Autoblog

Click above to watch the Saleen S281 and Roush 427R do battle

While Saleen and Roush have always been competitors for the dollars of Mustang lovers everywhere, the two companies have somehow managed to co-exist for decades. But which makes a better Mustang? Former FIA F300 driver Derek Hill of Web Rides TV had the opportunity to pit the Saleen S281 against the Roush 427R to see which legendary pony car tuner would come out on top.

At first, the battle of the two supercharged Mustangs doesn't look like a fair fight. The S281 has 465 hp and 425 lb-ft, some 30 more horsepower and 25 more lb-ft than the 427R. The S281 also weighs 300 lbs. less than the more visceral 427R. As New York Giants fans can attest, however, just because one team looks better on paper, when the game is being played, anything can happen. Hit the jump to view a video of the 427R against the S281 in 0-100-0, slalom, and on-track tests. The video is incredible, and the two vehicles aren't nearly as evenly matched as you might think.

[Source: Web Rides TV]

High-res gallery of ten Drew Phillips pics available by clicking image above

What would you drive if you were Steve Saleen's daughter? A Mustang, right? Probably a customized one at that. Well, Steve Saleen's daughter, Molly, does indeed drive a custom Mustang. One with a special paint job custom-blended for her and named in her honor, too. This isn't unprecedented actually. Steve's wife, Liz, also has a paint color named after her, Lizstick red, that is available as an optional Saleen factory paint color. Daughter Molly is actually more than just Steve and Liz's daughter. She is also an active part of the company, running the Saleen retail store in Irvine, CA.

But the car is what we're focused on here. The Saleen Molly Pop Mustang features the previously mentioned one-off Molly Pop paint job that in itself would make this Mustang stand out, but there's so much more. Her S281 Mustang also features the Saleen supercharger with the 475-hp upgrade (new air box cover with 98mm MAF sensor, 39lb fuel injectors, smaller pulley, and modified Saleen programming). Although it doesn't have the full Extreme 550 hp rating, her car does have the Extreme package that includes the lighter 20" forged 5-spoke rims, carbon fiber front splitter and rear diffuser, and shorter gearing. The Molly Pop also features the watts-link suspension in the rear and the scenic roof option. As is corporate custom, this first car's fender number reads "01" – and this will probably be the only one built. Of course, Saleen is quick to note that they have always painted customer cars in whatever color the customer requests.

[Source: Mustang Life Online]

Click image for huge gallery of high-res pics

We have been very lucky when it comes to having special Mustangs in our Autoblog garage. After a brief drive in a Shelby GT500, we were longing for more. Then we had a Roush 427R that Eric subjected to some serious instrumented testing. It performed well at the dragstrip and backed up its horsepower claims on the dyno. We also had some fun for a few days behind the wheel of a Saleen supercharged convertible, as well. That Saleen S281 SC Mustang was a 2006 with 435 hp and a lot of "hey, look at me" add-ons. A real kick in the pants in a straight line, but not our first choice for the twisty roads we enjoy so much. When we returned that S281 to Saleen, they mentioned that their newest special edition product would be available soon. When the words "Parnelli Jones" escaped the rep's lips, we felt a surge of adrenaline that led to an involuntary, "How soon?"

The 2007 Saleen/Parnelli Jones Limited Edition Mustang was first shown at the New York Auto Show last year. It promised 370 hp and a beefed up suspension that would emulate the performance of the 1970 championship-winning Boss 302 that Parnelli Jones helped make famous back in the golden era of Trans-Am racing. With retro touches like the Grabber Orange paint, black stripes, rear wing, jutting front lip, chrome surrounds on the grille and rear lights, rear window louvers, Minilite-like wheels, and the Shaker hood, it instantly became our favorite Mustang.

Follow the jump for the rest of the review and do yourself a favor and check out our high-resolution gallery of pics. We guarantee your next desktop wallpaper is in there somewhere. .

It appears that the theme of this year's SEMA show in Las Vegas will be "Gratuitous Tuning," the time honored art of adding plastic body kits, big wheels, lethal sound systems and origami doors to our favorite cars just for the hell of it. The latest car we've found is the Maaco Medusa Mustang, a pimped out pony car that left the fine line between good taste and garishness in the dust as fast as its 550-horsepower, supercharged engine could take it. If you look closely you'll notice that most of the Medusa's exterior mods come care of a Saleen S281 body kit. Saleen also contributes the brakes, seats and aforementioned roots supercharger. The gull-wing doors look like a pair of nachos being dipped in this most cheesiest of rides, and an air suspension farts away any hope this car could handle on its 20-inch Saleen rims. A couple of mods we do like include the Maaco-applied DuPont color-shifting ChromaLusion paint and custom installed in-car computer running Windows XP on a very large LCD screen in the center console. This question remains, is the Medusa Mustang more gratuitous than the Outrageous C6? Probably not, it would need an Ostrich leather interior to pull that off.

More pictures after the jump...

[Source: Modded Mustangs]

Before Ford and Hertz ever thought of resurrecting the original Rent-A-Racer, Saleen and Budget Rent-A-Car beat them to it. Saleen built 30 special S281 Mustangs for Budget back in 1996, and the number 14 car is our RR of the Day today. Along with all of the standard (or not-so-standard) Saleen modifications, which included a tuned Racecraft suspension, 3.27:1 factory gears, a Saleen/Borla exhaust and Mach 460 sound system, the Budget cars also rolled on 18-inch Speedline mag wheels. Flickr member pthornton has added a long list of his own performance mods. After rolling his Budget Saleen on the dyno to the tune of 377 rear-wheel horsepower and 376 ft-lbs. of torque, it's clear this car will send a Shelby GT-H back to the airport with tailpipe lodged firmly between its legs. Nice rare ride, pthornton.

If you'd like to see your own ride featured here, simply upload photos of your ride into our Flickr group. We select one image to highlight each week day, and on the weekend let you vote for a RR of the Week. Detailed instructions can be found after the jump.