2024 Ford Mustang Mach-E Rally Overview: Correct Sideways Testing

The windshield wipers are slapping as hard as a happy Labrador retriever’s tail. Still, I can barely see through the muck and mud on my windshield as I slide sideways around a corner at the Dirtfish Rally School.

It’s a good thing I’m driving the 2024 Ford Mustang Mach-E Rally edition. That’s the latest version of the Detroit automaker’s all-electric crossover and the first specifically designed, as its name implies, to take on loose and rough surface rally-style adventures.

Ford has updated all of the Mach-E trims for a late 2024 launch. It improved power, performance, and handling while also upgrading a variety of tech features.

While I clocked a few miles in Seattle checking out the ’24 Mach-E GT, I focused on the new Rally model. That started with a few hours wandering through the Washington State wilderness before wrapping up with a wild day of muddy track time at Dirtfish, in Snoqualmie, an hour east of Seattle.

In short: The 2024 Mustang Mach-E Rally is the latest version of Ford’s all-electric crossover. It delivers a big bump in power and other upgrades designed for rally-style shenanigans.

2024 Ford Mustang Mach-E Rally Review

While there are a few exceptions — notably the GMC Hummer and the off-road versions of Rivian’s R1S and R1T — today’s battery-electric vehicles generally aren’t capable of handling anything much more challenging than a gravel road. Yet, with more and more U.S. motorists looking for products they can take rock-crawling and overlanding, it was only a matter of time until other manufacturers got into the off-road game.

Ford recently showed off the concept Switchgear, hinting at a ruggedized version of its big F-150 Lightning pickup. But it’s not ready to confirm production plans.

Instead, it’s focusing on the latest version of its Mustang Mach-E. While you’re not likely to take it out to Moab, it’s got the chops to handle serious, rally-style conditions.

Think of it as “a high-speed off-roader” meant for classic rally-style driving, Darren Palmer, the head of Ford’s EV program, recently told me. 

If anything, the Rally edition takes the Mach-E GT to new levels, its standard performance upgrade kicking in another 100 pound-feet to what was already an impressively torquey twin-motor package. Add a new RallySport setting to its Driver Mode selector, and it’s more than up to sort of challenges I faced on the mud-and-gravel track at Dirtfish.

Mustang Mach-E: Rally vs. GT

At first glance, you might have trouble telling the Mach-E GT and the Rally edition apart. 

There are a handful of visual differences, however, starting with Rally badging and contrasting accents, such as upper and lower body moldings. The new Rally package gets a front spoiler and a liftgate-mounted spoiler, a black roof — with matching stripes on the hood and tailgate — and rally-style fog lights.

New gloss-white 19-inch wheels are shod in Michelin CrossClimate2 rubber. These wouldn’t be a top choice for rock crawlers, but they’re perfect for powering across slick and uneven surfaces.

A closer inspection reveals the Rally stands 0.8 inches taller, an essential upgrade for handling rough, uneven terrain. The overall suspension has been retuned, of course, though Rally and GT both share the highly capable Magneride dampers. They’re even more useful on the off-roader, considering each shock can respond to changing road surfaces — going anywhere from soft to firm in the time it takes to travel barely an inch at 60 mph.

Mach-E Powertrain

One of the most critical additions: underbody armoring to keep the two motors from being damaged by rocks and other debris. And that’s where one of the biggest changes for 2024 can be found.

“We heard (from early owners) we needed better acceleration,” said Donna Dixon, Mach-E’s chief engineer. Her team focused on the rear motor, replacing the original with the more beefy one used on the Lightning pickup.

The payoff is substantial, the GT now pumping out a combined 480 horsepower and 600 pound-feet. Add the Performance Upgrade and torque jumps to 700 pound-feet. The good news for Rally buyers: that upgrade comes standard.

Plenty of Stopping Power

Red-painted Brembo brake calipers add another nice visual touch to the Rally package. But they’re there for more than show. 

With that much power — and, remember, electric motors deliver essentially 100% of their torque the moment they start spinning — you need plenty of stopping power.

