October 2009 Archives

Hurst Performance Vehicles has devoted a ton of time to the new Chevrolet Camaro, and last year they got lots of press coverage for their awesome Hurst Hemi Challengers.  Hurst has a long history of dealing with GMs and Mopars, but they are newer to the Ford world.  Last month, Hurst announced the Hurst Mustang Pace Car Series convertible and yesterday evening I received an email from Hurst's publc relations group with news of a new Hurst Mustang to be unveiled at the 2009 SEMA Show.  While details are limited (and no pictures exist right now) the new Performance Series Hurst Mustang sounds like it takes many of its performance cues from the Pace Car Series Mustang, but puts all of those performance upgrades in the skin of a race car rather than a pace car.

The new Performance Series Hurst Mustang being displayed at SEMA is painted bright white with black and gold Hurst graphics, sitting on 20" black chrome forged wheels wearing BF Goodrich KDW high performance tires.  Inside, the Hurst Mustang wears graphite Hurst/Katzkin leather seats with gold stitching and embroidered Hurst logos on the seats and floormats.  Like the other new Hurst models being displayed at the 2009 SEMA Show, the Hurst Mustangs will feature the Hurst Hard-Shift handle.

Ford has used the SEMA Show in Las Vegas show off new products from Ford Racing in the past, and with the Motor Company being the official car manufacturer of this year's show, we can expect more excitement. One hint as to what we could see at SEMA was offered by yesterday, as Ford Racing issued a press release officially announcing the 2010 Ford Racing Boss 302R Mustang and some of the cars' specifications.

Paying homage to the success of the 1970 Boss Mustang in the racing world, the 2010 302R will be a race only model and production will be limited to just 50 units.  The 2010 Boss 302R Mustang will come in the "standard" 302R form, or a Grand-Am Homologation package is available for those intending to compete in the KONI Challenge series.  The 2010 Boss 302R has an MSRP of $79,000, and for those wanting a fully built race car, the Grand-Am prepped 302R will run you around $129,000.

Like the 1970 Boss 302, the 2010 302R will feature a 5.0L V8, but this modern 5.0L offers an "estimated" 400hp.  The real power figures are more likely to be distributed once Ford has announced the power figures for the 2011 Mustang at this year's LA Auto Show, but with the Mustang GT expected to offer around 400hp from the 5.0L Coyote V8, I hope to see GT500-like power out of this $79,000 dollar race Mustang.  The more expensive Koni Challenge Boss 302R comes with a "sealed high output race motor", and the SEMA Show could be the perfect venue for such a monster factory built race car.

When Steve Saleen parted from Saleen Motorsports, it was unknown what would come of the near legendary line of high performance Saleen Mustangs.  Mr. Saleen departed to start the new SMS Supercars, and the original company has retained the Saleen name (after a couple lawsuits) and has now become Saleen Performance Vehicles.

A few months ago, the new Saleen Performance Vehicles released their first take on the refreshed 2010 Mustang, minus Steve Saleen's influence, in the form of the Mustang 435S.  The changes to the exterior of the Saleen 435S were minimal, but along with suspension upgrades, the new Saleen received engine improvements to the tune of 435 horsepower.  This monster Mustang is an excellent first chapter to the Steve-less Saleen Performance, but we all knew that more was to come.

The new EcoBoost 3.5L V6 engine calls on a pair of turbochargers to make an amazing 355 horsepower in the Lincoln MKS and Ford Taurus SHO. If rumors prove to be true, this technologically advanced V6 could find its way into the 2011 Ford Mustang.

The Ford Mustang has introduced a great many now-famous engines throughout its long history, but none have had the following of the 5.0L V8. The "five-o", as it is affectionately known, disappeared from the Mustang lineup after 1995 as the new modular 4.6L V8 took its place. Many believe the 5.0 may return in the 2011 Ford Mustang.

Since the 2010 Mustang hit the streets, the Mustang community has been demanding more power and bigger engines.  Other than a few subtle hints during interviews, Ford has been pretty hush-hush about what engines would be introduced for 2011 to hopefully close the gap between the Mustang and the cross town rivals from GM and Dodge.  In what could be the first non-propaganda fed discussion in ages, Fox News reported that during a meeting with Ford's chief of global development, Derrick Kuzak, was quoted as saying that all of the questions about the Mustang's 2011 engine options will be answered in December at the Los Angeles Auto Show.

Information released on the 2011 Ford Mustang contained no official engine announcements, but there are rumblings that suggest a much more powerful 3.7L Duratec V6 could replace the popular 4.0L variant. The 4.0L V6 of the 2005-2010 base model Mustang proved to be great, both stock and modified, but with the current Chevrolet Camaro offering 300hp in their base V6 models, Ford is expected to answer the challenge with their 3.7L Duratec.

Ford hasn't been particularly forthcoming with the public about what engine options will be present for the 2011 Mustang.  Rumors based on comments from a variety of Ford management members, including Bill Ford Jr., would lead us to believe that at some point in the near future the Mustang will be powered by a 3.7L V6 and a new 5.0L V8.  The base model will likely offer the Duratec 3.7L V6, similar to what is used in the Mazda CX-9 and the Mustang GT will feature be the long awaited return of the 5.0 V8, code named the Coyote.  Should these turn out to be the only engine options, we are looking at somewhere in the area of 273hp in the base model and around 400 in the GT - both quite a step up from the current engine options.  But what happened to the EcoBoost rumors?  Around the internet people are saying that the EcoBoost may not be finding its way into the Mustang now, but with the way Ford has touted this new engine, why is it not finding a home in their storied pony car?

Many people standing at a street corner may not know what an SVO Mustang is, but within the Mustang community the turbocharged 4-cylinder Mustangs of the 1980s are well recognized for their performance.  The EcoBoost engine could very well make a modern SVO or Turbo GT, and the 365 horsepower would nestle it nicely between the base and the GT.  Of course, it's easy to say "the base model Mustang should have 365hp instead of 210", but with the likely Coyote V8 pushing the GT up to and hopefully over the 400 horsepower mark, there is room to fit a 365 horsepower option in, without stepping on the GTs toes too much.  Not to mention, the 365 horsepower EcoBoost drivetrain found in the 2010 Taurus SHO features all wheel drive, and still gets an EPA estimated 17/25 mpg - where as the 210 hp 2010 Mustang V6 gets 18/26.

The folks at Steeda showed off the first edition of their take on the 2010 Ford Mustang in July with the debut of the Steeda Sport Edition Mustang.  That model featured underdrive pullies, a short throw shifter, a "performance air cleaner", sport springs, and a variety of dress up items to help it stand out from the factory produced 2010 Mustangs.  The upgrades, with an MSRP of $6,995, give someone just a glimpse of what Steeda has developed with their racing program for the last twenty years, and all of that experience has been combined to create the new 2010 Steeda Q Series Mustang.   

These images are the only current looks at the Q Series Mustang, and the only real information that has been given is the release date; November 3, 2010 at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas.  I will be there to bring you a good look at the 2010 Steeda Q Series, including pictures and full specifications, but for the time being Steeda is only teasing us - leaving us to speculate what to expect from the Q Series.

Joining the market this past spring, the Ford Shelby 2010 GT500 benefited from lessons learned when the ultra high-performance 2008-2009 Ford GT500KR came out. The next GT500 also improved inside thanks to interior developments applied to the updated base models.

Other than the roof panel, everything on the 2010 Ford Mustang is new when this year. Not just new, all of it is improved in some way compared to the 2004-2009 version of America's favorite sporty car.