At this
year's Mid America Ford
Performance and Shelby Meet held in Tulsa Oklahoma, StangNet had the
privilege of getting seat time in the new 2003 MACH1 Mustang. Team
Mustang brought the MACH1 along to get a feel for how the car handled on
the track and to get feedback from the thousands of Mustang Enthusiasts
attending this year's Mid-America event.
We made arrangements with Team Mustang to get some seat time in on
Saturday morning. We jumped in with our good friend Scott Hoag of Team
Mustang and took off on the
turnpike to Hallett MotorSpeedway
for the Open Track event. It is about a 45 minute drive which allowed us
to get a feel for the overall drivability of this new Mustang. The
suspension is VERY similar to the Bullitt. The spring rates, sway bars,
Tokicos struts/shocks and brakes are identical. The only thing really
different is the ride height. Due to new Ford standards in wheel
clearance, Team Mustang was not able to get the car as low as the
Bullitt suspension; overall about 1/2" lower than a stock GT. The car
drove very nicely on the trip to Hallett. And power? Get up and Go! Is a
good way of putting it. The power and torque range of this 4V MACH1
motor are awesome. Taking the on-ramp to the turnpike, accelerating to
7000 RPMs, shifting to 3rd and whose to stop us? (Just the thought that
this was not our car and it was the first MACH1 ever built - really. :)
) The MACH1 really packed more of a punch than we were expecting, hats
off to the guys at Ford!
Once at the track, we swapped out the stock rubber with some GoodYear F1 Series racing
slicks. Now it was time to hit the track. Hallett is a fun track that
forces one to concentrate on technique rather than all out speed. The
course is a 1.8 mile, 10 turn frenzy, which is tight, but still allows
for speeds approaching triple digits. The Mach 1 proved itself to be a
very capable and predictable car. When braking into a corner, oversteer
was easy to induce, never reaching the point of uncontrollability. Once
the car was set for the corner, with the front end pointing at the exit,
all one needed to do was push on the accelerator in small increments
while unwinding the steering wheel to induce the MACH1 into a mild
understeer. This allowed for the car to drift to the edge of the track
to help maintain exit speed. The power and torque which the car produced
was almost unbelievable, especially with the fact that the MACH1 was in
stock form.
My everyday driver - our SuperCharged 412 RWHP Bullitt here at the Pro3i shop - is similar in
torque and 'pull' - a pleasant surprise. Granted, the MACH1 is not
putting down the HP #s of our Bullitt, but this car has got torque!! If you are looking for a new Mustang or
looking to upgrade, then you need to put the MACH1 on your shopping
list. As in earlier articles stated here on StangNet, we believe the new
MACH1 to be the fastest production Ford Mustang GT built to date.
We know you can now place an order for the MACH1 and pricing is
somewhere around the $28,500 range. I do not think the 6500 build order
fill will last long, so get out to your local dealer for more
information!
Team Mustang.... thanks for the Test Ride!
Cheers
MRaburn
|
Looking for that fine line!
MACH1 & the Roush 360R
Scott Hoag, Team Mustang |
