TriShield
02-24-2011, 12:42 PM
Just Your Everyday Ass Kicker
http://media.il.edmunds-media.com/ford/mustang/2012/fd/2012_ford_mustang_actf34_fd_221110_717.jpg
The new Boss 302 can be had in this classic yellow and black paint scheme, just like Parnelli's car.
By Josh Jacquot, Senior Editor | Published Feb 24, 2011
Forget about "the corkscrew." You might know Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for the infamous left/right combo, but despite its fame the corkscrew hardly distinguishes the circuit. Sure, its entry is blind and there's a big drop in the middle of the turn, but it only takes a few laps before it becomes second nature. In the 2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302, it can be dispatched in 3rd gear at about 50 mph.
Get the corkscrew right a few times, however, and one quickly realizes that the defining turn at Laguna, the one which truly characterizes this track, is the next turn, the off-camber, downhill Turn 9, known as the Rainey Curve. Although it's not the most critical bend on the circuit, it is the one most likely to ruin your day.
It's also the turn that most dramatically demonstrates the performance differences between the standard Boss 302 and the track-dedicated Boss 302 Laguna Seca. It's here that the Laguna Seca's Aero package, stickier R-compound rubber and more aggressive tuning yield more confidence and more speed and send us charging — fully committed — into Turn 10.
Hammering Laguna
http://media.il.edmunds-media.com/ford/mustang/2012/fd/2012_ford_mustang_actf34_fd_221113_717.jpg
The Boss is 11mm lower in the front and 1mm lower in the rear than a Mustang GT. It has rake and is all the better for it.
Thanks to downhill runs like the one into Turn 10, Laguna Seca destroys brakes. Its 300 feet of elevation change per lap make up for its lack of ultra high-speed straights. What's more, its technical nature exposes tires that aren't up to the task in only a few laps. We've driven many street cars here that simply can't manage repeated lapping. To that notion, the 2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302 raises a large, American middle finger before it disappears into Rainey Curve at 7,500 rpm.
There is clearly something special going on here. We've driven faster cars, but there's a certain reward that comes from the Boss' sound, the solidity of its shifter and the consistency of its brakes (four-piston Brembos clamping 14-inch rotors up front). Steering feedback is good, despite being electrically assisted, and every input is met with deliberate response from the chassis and engine. On a smooth track like Laguna, you'd never know there's a straight axle holding up the back of the car. Nothing was overlooked. And as a result, this thing simply flies.
"Every time we reached a limiter which kept the car from being able to make repeated laps, we reengineered whatever part was causing the problem," said Dave Pericak, Boss 302 chief engineer. It's an attitude we can appreciate. And it's believable. We watched four Boss 302s lap all afternoon, only stopping for fuel and driver changes.
We saw a consistent 120 mph on Laguna's front straight in both the standard Boss 302 and the Laguna Seca package car. The aero bits on the Laguna Seca package are good for 80 pounds of downforce at that speed. The base cars we drove on the track, however, had the optional Torsen differential, Recaro buckets and brake cooling ducts from Ford Racing, so discerning a difference between the two on a slow track like Laguna meant driving them both very, very hard. Do so and the differences are subtle, but they matter.
On Laguna, the standard Boss is about 1 second quicker per lap than a BMW M3 Coupe. Add the Laguna Seca package and there's another second to be had.
On the Street
http://media.il.edmunds-media.com/ford/mustang/2012/fd/2012_ford_mustang_actr34_fd_221111_717.jpg
The Boss still corners like a live-axle car.
Here's the amazing part about the 2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302: It's completely realistic to drive it on the street. Even the radical Laguna Seca package with its splitter and spoiler rides just fine if you're an enthusiast. In fact, in order to achieve proper balance, its front spring rates are lower than the base car. And the base car is downright livable. Dial back the dampers and you've got a well-controlled coupe that doesn't mind doing date night on Friday and track duty on Saturday.
Sure, get aggressive on an uneven back road and the chassis will still let you know there's an axle out back — but not before you've gone faster than just about everything else. We drove the car hard on one of California's rougher back roads and we're duly impressed with the control available. The Boss won't charge through uneven B-roads like an STI, but it will destroy the Subaru on a racetrack.
At the end of the day, the small compromise in street duty is more than made up in the overall experience. And you're not going to go this quickly in anything else for this kind of money.
