Evenings in the garage. Weekends at the track. Gearheads everywhere can appreciate the extra time and effort the Mustang team took to quickly prototype and hone the Performance Pack Level 2 for the new 2018 Ford Mustang GT.

"A passion to create something special is what really drove this project," said Tom Barnes, Mustang vehicle engineering manager. "And that really showed in the off-the-clock way we went about doing our work."

Longtime tire and wheel engineer Chauncy Eggleston led development of unique 19-inch wheels that help provide notable steering and handling response improvements. Mustang veteran Jonathan Gesek, former aerodynamics specialist at NASA and now with Ford's aerodynamics group, spearheaded development of a high-performance front splitter and rear spoiler. And Jamie Cullen, Ford supervisor for vehicle dynamics development, led road test efforts to ensure the car delivers ultra-responsive steering, braking and handling performance.

The result of their covert efforts is available to order now and will reach North American showrooms this spring when pony car enthusiasts can get the new 2018 Ford Mustang GT with Performance Pack Level 2, a collection of drive-enhancing components designed for - and by - people who love the thrill of taking the wheel of a true performance car.

"It will just beg you to go faster," said Cullen. "The car has lightning-quick response and never gives up grip."

Performance Pack Level 2 includes all of the features of Performance Pack Level 1 - unique chassis and antilock brake tuning, unique stability control and electric power-assisted steering, Brembo™ six-piston front brake calipers with larger rotors, a k-brace, larger radiator, silver-painted strut tower brace and a TORSEN® rear differential with 3.73 axle ratio.

It's highlighted by a lower stance, a redesigned front splitter and rear spoiler, and 305/30/R19 Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires wrapped around split-fitment aluminum wheels - 19x10.5-inch front and 19x11-inch rear.

The tires, 1.5 inches wider than those found with Performance Pack Level 1, provide a firmer grip, and work with a retuned chassis to put the car more than a half-inch closer to the ground. The package is available exclusively with a manual transmission.

Custom tuned MagneRide® dampers and quicker steering calibration provide better response. Other improvements over Performance Pack Level 1 equipment include a 67 percent stiffer rear stabilizer bar, a 12 percent stiffer front stabilizer bar, 20 percent stiffer front springs and rear springs that are 13 percent stiffer, all of which contribute to a more stable ride around corners with less body roll.

Working a little moonlight magic

Critical to the success of the package is improved aerodynamics scores, which the team achieved by adding larger and lower front splitter and redesigned rear spoiler.

Gesek said the after-hours approach team members took to developing the Ford Mustang GT Performance Pack Level 2 was so much fun because they set out to create their dream car.

"Our targets were aggressive," he said, "and we nailed them."

Using the splitter from the famed Mustang Boss 302 Laguna Seca as a benchmark, Mustang engineers attached the piece to the underside of the front to fan out as much as 3 inches around the corners of the Ford Mustang GT. It creates about 24 pounds of downforce at 80 mph, helping give the car its exceptional grip. To balance the downforce, a subtle, redesigned rear spoiler stretches across the decklid.

To assist in the team's innovative approach to creating the new Performance Pack, parts such as the rear spoiler were rapid-prototyped using a 3D printer. The process enabled faster turnaround times, complementing the trial-and-error nature of the project.

The only visual cues on a car outfitted with the new Performance Pack Level 2 are black detailing on the splitter and spoiler, the tire spat on the back edge of the rear wheel wells and the 10-spoke Dark Tarnish wheels, which are exclusive. Customers who opt for Performance Pack Level 2 have a unique opportunity to select Recaro® seats in either leather or cloth to help stay firmly planted while cornering.

Vaughn Gittin Jr reveals 2018 modified ‘Stang: more power, more aero, more muscle

Vaughn Gittin Jr – a gentlemen not averse to firing anything he drives sideways, at much speed – freely admits that the regular Ford Mustang is a nice car. But, in his own words, “he couldn’t leave it alone”.

This is the result of his tinkering. It is the 2018 Ford Mustang RTR, set to be revealed at the upcoming SEMA show in Las Vegas, and heading to select Ford dealerships across the globe.

