Ford, Porsche Make Enviro-Muscle Statements

Ford, Porsche Make Enviro-Muscle Statements

The composting-saves-the-world neighbors won't be able to sneer (as much) at the gas-sucking muscle car in the driveway after Ford Motor Co. crowed today that a Mustang sporting the nameplate's new 3.7-liter dual-cam V6 churns out 305 horsepower - yet was just certified by the Environmental Protection Agency as earning a highway fuel-economy rating of 31 miles per gallon.

Ford says the car is history's first example of a production model that exceeds 300 hp yet also tops 30 mpg.

The number actually beat Ford's earlier expectations for 30 mpg from the V6 Mustang, the number the company was proudly promoting in January at the Detroit auto show.

At no other time in Mustang's history -- for that matter, in automotive history -- have we been able to talk about 305 horsepower and 31 miles per gallon. The Mustang truly is a no-compromises sports car," said Derrick Kuzak, Ford group vice president for global product development.

And one of the most-discussed concept cars at this week's Geneva motor show in Switzerland was Porsche AG's 918 Spyder, a midengine, two-seat plug-in hybrid that somehow manages 78 mpg from a wailing, 9,200-rpm redlined 3.4-liter V8 in tandem with an electric drive motor at each axle and lithium-ion batteries.

The car also can accelerate from zero to 62 mph in 3.2 seconds, Porsche said.

Ford, meanwhile, is understandably proud of its achievement, which will be available in a matter of weeks and for a price certain to be demonstrably less than whatever a V8-engined, 78-mpg Porsche plug-in hybrid might fetch.

Cost pressures in fact are likely to become more of a focus in the cost-benefit equation for automakers looking to move to the next level of environmental accomplishment in anticipation of the nation's 35-mpg Corporate Average Fuel Economy mandate beginning in 2015: General Motors Co. just confirmed the lousiness of the business case for a Cadillac Converj version of the Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric vehicle, which drove GM to halt the Converj's development. - Bill Visnic, senior editor

Photos

1. At January's Detroit auto show, Ford touted the V6-engine Mustang's 30-mpg capability; the EPA's official number, released this week, actually is better by 1 mpg.

2. Porsche's 918 Spyder concept: plug-in hybrid with 3.4-liter V8 nonetheless said to be capable of 78 mpg. (courtesy Porsche Cars North America Inc.)

Bill Visnic:  is an AutoObserver Senior Editor. Follow @AutoObserver on Twitter