Article courtesy of MustangsDaily.com, your source for all the latest Ford Mustang news and articles. Jim Inglese, a name who is legendary for building Weber carburetion systems, has announced that his company will be offering Independent Runner Weber and EFI induction units for the Coyote 5.0-liter engine. Each eight-stack system is custom-built and calibrated for each […] More »

If you’ve ever thought about putting a crate engine in your Mustang project car, then you’ve likely browsed through Ford Racing Performance Parts catalog and seen their Aluminator line of engines. The turn-key 5.0L engines are ideal for the 2011-2014 Mustang since they bolt right in, although they can fit into various other Ford projects as well. Currently three versions are offered, including a naturally aspirated (NA) model with 11:1 compression, a supercharged (SC) model with 9.5:1 compression, and the XS model inspired by the race engine in the Mustang Cobra Jet.

It’s official. The 2015 Mustang will come to the good ‘ol US of A with a four-cylinder Ecoboost option. The kicker? It’s probably not going to be the base model engine.
This confirmation comes from the guys at Road and Track, so we’ll see if they’re actually right later on. But if they are, that means this’ll be the first time the Mustang has been offered with a four banger since the fox-body days. The last time the Mustang came factory with a turbo of any kind was the SVO Cobra.

Good news for those looking to add some power to their 2011+ Mustang via supercharger system. Magnuson Products, LLC just announced their new pricing for the MP2300 TVS Supercharger system for the 2011+ Mustang GT featuring the 5.0-L Coyote motor. The MP2300 TVS Supercharger system now starts at $6050 for a black coated finish or spend […] More »

by Patrick Rall The 2012 Mustang Boss 302 is awesome – awesome like free lap dance night at your local gentleman’s club. But with extremely limited quantities only a few lucky, connected, and wealthy people will get their hands on one.  However, thanks to the offering of the new Boss 302 crate motor, Mustang owners […] More »

A Mustang supercharger is one of the best ways to boost power and help your engine run better. Though supercharger kits can get pretty costly, there are superchargers out there that won’t break the bank, while still delivering excellent performance enhancement. Before you start looking for a supercharger, you need some basic information about your […] More »

By the time you’ve settled into lap three around Laguna Seca, the Boss is shouting at you and you don’t even care.

This isn’t your office, so revel in it. This Boss hammers your tympani with a proprietary blend of pleasure and pain–sound familiar?–but none of the kvetching over expense reports or missed deadlines. It’s watching you like a hawk, for sure, lipstick video cameras stalking you with paparazzi precision, but they’re only there to document all those sweet apexes you’re kissing while you work.

But make no mistake: this Boss is in the driver’s seat, too. Not you.

The 2012 Mustang Boss lured me to Laguna Seca this week, with the promise of a first drive and the simultaneous threat of looping one, live for those in-car cameras. Laguna’s a fairly easy track to learn, but this Mustang’s stoked up with 444 horsepower and a 7400-rpm redline.

Unlike the 41-year-old SCCA championship car it’s named for, though, it pulls a full g on the track with utter predictability. You could underwrite mortgages with all the high-speed guarantees cooked into its race-bred suspension and huge staggered tires.

You try turning that down.

So, the job at hand: worry less about the threat the Boss makes, and make sure it keeps its promises.

If you’re old enough to know what a Boss is, don’t skip this part. You’ve seen the Mustang from its conception, through its dark ages to its convincing renaissance. And you know its short two-year life, at the turn of the Seventies, the original Boss was the brilliant peak of Ford’s musclecar era, before it all disappeared in a cloud of leaded gas.

But you need to poke around the tables and trays of dedicated new pieces and parts created for the new Boss to see how specific this new edition really is. Ford’s committed more time and money to engineering a truly race-ready vehicle than they might have–but didn’t, in the distant past. It’s a sign of confidence that the collective braintrust has never resurrected the Boss–and that they knew this one couldn’t just be a Mustang GT with a reverse-C sticker kit.

