Since this is a performance car, it's expected that a large percentage of Mustang buyers will opt for the manual transmission. This will be a six speed transmission with less space between the gears for quicker shifts. The shifter's also been moved closer to the driver's seat and away from the cupholders so drivers will no longer knock the lids off their soda cups while changing gears.
The automatic transmission will now offer steering-wheel-mounted paddle shifters for the first time. The car will also automatically match engine RPM for smoother shifts even under hard acceleration or when downshifting. Paddle shifters are nothing new but Ford engineers say that, until now, there wasn't a paddle shift system they felt was worthy of the Mustang.
A computer-assisted torque-vectoring program can direct power to individual rear wheels during hard turns for improved handling.
