The Premium edition of Stern’s Mustang takes John Trudeau’s 2014 muscle-car machine and dresses it up with extra hardware and trim — including additional solitary drop targets, a player button on the lockdown bar, and a pony emblem on the speaker panel. The bones are the same fast, gear-shifting design built around Ford’s iconic pony car, but the Premium adds the finishing touches that make it a showpiece for the dedicated collector.
The scoring is anchored by the GEARS shifting system. Completing the GEARS drop targets shifts you up, and reaching third gear or higher lights the main multiball — though the smart play is to defer it, pushing toward fourth or fifth gear before launching multiball at the scoop for much fatter jackpots. The “Cruisin'” mode is the ideal one to stack with a multiball, since it leans on every shot across the table, while during the six-ball multiball the first Super Jackpot is a guaranteed fifty million, well worth doubling with the N2O boost.
There’s a rewarding super skill shot, too — hold the left flipper while plunging and hit the strobing light on the GEARS bank as it crosses center for a +2 Gears jump. With its premium toys and the same deep gear-shifting ruleset, the Mustang Premium delivers the fullest expression of Trudeau’s tribute to an automotive legend. For gearheads and combo-loving players who want every bell and whistle, it’s a fast, rewarding, and handsome machine. Drop it into high gear and chase that fifty-million Super.