces and given it five stars out of five for safety. It has yet to be tested by the IIHS.

This Generation of Mustang Features a Pretty Impressive Interior

While the outgoing generation of Mustang did certainly offer a unique design philosophy, calling back to 'Stangs of yore, it was marred with cheap plastics and quickly felt dated. Ford recognized this shortcoming and the new generation feels like the most livable Mustang to date, with a lot of improvements to build quality and tech offerings.

Interior Dimensions and Comfort

Ford's Mustang has always been a 2+2 coupe, meaning that it has two doors and a sloping roofline but still offers rear seats. These back seats may be nice to have on occasion, but passengers squished back there will never feel particularly comfortable, especially on longer journeys. Room in the trunk won't blow you away, but its pretty decent all things considered.

The Ecoboost Mustang misses out on a lot of the most impressive comfort features. Cloth upholstery is standard, with the option of upgrading to seats with vinyl inserts. Heated seating is also available on the base model. We'd go for the Ecoboost Premium as it comes with a lot of these features as standard, as well as six-way power adjustable seats, standard ventilated seats, and a heated steering wheel.

Infotainment and Technology

Technology in the Mustang has been majorly improved for the latest generation. A 13.2-inch touchscreen is standard, sharing a bezel with a 12.4-inch digital gauge cluster. The latter is fully customizable, with you able to select retro clusters if that should tickle your fancy. The infotainment system uses Ford's SYNC 4 software, which is pretty responsive, and comes standard with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

Ford balances tech well in the cabin, with a number of physical buttons and dials which act as shortcuts for some of the key features. Along with USB ports, you can get a wireless smartphone charging pad which helps to keep the interior a little neater. A six-speaker sound system is standard in the Ecoboost, with the option of upgrading to a nine-speaker system being available to you.