It’ll be offered in various stages of tune, ranging from Spec 1, Spec 2, and Spec 3, though every Spec will feature the RTR design pack, new lights and graphics, and a plaque signed by the man himself. Those design flourishes you will be able to spot and decide all on your own if they are acceptable.

Power, however, will be more than acceptable. RTR has yet to divulge full performance data for any of those specs, but we’re promised “turnkey packages with over 700 horsepower” from that 5.0-litre V8. Bear in mind the last time we saw a Mustang RTR, it was pumping out 725bhp. So, y’know, expect more.

“With our unique styling across the entire RTR line-up,” Gittin Jr says, “available multi-purpose adjustable suspension components and power upgrades that our customers have grown to love and use to push their RTRs to the limit.”

If you’re at SEMA, this 2018 RTR Mustang will be on Ford’s stand, at which point we’ll have information like prices and other such nuances.

Evenings in the garage. Weekends at the track. Gearheads everywhere can appreciate the extra time and effort the Mustang team took to quickly prototype and hone the Performance Pack Level 2 for the new 2018 Ford Mustang GT.

“A passion to create something special is what really drove this project,” said Tom Barnes, Mustang vehicle engineering manager. “And that really showed in the off-the-clock way we went about doing our work.”

Longtime tire and wheel engineer Chauncy Eggleston led development of unique 19-inch wheels that help provide notable steering and handling response improvements. Mustang veteran Jonathan Gesek, former aerodynamics specialist at NASA and now with Ford’s aerodynamics group, spearheaded development of a high-performance front splitter and rear spoiler. And Jamie Cullen, Ford supervisor for vehicle dynamics development, led road test efforts to ensure the car delivers ultra-responsive steering, braking and handling performance.

The result of their covert efforts is available to order now and will reach North American showrooms this spring when pony car enthusiasts can get the new 2018 Ford Mustang GT with Performance Pack Level 2, a collection of drive-enhancing components designed for – and by – people who love the thrill of taking the wheel of a true performance car.

“It will just beg you to go faster,” said Cullen. “The car has lightning-quick response and never gives up grip.”

Performance Pack Level 2 includes all of the features of Performance Pack Level 1 – unique chassis and antilock brake tuning, unique stability control and electric power-assisted steering, Brembo™ six-piston front brake calipers with larger rotors, a k-brace, larger radiator, silver-painted strut tower brace and a TORSEN® rear differential with 3.73 axle ratio.

It’s highlighted by a lower stance, a redesigned front splitter and rear spoiler, and 305/30/R19 Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires wrapped around split-fitment aluminum wheels – 19x10.5-inch front and 19x11-inch rear.

The tires, 1.5 inches wider than those found with Performance Pack Level 1, provide a firmer grip, and work with a retuned chassis to put the car more than a half-inch closer to the ground. The package is available exclusively with a manual transmission.

Custom tuned MagneRide® dampers and quicker steering calibration provide better response. Other improvements over Performance Pack Level 1 equipment include a 67 percent stiffer rear stabilizer bar, a 12 percent stiffer front stabilizer bar, 20 percent stiffer front springs and rear springs that are 13 percent stiffer, all of which contribute to a more stable ride around corners with less body roll.

Working a little moonlight magic

Critical to the success of the package is improved aerodynamics scores, which the team achieved by adding larger and lower front splitter and redesigned rear spoiler.

Gesek said the after-hours approach team members took to developing the Mustang GT Performance Pack Level 2 was so much fun because they set out to create their dream car.

“Our targets were aggressive,” he said, “and we nailed them.”

Using the splitter from the famed Mustang Boss 302 Laguna Seca as a benchmark, Mustang engineers attached the piece to the underside of the front to fan out as much as 3 inches around the corners of the Mustang GT. It creates about 24 pounds of downforce at 80 mph, helping give the car its exceptional grip. To balance the downforce, a subtle, redesigned rear spoiler stretches across the decklid.

To assist in the team’s innovative approach to creating the new Performance Pack, parts such as the rear spoiler were rapid-prototyped using a 3D printer. The process enabled faster turnaround times, complementing the trial-and-error nature of the project.

