Need for 10-speed: Mustang to get state-of-the-art tranny

In what sounds like an unlikely collaboration, Ford has teamed up with arch-enemy GM to create an all-new automatic transmission that comes with 10 speeds (plus reverse), and it will be available as part of 2018 model year tech updates for its Ford Mustang.

The new 10-speed transmission could go on sale as soon as late 2017 and offer significant improvement in both performance and efficiency over the current six-speed automatic.

According to reports, the new gearbox will also be offered in Ford’s full-size utes and next-generation Lincolns and has been developed to work with powerful V8s, V6 twin-turbos and the four-cylinder EcoBoost engine.

Automotive News has also reported that Ford could resurrect the old Mach 1 name for a new higher performance version of the four-cylinder turbo Mustang.

Previous Mach 1 models added bigger brakes, stiffer springs, bespoke dampers and even a functional bonnet-mounted cold-air intake for the old 2003 Mach 1 Mustang.

Expect Ford to reveal more information on its new high-performance model within 18 months, possibly at the Detroit motor show in 2017 -- just over a year after the Mustang finally arrives in Australia (in December this year).