Ford Mustang Mach-E Extended Range AWD – long-term review

We’ve done a swapsies. Our red Mach-E AWD extended range for this faster, flashier, top of the range Mach-E GT. I say flashier because of the 20-inch rims, wider tyres, faux-carbon blanked off grille and 10mm lower ride height, but it’s probably even stealthier than EF70 EAK with its Dark Matter Grey paint – the only option fitted at £1,150. Famously brash Ford colours – Cyber Orange and Grabber Blue are available exclusively on the GT, and honestly I’d be tempted to go for a brighter shade. But then I have the taste of a five-year-old.

You might have read Ollie Kew’s first drive of the Mach-E GT. So I already know what I’m supposed to conclude here, what the sensible advice is to give: that there’s very little, besides more nauseating acceleration, the £66k GT does over and above the £57k AWD version, or the £47k RWD (with the big battery for 373 miles WLTP) for that matter. It's another £20k (or around £250 a month) to go significantly less distance on a charge and feel much the same while you’re doing it.

I’m aware, then, that the numbers don’t exactly stack up on the GT, but if numbers are all we cared about we’d all be driving around in Dacias – perfectly happy I might add, but a little lacking in automotive adrenalin. So let’s not call this one before it’s even started, let’s spend a few months with the GT, take our time to appreciate its subtle differences, let them wash over us and see what feelings emerge.

Sorry, did I say ‘subtle’ differences? My bad. There's nothing subtle about a 2.2-tonne crossover with 480bhp and more torque than a Porsche 911 Turbo S. Its 0-62mph time of 3.7 seconds is, frankly, ridiculous – quicker than a Cayenne Turbo S, and you feel the difference straight away.

Whereas the 346bhp AWD version surges on a satisfying wave of torque, the GT jags forward impatiently in any of its two most aggressive modes (Active and untamed) properly pinning you to the headrest, the tyres breaking traction even in the dry if there’s no temperature in them. The kids love it, you’ll give your granny a heart attack and you possess the power to make any passenger feel queasy on demand. I’ll do my best to wield it responsibly.

Lots planned over the coming months, including a road trip to Cornwall (the same road trip that the longterm Porsche Taycan 4S couldn’t quite manage on a single charge, can the American go one better?), I’ll be looking for any excuse to get the GT on track and in the meantime I’ll generally be lobbing family life at it and winding up supercars at the traffic lights. They won’t even see me coming.