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Ford Mustang Mach-E Rally review: Has Ford lost its mind?

September 12, 2025 Matt Allan

We venture into the wild to see if Ford’s rally-inspired performance EV can cut it off-road

People sometimes moan that EVs are boring and bland. They’re wrong, obviously, but someone at Ford appears to have taken these comments to heart and decided to get a bit silly.

Hence the arrival of the Ford Mustang Mach-E Rally – a performance SUV that takes the regular Mach-E GT, gives it a rally-inspired makeover and sends it looking for some loose gravel.

It’s not just about some 90-style wheels and a bonnet stripe either. There has been some mechanical tinkering, so the Mustang Mach-E Rally sits taller on specially tuned Magneride suspension. There’s also underbody protection, special tyres and a dedicated off-road driving mode. But does it add up to anything more than an extravagant styling pack?

Design, interior and technology

Parked on the driveway, the Mustang Mach-E Rally looks like something my kids would cook up in Forza Horizon. It is painted bright “Grabber” yellow for a start, a colour contrasted by the black roof, black go-faster stripes on the bonnet and the big faux-carbon splitter and spoiler at opposite ends of the car. Then there are the 19-inch white alloys inspired by the OZ rims of the Escort RS Cosworth WRC cars, cross climate tyres and a 2cm suspension lift to complete the off-road aesthetic.

ford mustang mach-e rally spoiler detail — Subtle it ain’t

It certainly gets attention – almost entirely positive – and it adds some character to the regular GT which is slightly understated otherwise.

Less has changed inside, where the Rally retains most of the regular GT’s appearance. The only real difference is the gloss white hard-shell finish to the back of the seats and on the steering wheel.

The rest of the cabin is standard Mach-E. That means plenty of space for a family of four, lots of useful storage space and a fairly simple driving environment. A slimline digital display gives you the key information ahead of you and everything else is managed via a 15.5-inch portrait touchscreen. This features various configurable shortcut buttons, swipe-down menus and a giant physical volume dial. It’s far from the worst example and most functions are within a couple of screen presses but I still missed proper buttons for basic controls.

ford mustang mach-e rally interior image — The Mach-E Rally is roomy and reasonably refined even on cross climate tyres

Battery, motor and performance

Ford says the Mustang Mach-E Rally “pushes electric vehicles in a different direction”. We’ve had plenty of fast road-focused EVs but this, says Ford, is about creating one that’s fun off road too.

Underpinning it is the same all-wheel-drive powertrain as the range-topping Mach-E GT, which is certainly no slouch.

The battery remains a 91kWh unit capable of 316 miles. Power output for the Rally is the same at 480bhp, but torque is increased to 701lb ft. The 0-62mph run takes just 3.6 seconds and top speed is capped at 124mph. What is different is the presence of a dedicated RallySport drive mode, Michelin CrossClimate 2 tyres with a more aggressive tread pattern and that 20mm suspension lift – all designed to make the Mach-E come alive away from the Tarmac.

In testing the Mach-E Rally I faced the same problem most buyers will – there aren’t a lot of publicly accessible gravel stages near me. Instead, I had to make do with a brief excursion along a suitably abandoned forestry trail.

Within that limited testing environment, I could feel what Ford has tried to do with the Mach-E Rally. Switch into RallySport mode and it spins its wheels, throwing up gravel in the Top Gear-approved way. Once it finds some traction it rockets along with grin-inducing speed and slows down again equally rapidly thanks to meaty Brembo brakes.

Loose gravel and even looser traction control means it’s easy to make the back end step away and slide the car around. Here the Mustang feels mostly rear-drive and gleefully silly. Thankfully, though, the front motor is there to help pull the car straight again and spare your blushes if you get too deep into your Marcus Gronholm fantasies.

Perhaps most remarkable is the ride, which does a brilliant job of soaking up the mess of the trail without removing too much feedback. The car feels like it’s filtering out the ruts and bumps while remaining planted to the road.

Overall, it’s a lot of fun and vindicates Ford’s efforts. But… there’s a clear compromise to allow that playfulness off-road.

On the road you feel the effect of the higher ride height and the taller, softer sidewalls. The car moves about more under you, it leans more and there’s distinctly less grip from those cross climate tyres. In some ways that makes the car more playful but it also means you can’t be quite as enthusiastic on-road as in the regular Mach-E.

ford mustang mach-e rally review driving image — You pay for the Rally’s off-road grins when you get back on the Tarmac

How much of a problem that will be depends on just how often an owner plans on “playing in the dirt”, as Ford would have it.

Price and specification

Although there’s quite a lot of difference between the two, the Mustang Mach-E Rally is offered as an options package for the GT rather than a standalone separate mode.

Pick your fully kitted-out GT then pay an extra £2,250 and Ford will transform it into what you see in the pictures.

That means a list price of £69,800. Yes, you get all the sort of gadgets and luxuries you’d expect from a flagship model, but it is a lot of money for something that can best be described as a toy.

Verdict

Driving the Mach-E Rally on-road I struggled to see the point of it. After getting it “into the wild” and onto some slippery surfaces it made more sense. But I still struggle to see who’s going to buy it.

Ford’s marketing material talks about a car “ready to play in the dirt” and it feels like it meets that brief with its yobbish looks and low-grip laughs.

The problem is I just can’t see many owners bashing their £70,000 EV around their nearest forest stage, even if they can gain access to it.

And if you’re after an in-your-face performance EV, the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N is cheaper and better everywhere except on those forest stages.

That said, I do have a soft spot for the totally unnecessary Ford Ranger Raptor, and the Mach-E Rally falls squarely into the same camp. It serves no purpose but to show that Ford has a sense of humour and that EVs can have character.