The only visual cues on a car outfitted with the new Performance Pack Level 2 are black detailing on the splitter and spoiler, the tire spat on the back edge of the rear wheel wells and the 10-spoke Dark Tarnish wheels, which are exclusive. Customers who opt for Performance Pack Level 2 have a unique opportunity to select Recaro® seats in either leather or cloth to help stay firmly planted while cornering.

Detroit reveal for the newest incarnation of one of the world’s coolest movie cars

Happy new year, ladies and gentlemen: this is the brand new, limited edition Ford Mustang Bullitt, and if it hasn’t immediately topped your ‘must-buy-for-2018’ list, you may need to check your vitals.

A surprise reveal ahead of this year’s Detroit Motor Show, the new Bullitt is a special edition that marks 50 years since Steve McQueen fired up his gorgeous, Highland Green ‘Stang and decided to lay down one of the best movie chases the world has ever seen across San Francisco in 1968’s Bullitt.

“It’s my favourite Mustang,” explains the ‘Stang’s chief designer Darrell Behmer. “Devoid of stripes, spoilers and badges. It doesn’t need to scream about anything, it’s just cool.”

And that, it most certainly is. We start with the classic 1968 Bullitt Mustang’s exterior hue being deployed to excellent effect here – Dark Highland Green – but it’s also available in Shadow Black.

As Behmer notes, there are no spoilers or stripes, but there are 19in aluminium wheels, subtle chrome accents around the grille and front windows and red Brembo brakes. Inside, there’s much leather, a 12in digital LCD instrument cluster, and unique green accent stitching on the dash, door panels and centre console. And the seats.

Oh, and when you fire it up, the LCD screen gets a ‘Bullitt’ welcome screen.

Also when you fire it up, you’re onto a good ‘un. There’s a 5.0-litre V8 here, producing “at least” 475bhp and 420lb ft of torque, along with a top speed of 163mph – 8mph more than the ‘normal’ Mustang GT. Add to that an active exhaust (there are valves for noise), an ‘Open Air’ induction system and GT350 intake manifold with 87mm throttle bodies, coupled with a new powertrain control module calibration for “optimal performance”. Good.

Because it’s a special car for a special year, you get a special treat: there’s a manual gearbox on board, equipped with a white cue ball gear knob in a nod to the original. Plus, everything you get in the Mustang GT’s Premium and Performance pack is bundled into this 163mph lump of nostalgia.

Three options are available: an electronics pack including better audio, memory seats, nav, blind-spot info and so forth, the MagneRide semi-active suspension, and Recaro black leather seats.

“When making a Bullitt,” Mustang chief engineer Carl Widmann notes, “there are certain things is absolutely must have. It has to have the right attitude, it has to be unique in some way from a Mustang GT, and more than anything, it has to be bad ass.”

Mission accomplished, no? The petition to get this Mustang Bullitt to Europe starts here…

The “most powerful street-legal production Ford ever” has been confirmed. Yikes

Ford has confirmed that next year, it plans to roll out a model of such ferocity, its entire DNA is centred on “attacking tracks and drag strips”. Yes folks, the Mustang Shelby GT500 is making a return.

Last seen a few years ago, Ford will revive the classic moniker for what it promises is the most powerful street-legal production Ford model in history. Yep, even more power than a Ford GT.

Estimates are that it’ll produce in excess of 700bhp. That’s a number not to be sniffed at in a Mustang. It is, as Ford remind us, twice as powerful as the original 1967 GT500.

Producing this “venom” will be a supercharged V8, and attempting to control it will be the might of Ford Performance’s expertise, who promise it’ll feature “innovative’ track tech, performance hardware and “functional track-tuned styling”. So, it’ll have some sort of lovely wing appendage at the back.

More as we have it…

Two identical 1968 Mustang GT fastbacks were used in the filming of the classic Warner Bros. movie “Bullitt” that debuted in theaters on Oct. 17, 1968. After filming, the cars went their separate ways: the hero vehicle driven by McQueen in the movie was sold by Warner Bros. to a private buyer, and the other – used in many of the jumps during the famous chase scene – was sent to a salvage yard. That jumper vehicle resurfaced in Baja, California, in early 2017, but the other was lost to history. Until now.

