REPORT: 2011 Ford Mustang to get upgraded Track Pack to handle 5.0 "Coyote" power?
2010 Ford Mustang GT - Click above for high-res gallery
We're hoping there's some "there there" with this one, but here goes. Car & Driver went down to the GingerMan Raceway in South Haven, Michigan where they ran into some Ford engineers with a few pre-production 2011 Mustangs. Aside from some adjustable shocks (which C&D feels are most likely just for development), the big difference was the tires on one of the mules.
Pirelli P Zero Corsa R-compounds, to be precise, in place of the "regular" P Zeros found on 2010 Track Packers. In other words, pure supercar. In fact, those tires come stock on the Lambo LP560-4, for instance. The question then becomes, why would a Mustang need honest to goodness supercar meat? One explanation is that Ford is just playing around with different tire compounds. Another though, is much more interesting.
C&D claims that the Corsa R-compound car was lapping the 1.88 mile track just as quickly as the current BMW M3 they brought along. But how could a 315 hp car keep up on a track with a 414 hp car? Weight? Maybe, because the Mustang weighs about 200 pounds less than the M3. Don't say torque, because the Mustang only beats the M3 by 25 lb-ft there. Tires? Well maybe, but the Michelin Pilot Sport 2s on the Bimmer are pretty sticky in their own right. Despite all that, 414 horses should have cleaned up.
Well, what if the 2011 Mustang Mule with the fancy tires had a 5.0-liter, 32-valve DOHC Coyote engine kicking out 400+ hp and 400+ torques. The world's worst kept secret engine could also explain the similar lap times. Now dig this, there's also a small possibility that the white mule depicted in the article -- the one that appears to be missing a tailpipe -- isn't a V8 at all, but is instead an EcoBoosted V6 model. Did the car C&D ran into have the new 5.0-liter Ford V8 or the blown six? They didn't say. But if they saw the adjustable shocks that means they saw the hood up.
Gallery: First Drive: 2010 Ford Mustang GT
[Source: Car & Driver]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
j0nd4m4n 8:10PM (8/12/2009)
Can I get a body kit upgrade to get rid of the fugly plastic trim on the bumper?
I thought Ford got it right with the mustang. The 2010 really disappointed me..
Anyway, the track upgrade would make the car nicer, but I REALLY doubt it can beat a M3, seriously.
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onrails 8:10PM (8/12/2009)
Hopefully the new 5.0 won't gouge the price into the 30K range.
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Jim 10:14PM (8/12/2009)
er, have you priced a 2010 GT? they're already there.
onrails 10:36PM (8/12/2009)
28800 isn't 30K, If they take the price up to SS and R/T range, Ford will probably lose more sales.
Hike15 12:07AM (8/13/2009)
They wont lose sales if the introduce the ecoboost....
83gtragtop 8:12PM (8/12/2009)
I'm getting really excited for this 2011!
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TimO 8:11PM (8/12/2009)
"But how could a 315 hp car keep up on a track with a 414 hp car?"
Better driver?
Just a thought.
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Chase 9:07PM (8/12/2009)
Tires. R compounds run rings around all but the most aggressive summer street tires.
The Other Bob 9:37AM (8/13/2009)
The same way the Mustang keeps up with the 426 hp Camaro SS, the Mustang is a lighter car. BMW's are pretty fat.
cdwrx 1:12PM (8/13/2009)
No, it's because BMWs have those terrible, ancient, low-tech independent rear suspensions. If they had a live rear axle they'd be faster.
Carlos 8:17PM (8/12/2009)
I love where ford is taking the Mustang. They're on a roll with all of their products.
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adam1drift 3:40PM (8/13/2009)
+1
VW GTi 8:21PM (8/12/2009)
EcoBoost Mustang would be awesome.
The boost PSI must be high. Looking at the EcoBoost V6 vs the Normally Aspirated V6, they are able to squeeze an additional 90 hp. It looks like their I4 engines can hit almost 300 hp. And those are only 2.0L. Subaru squeezes 300hp out of a 2.5L.
I know that Ford must have really spent time engineering these EcoBoost engines, but couldn't a high boost PSI damage the engine over time. I don't know exactly what technology these engines have, but I do know that a high boost PSI can be bad for the engine. These engines probably require synthetic oil. VW 2.0L engines require synthetic, and they only hit 200 hp.
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Jim 10:17PM (8/12/2009)
"The boost PSI must be high."
12 psi on the Taurus SHO, and 10.0:1 compression.
"Looking at the EcoBoost V6 vs the Normally Aspirated V6, they are able to squeeze an additional 90 hp."
you also have to account for the standard 3.5 being port injection, and the "ecoboost" being direct injection.
sydbot 10:22PM (8/12/2009)
You should run synthetic anyway, lower frictional losses and increased lifetimes. I ran my Intrigue on 12k Amsoil changes (til some B totaled it).
outphase84 12:35AM (8/13/2009)
VW engines requiring synthetic, I would call bullshit on. The 2.0T is not high boost. 200hp from a 2.0 isn't really high output...civics and RSX's do it NA, and Mitsubishi had a 200hp 2.0T back in 1989, with a bump to 210hp in 1995. And that was on about 7psi, 8.5:1 C/R. All of those ran perfectly fine with good old fashioned dino oil. For that matter, the evo cranks out 280 from a 2.0T.
VW GTi 11:28PM (8/12/2009)
Jim,
I forgot that these engines were direct injection. That would explain the horsepower increase over their naturally aspirated V6.
Carlos 11:38PM (8/12/2009)
There are numerous other reasons why the turbocharged engine is making more hp then the naturally aspirated version. Not to mention it is on the conservative side, I'm sure with some tuning this engine could easily break 400whp.
Farmboy 1:03AM (8/13/2009)
An EcoBoost Mustang would open such a HUGE market. That would translate over to the Taurus and maybe even the Flex, not to mention the Lincoln counterparts. I would love to see such blown-V6 love.
Dan 2:22AM (8/13/2009)
The notion that high boost is unreliable comes from the aftermarket.
Higher boost is often just a handheld tuner or drop in pulley away. People with no engineering backgrounds do this, almost invariably break something which wasn't designed for that load, and decide high boost means short life.
Build it for a given pressure in the first place and they'll hold up just fine. Look up the pressure on a modern turbodiesel.