Not to malign today’s pretty great Mustang GT, but it’s clear which one is the Boss just from the rack of new running gear. From the outside, the Boss gets those decals, while it also gets a new chin with twin splitters ready for brake-cooling ducts, a slight rear spoiler and underneath, side exhausts and smoother armor for better airflow. No massive scoops, just enough cues to flag down the passing racer-at-heart.

Under the hood, it’s not overstuffed with easier go-fast pieces, like forced induction–it’s finessed with dozens of rethought ones, all optimized for breathing, revving, and durability, Ford says. The valves have hollow stems, the headers are hand-machined, and the intakes are tuned to lift the redline to a breathy 7400 rpm. Output rises to 444 horsepower and 380 pound-feet of torque. Yes, the 5.0-liter V-8 block is related to the one in the GT, it’s just better educated about the lightest, quickest way to get to 60 mph and to a 155-mph top end.

Other mechanical upgrades meet the Boss engine’s challenge. A reinforced clutch and a 3.73 rear end can pair up with a Torsen differential to make the most of those hundreds of horses. Pirelli tires are staggered in tandem with a suspension lowered 11 mm in front and a millimeter in back. There’s a thicker anti-roll bar on the rear end, stiffer springs in front, and adjustable shocks with five screwdriver-ready settings–no expensive electronics needed.

The steering is electric, and tweaked for Boss duty, even more so when you twist the TracKey instead of the standard-issue piece. Ford’s understandably proud of being able to tailor the Boss to fit two drivers: the one who just needs to get to work, and the alter ego that needs quicker steering and better fuel delivery and less intrusive stability control tied into its standard vented Brembo brakes for real workouts. The TracKey’s technically an accessory–$302, of course–which means the Boss skirts around nosy EPA types while it does its Jekyll-and-Hyde act for its lucky owners.

Flip the black, regular key and the Boss Mustang already feels strong enough to tackle the red stripes and blue-and-white curbs at Laguna.

Holding back is your toughest choice. The Boss’ four exhaust outlets bellow out an earthy mating call, even through nearly a dozen additional pounds of sound deadening. The ball shifter begs you either to grab it or to aim it for a bank shot into a corner pocket. The optional Recaro seats bear-hug you into a confident driving pose and the steering-wheel switches let you choose calmer steering when you’re stopped. But even with the suspension screws set to a moderate 2, the Boss jiggles and pistons with the rigid compliance of an ISO 9000 officer, even on smooth California tarmac.

Swap out the black key for the red key, and it’s like sampling pure oxygen for the first time. Step into the ring, blast out of the pit lane at Laguna, and the Boss shows you who’s really in charge. This must be what it’s like getting your ass kicked in a cage match with the Michelin man. It’s a powerlifter of a race car, always ready to summon another huge load of torque where a stock GT would be gasping for air, ripping off redline runs like it’s tearing a telephone book in half.

Grip the sueded steering wheel and hang on as the Boss pulls through Laguna’s steep uphills, and you’ll swear you’ll never drive a hybrid car again, not even on a dare. The intoxication that comes from a big American V-8 is pure drunken ecstasy here–minus all the stumbling you’d do in an ancient Mustang. This one knows its moves better than you do. Add a little throttle here, dive into the brakes there, and the Boss sits and behaves. Stab at the gas and the suspension takes a reassuring set, the massive tires hang on for a little more than 1g of ultimate grip, and even the electric power steering overachieves with decent weighting and quick-release cornering.

Within a couple of laps–like the three banged off in the video up over these words–you’ll feel somewhat invincible. A dangerous thing on the track, but massively rewarding at a hormonal level.

Is it the kind of Mustang you can live with every day, and still get a few thrills of a lifetime? You’ll have to do it without the niceties of a USB port for your cell phone, with just a single-CD slot, and in the special Laguna edition, without those token rear seats. And only you can tell if the telltale signs of a barely disguised race-car ride are tolerable on the days of the week that don’t start with an S.

But if there’s a deep-seated need in your soul to own a Mustang, at some time in your life, and you have any secret dreams of driving balls-out in the only socially acceptable way we know of, the Boss is it. It’s Americana of the most undiluted kind.

.
This story originally appeared at Motor Authori