Sean Kiernan, owner of the hero vehicle, inherited the car in 2014 from his late father, Robert, who had purchased the vehicle in 1974. To fulfill his family’s lifelong dream, Sean contacted Ford and the two parties worked together to reveal his movie star car alongside the all-new 2019 Mustang Bullitt at the 2018 North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

“You know, it was never our intention to keep this car a secret from everybody,” Sean said. “It just kind of happened with life. I’m just completely buzzing to join with Ford and the new Bullitt and show this car to the world on one of the biggest stages there is.”

Another Ford Mustang?
Yep, and there are plenty more coming down the line soon after this one. The Bullitt in a couple of months and then the refreshed GT350 early next year. Then there’s the new GT500, but that’s not coming until deep into 2019. For now, though, the focus is on this, the Mustang GT Performance Pack Level 2. It might be a bit odd to do a whole separate first drive of a car with a new option package, but this car deserves it.

How come?
It’s one of those cars that you look at on paper and go ‘Hmmm, should be good’, but then you get in and drive it and it’s not just good but great. And it’s not because there’s loads of new bits on it – there aren’t. Other than the wheels and tyres, this car is largely the product of some intense fiddling with and fettling of what was already there.

So what’s changed then?
Only the chassis - the drivetrain is unchanged. The suspension is where most of the work has been done. Compared with the Performance Pack Level 1 car – which is how all GTs in Europe and Australia come as standard – the front springs are 20 per cent stiffer, the rear springs 13 per cent more solid. The front sway bar is 12 per cent tauter and the rear sway bar, which is now solid, not tubular, is a full 67 per cent tougher. What those add up to is less body roll and better cornering stability.

And several broken teeth/vertebrae every time you hit a bump?
Actually, no. While the whole car feels immediately more alert and is definitely harder riding than the PP1 car, the Magneride dampers, which have no fewer than 2,000 different possible internal settings in case you were ever wondering about reprogramming them yourself (don’t), have been retuned to keep the car as compliant and supple as possible. Add to those retuned, more racy steering and braking responses, and it works as a harmonious whole.

Is that it then, just some suspension mods and different algorithms?
No, I’ve been saving the best bits until last. The reason it all works so well is in no small part thanks to the 305/30 Michelin Cup 2 tyres wrapped around the new, wider ten-spoke wheels – 1.5ins wider at the front and rear, compared with PP1 cars – all round. Allied to a half inch lower ride height, a more aggressive second stage front splitter that harks back to the 302 Boss Laguna Seca’s front tea tray, and a bootlid spoiler, the PP2 car feels twice as planted and is way more accurate to drive.Aren’t those the same front tyres as on the GT350R?

The very same, and this car has a similar front end confidence to it, just like its big brother. So much so, within the half a day we spent with the car on damp roads and track, it felt more locked down and confidence inspiring than the standard GT350, which rides on narrower Michelin Pilot Super Sports.

Can you feel the aero working?
Not this time as we weren’t able to max the car on the track thanks to a tornado rearranging the scenery the day before and rain stopping play. But the Ford people claim that the new three-inch bigger front splitter creates an extra 24lb of downforce at 80mph. The rear spoiler just balances that out.

Anything else new?
Not much. PP2 cars can be specced with Recaro seats clad in leather or, for a more racer feel, cloth. But that’s about it.

Should I buy one?
For a car that’s supposed to bridge the gap between the regular GT and the GT350, the PP2 comes pretty close to eclipsing its Shelby sibling. If it wasn’t for the 350’s screaming flat-plane cranked V8, I’d probably recommend the PP2 over it right now. Especially as it’s only a $6,500 upgrade. Think of it as a Shelby GT350R Lite and you won’t be far wrong.

And, unless you live in the US and Canada, think about it is all you can do. Those bigger wheels stick out too much for the PP2 to be legal in export markets, so we are not getting it in the UK. There’s nothing stopping you ordering the parts and putting them on yourself, other than the near-impossible task of retuning all the car’s systems to make the most of the new wheels and tyres.

Much better to just dream for now and wait for the next one. Like I say, there are plenty more on the way. And the good news is at least one of them, the Bullitt, it is coming to the UK soon.