Ars Technica Mustang Review Interrupted by Tornado

Despite a tornado ruining the track, the tech blog made the best of the situation with it’s Performance Pack 2 Mustang review.

Ars Technica is a tech blog that’s been around for quite a while now. While not well known for their car reviews, they do have some real petrol-heads on staff. This particular petrol-head, Jonathan M. Gitlin, was thwarted from a full Sport Pack 2 Mustang review by a tornado at a Ford press event at Monticello Motor Club in New York. He got a few laps in, but as he points out, got “only a good little glimpse at what it’s capable of.”

We were interested to read the Ars Technica’s review because we haven’t gotten our hands on a Performance Pack 2 yet. It’s the kind of thing we absolutely love, the result of Ford giving people that work on the Mustang a chance to not have to work with any external benchmarks. Somebody somewhere pointed out that the GT350 is an astonishingly fun and bawdy track car. But what about those that don’t need or want even more power, yet do want real handling finesse on the road?

Performance Pack 2 is designed to reside in the sweet spot between an everyday street Mustang and the super-aggressive on-track focus of the GT350. We love the idea of keeping the 5.0  Coyote engine and brakes as-is for the perfect blend of daily driving and fun, but giving the chassis a good tune to get the maximum results out of it.

Stiffer sway bars, stiffer springs, and an aggressive tire package are part of the recipe. Granted, these are things you could do from the aftermarket, but at $6500 for the package, and no installation hassle or warranty voiding, it’s a competitive price point. Particularly when you consider another part of the recipe: the front splitter and rear spoiler.

Development of the aero started with the Boss 302 Laguna Seca splitter and included former NASA aerodynamics specialists. The rear spoiler is also reworked to help balance out the big downforce increase at the front. According to Ford, the aero package pushes about 60 pounds of downforce at 80 miles-per-hour. Not ideal for commuting MPGs, but perfect for taking the long way home through the back roads.

Ford doesn’t expect the take rate on the Performance Pack 2 to be high compared with the level 1 package. To us, this admission shows just how much Ford loves the Mustang and it’s owners. They need to make a profit, but it’s far from being just about the money.

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Ian Wright

Ian Wright has been a professional writer for two years and is a regular contributor to Corvette Forum, Jaguar Forum, and 6SpeedOnline, among other auto sites.

His obsession with cars started young and has left him stranded miles off-road in Land Rovers, being lost far from home in hot hatches, going sideways in rallycross cars, being propelled forward in supercars and, more sensibly, standing in fields staring at classic cars. His first job was as a mechanic and then trained as a driving instructor before going into media production.

The automotive itch never left though, and he realized writing about cars is his true calling. However, that doesn’t stop him from also hosting the Both Hand Drive podcast.

Ian can be reached at bothhanddrive@gmail.com