Recession? Global Warming? Future gas-price worries? Bah. This is turning out to be some sort of National Musclecar Month (stay tuned for more Camaro/Mustang/Challenger news coming very soon), and Jack Roush is striking while the iron is hot. Today, Roush Performance unveiled its fifth-generation
Mustang performance car, the 2010 427R, at its Livonia, Michigan, factory in suburban Detroit.
As before, the
Roush Performance 427R package includes enhanced styling, suspension, and engine-performance upgrades. In terms of styling, the front and rear fascias are more aggressively sculpted, with a jutting front splitter and simulated venturi air exhausters in back. Side skirt and louvered quarter windows, chromed 18-in.
Roush wheels, a three-piece rear spoiler, and badging inside and out complete the package (which will be offered by itself as a Stage I package for
$6852).
Chassis upgrades revised spring and damper rates, new anti-roll bars, revised rear-suspension geometry to combat wheelhop (using unique upper trailing links, mounting brackets, and bushings), new jounce bumpers and bushings. (An
$8226 Stage II package will buy the appearance and chassis mods.) The 427R stripes and decals accompany a revised Roots-type supercharger and intercooler plus other powertrain upgrades that bring the stock 4.6L SOHC three-valve motor up to 435 hp and 400 lb-ft of torque. And what's more, they do so WITHOUT incurring a gas-guzzler penalty as the 2009 427R did. That savings helps bring the 427R package price in at just
$15,056 (
$43,071 out the door, including the base
Mustang GT).
How did they manage to improve performance while trimming overall emissions by 38% and boosting fuel economy by about 10% (firm numbers are not yet available but there will be no guzzler tax)? According to powertrain honcho Erin Dmytrow, more efficient breathing and intercooling are key. The base car's cold-air induction (breathing from ahead of all the heat exchangers) is retained, opening into a freer-flowing air box and intake manifold.
And while the previous intercooler radiator was of a double-core design down in the lower fascia opening, the new one uses a single core that's nearly the same height as the engine radiator. Overall coolant capacity for the dedicated intercooler circuit is up over 25%, and charge-air temperatures are said to be dramatically lower. The supercharger is a 1.5L Roots-type using the familiar three-lobe impellers to develop 5.5psi max boost (any more wouldn't be safe without reducing the stock engine's compression ratio).
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We already know there's no Mach 1 for the 2010 model year, but there's at least a little speculation that the historic moniker could be revived for 2011, coinciding with the expected launch of Ford's latest 5.0-liter 400-horsepower Coyote V8 engine. What better excuse could there be for a performance edition? Fortunately for us, Edmundo Cano put mouse to Photoshop and created an enticing rendering of what a factory 2011 Mach 1 might look like.