Up front, the Rally has 15.8-inch rotors, 1.5 inches bigger than those on the Mach-E Select and Premium packages. The rear gets single-piston calipers and 12.4-inch rotors.

On the Road

To familiarize ourselves with the 2024 Ford Mustang Mach-E Rally, my co-pilot and I set out for a leisurely drive through the rugged, rain-soaked terrain near Snoqualmie — a town some may recall as the site used by director David Lynch for “Twin Peaks.”

OK, maybe I wasn’t driving so leisurely outside of the occasional town where speed limits suddenly dropped and local troopers were waiting, radar guns in hand. The newly updated Rally/GT drivetrain proved a significant improvement over the prior package, torque coming on significantly faster and continuing to deliver neck-snapping acceleration well beyond legal freeway speeds.

Ford estimates 0-60 launches in 3.4 seconds, just 0.1 seconds slower than a GT with the Performance Upgrade.

The retuned suspension was a perfect fit for the aggressive turns and rough pavement carving through the Washington rain forests. And the CrossClimate2 tires maintained their grip, even on water-soaked pavement. Surprisingly, in Comfort Mode, the Mach-E Rally proved surprisingly comfortable, with clear credit going to the Magneride suspension.

And Off

Back at Dirtfish, however, simply switching to RallySport transformed this machine into an entirely different animal. Depending upon your personal predilection, conditions were either perfect or perfectly awful, the last few days’ rain turning it into a swampy soup, with gravel rather than croutons.

It took some time — and a bit of courage — to really push things to the limit. Once I got comfortable with the Rally and the track, I began letting things hang out, quite literally.

Heading out on the brief straights, I slammed the throttle to the floor, the new powertrain’s torque pushing me deep into my seat. With each passing lap — and encouragement from my Dirtfish instructor — I would tap the brakes and yank the wheel earlier and earlier, setting the EV into a wide drift.

The Michelins never failed to engage, however, keeping me moving in the right direction wherever the nose of the Ford was pointed. The most pleasant surprise was just how predictable the Rally was, and how easy it was to correct a mistake.

If anything, the biggest challenge was simply keeping the windshield clear, rooster tails of muck spraying up and over the roof as I entered each turn.

As quick as I thought I’d been, though, the track’s instructors gave a true demonstration as to the Mach-E Rally’s potential, spending as little time as necessary facing forward as they rocketed around the track.

Onboard Technology

The Rally is largely a Mustang Mach-E GT despite all the mechanical changes. And that’s obvious when you’re just sitting inside. It has the same twin digital display layout, including the positively huge, portrait-oriented infotainment touchscreen. Frankly, I’d have appreciated more unique-to-Rally features, such as displays showing Baja-style performance data. 

The electric crossover does get plenty of technology, including the wireless version of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, an updated Sync infotainment system with the latest navigation software, and an extensive list of smart safety features. These include functions like Blind-Spot detection and Reverse Brake Assist that are optional on many of today’s vehicles.

For some, the most conventional tech feature could be Ford’s BlueCruise system. The latest update allows the hands-free technology to be used on more than 100,000 miles of U.S. and Canadian roadways and adds functions like tap to pass, where you simply touch the turn signal stalk to have it pass a slower vehicle where safe to do so.

In my own personal experience, I found the new BlueCruise version 1.4 to be a big update over earlier iterations — but still not quite up to General Motors’ similar Super Cruise technology.

2024 Mach-E Rally Review Wrap-Up

The new Rally model is a welcome addition to the Ford Mustang Mach-E family — and offers a strong indication of what that automaker and others could do with other battery-electric vehicles going forward. I’m hoping Ford will follow through and transform the rock-crawling Switchgear into a production version of the F-150 Lightning in the future.

For now, you’ll have to limit your off-road adventures — though the Rally will likely still handle just about anything most folks might throw at it. And, if you have the chance to do what it does best, expect to have an absolute blast. It delivers on all its promises.

Pricing starts at $59,995, with delivery fees adding another $1,300.

Ford is now taking orders for all versions of the 2024 Mach-E, including the Rally. The first production models are expected to roll into U.S. showrooms later this summer.