The 2020 Ford Mustang High Performance is an homage to the SVO

It doesn't sit at the top of the range as the original SVO did, but this 330-horsepower Mustang is lean and mean.

Ford is dipping into the Mustang heritage pool (not to mention its parts bin) once again with a new High Performance package for the 2.3L EcoBoost Mustang. This nod to the SVO of the mid-1980s packs more power than any factory 2.3L Mustang sold to date, and has plenty of other go-fast goodies to back that up.

While Ford has offered the EcoBoost Mustang with a Performance package similar to that offered on the V8-powered GT model from day one of the current generation, this new High Performance package throws a power bump into the mix thanks to some parts-swapping with the now-discontinued Ford Focus RS.

While the 2.3L engine in the all-wheel-drive Focus was good for 350 horsepower, Ford has only punched the Mustang's output up to 330--a twenty-horse bump over the standard EcoBoost model.

Ford describes the High Performance model's development as a skunkworks project which started as a simple swap of a Focus RS engine into a standard EcoBoost model. The addition of suspension, brake and aero components from the Mustang GT's performance package rounded out the project.

So, what'll it run? Better than you might expect. Ford says it'll do 0-60 in the mid-four-second range on the way to a 155-mile-per-hour top speed. With 350 lb-ft of torque on tap, it's not only faster, but has more flexible power than the base- and Performance-package EcoBoost variants.

The true icing on the High Performance model cake, however, is the availability of a new EcoBoost Handling package. This adds the MagneRide suspension (which had already trickled down from the GT350 to the GT model with the 2018 redesign) along with a meatier rear sway bar, a 3.55:1 rear axle ratio, wider wheels and sticker Pirelli P Zero Corsa4 summer tires.

As spotted on the mule caught testing in Dearborn earlier in April, it's also equipped with an active, quad-tip exhaust system that is simultaneously neighbor- and hoon-friendly.

The 2020 Ford Mustang EcoBoost High Performance package hits dealers this fall.

Live photos by Brian Williams.