Boy racers of the San Fernando Valley -- consider this your warning. No matter how modded your EVO, no matter how often your daddy lets you take out the M5, no matter how yellow your Gallardo, you will lose the stoplight drag to a stock looking 2005 Mustang GT. Notice I said looking, because besides the body panels, interior and rear brakes, nothing about this bruiser is remotely OEM. So much so that the list of modifications would run for three pages and bore all but Uncle Bumbeck to technical tears. All you really need to know is that owner John has sunk about $50,000 worth of go-faster gear into his red baby. Most notable is a custom built, 12-fin Vortech supercharger that runs at 21psi on high-test. That, along with a slight bore-out to 5-liters returns 614.7hp and 507.5lbs. ft of neck-snapping torqueage to the meats. John didn't bother to test the crank horsepower, because as he put it, "Who cares?" How does it drive?

The first thing about Redy2 you will notice is the furious soundtrack. Holy mother of loud! It sounds like an elephant orgy. Just a shattering cacophony of mechanical meanness. The three-stage clutch is a little tricky to get just right, but as John's top priority was to get all available power to the pavement, a quick left foot and a heavy right equates to a bright red topless rocket sled. Earlier in the development process the engine was sending over 800hp to the fat 285s, but that made first gear unusable. My pistonhead instincts tell me this is the right combination of restraint and madness. John told tales of routinely spanking not only GT500s, but the mighty Corvette Z06. Our brief (but wikkid) test drive confirmed that John doesn't lie. This sucker is sick, sick fast.

Much more impressive to me than the epic explosiveness is the handling. While still a two-ton live-axle Mustang, I felt as if I was piloting an M6. It's that good. Last month's GT500 stepped sideways every chance it got. While the Shelby was for the most part well behaved, it maintained a certain squirreliness that kept you on your toes. By contrast, the Redy2 was composed, tied down and so firmly planted that I never even got the sense I could lose control. That is until the tach crested 4500rpm and the blower boost jumped from 9 to 21psi. At that point, the rear will start to sidestep (like a Mustang should) and you'll be grinning like a fool. Downsides? 9mpg (compared to the Shelby GT500's 17mpg), some cowl shake and a bit of driveline shunt from the carbon-fiber shaft. Upsides? 8.64 through the quarter-mile and the ability to attack Topanga Canyon twisties with Porsche-like ease. I'll take mine in Grabber Orange with the spoiler delete option, please.

 

Good Lord!

 

Sweet ride, but anyone that cant hear that powerplant deserves to get spanked from a red light.

 

Omi
you sure do tell a good story . No doubt the car is wicked and fast . But in one part of the story it has 614hp and the last part of the story it has 800hp . I also like how the story goes as far as saying at 4500rpm , the blower goes from 9psi to 21psi just like that ?

 

Hes only running 285's in the back? with 650 hp?
hes running a 8.6 with 650 hp? hmmmmm

 

I did not write this one, just posted it. I should have clarified that on the post. Also, they are saying 800hp earlier in the design process and 614hp now at the wheels. I would hazard a guess to say that the 800hp WAS at the crank, even though the owner said "who cares"

 

To answer your first question, it sounds like the car made ~800 at the wheels, but that made 1st gear completely useless so they took it back down to 615. And something tells me that the 8s 1/4 was on slicks with all the power it has got. I have no idea how it goes from 9psi to 21psi at 4500 rpm though...

 

Well you dont get 800hp at fly wheel and 614hp at the wheels . I think the whole story is just that . Like I said , Im sure the car is nice , fast , and wicked . But you have just read a big story by some one that was REAAALLLLL impressed with the car . If he is going to write a story...make it beleivable !!!!

 

I've done, and seen even more, a lot of drag racing. Hitting 8's is an incredible feat. It's even more incredible with a pig like a mustang, that allegedly can handle as well, with only 600+ hp. Seems highly, highly improbable...

Hell, Jeremy, with similar power, less weight, custom tranny, slicks, can't see 9's...you do the math...sounds like a 10 second car at best...

Titan's Supra isn't a mid 8 second car, am I missing something???

 

like i said, 600 whp in this car will not get you into the 8's..

try 1000+ hp

 

not too sure about mid 8's.. but it is a nice sleeper

 

It is a cool car and probably wicked fast for a street car, but 8's in the quarter mile... never happen.

I'd be surprised if any drag strips would let him run without a cage, or at least a roll bar to start with...

 

Maybe mid 8 seconds....@ irwindale 1/8 mile et????

Someones telling stories......

Looks well built...

 

ya i believe everything but the 1/4 mile time.