Origins of the Boss 302
http://media.il.edmunds-media.com/ford/mustang/2012/fd/2012_ford_mustang_det_fd_221114_717.jpg
There's a number plate on every Boss 302 engine.
In case you don't know the original Boss 302's story, here are the CliffsNotes:
It was introduced in 1969 as a road racing car for the street. It was developed to win the SCCA Trans Am Series championship, which it did in 1970 at the hands of Parnelli Jones, partially due to a key victory at Laguna Seca Raceway. A total of 8,641 cars were sold over its two-year run.
For 2012, while there's racing involved, it's not the driving force behind the car. This time, it's simply the immodest goal of kicking a lot of ass, according to Ford's Group Vice President Jim Farley. Well, OK, those weren't his exact words, but that's a close translation. It's clear Farley wants the Boss 302 to be a flagship of sorts — a car that tells the world what Ford's engineers and resources can produce. And a car that is unrivaled in the way it accomplishes that task.
The 2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302 arrives with significant upgrades to nearly every system over the standard Mustang. It is more powerful, better handling, louder and quicker. And you can choose two levels of equipment: the standard Boss 302 and the limited-edition Boss 302 Laguna Seca package.
http://media.il.edmunds-media.com/ford/mustang/2012/fd/2012_ford_mustang_actf34_fd_221110_717.jpg
The new Boss 302 can be had in this classic yellow and black paint scheme, just like Parnelli's car.
By Josh Jacquot, Senior Editor | Published Feb 24, 2011
Forget about "the corkscrew." You might know Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for the infamous left/right combo, but despite its fame the corkscrew hardly distinguishes the circuit. Sure, its entry is blind and there's a big drop in the middle of the turn, but it only takes a few laps before it becomes second nature. In the 2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302, it can be dispatched in 3rd gear at about 50 mph.
Get the corkscrew right a few times, however, and one quickly realizes that the defining turn at Laguna, the one which truly characterizes this track, is the next turn, the off-camber, downhill Turn 9, known as the Rainey Curve. Although it's not the most critical bend on the circuit, it is the one most likely to ruin your day.
It's also the turn that most dramatically demonstrates the performance differences between the standard Boss 302 and the track-dedicated Boss 302 Laguna Seca. It's here that the Laguna Seca's Aero package, stickier R-compound rubber and more aggressive tuning yield more confidence and more speed and send us charging — fully committed — into Turn 10.
Hammering Laguna
http://media.il.edmunds-media.com/ford/mustang/2012/fd/2012_ford_mustang_actf34_fd_221113_717.jpg
The Boss is 11mm lower in the front and 1mm lower in the rear than a Mustang GT. It has rake and is all the better for it.
Thanks to downhill runs like the one into Turn 10, Laguna Seca destroys brakes. Its 300 feet of elevation change per lap make up for its lack of ultra high-speed straights. What's more, its technical nature exposes tires that aren't up to the task in only a few laps. We've driven many street cars here that simply can't manage repeated lapping. To that notion, the 2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302 raises a large, American middle finger before it disappears into Rainey Curve at 7,500 rpm.
There is clearly something special going on here. We've driven faster cars, but there's a certain reward that comes from the Boss' sound, the solidity of its shifter and the consistency of its brakes (four-piston Brembos clamping 14-inch rotors up front). Steering feedback is good, despite being electrically assisted, and every input is met with deliberate response from the chassis and engine. On a smooth track like Laguna, you'd never know there's a straight axle holding up the back of the car. Nothing was overlooked. And as a result, this thing simply flies.
"Every time we reached a limiter which kept the car from being able to make repeated laps, we reengineered whatever part was causing the problem," said Dave Pericak, Boss 302 chief engineer. It's an attitude we can appreciate. And it's believable. We watched four Boss 302s lap all afternoon, only stopping for fuel and driver changes.
We saw a consistent 120 mph on Laguna's front straight in both the standard Boss 302 and the Laguna Seca package car. The aero bits on the Laguna Seca package are good for 80 pounds of downforce at that speed. The base cars we drove on the track, however, had the optional Torsen differential, Recaro buckets and brake cooling ducts from Ford Racing, so discerning a difference between the two on a slow track like Laguna meant driving them both very, very hard. Do so and the differences are subtle, but they matter.
On Laguna, the standard Boss is about 1 second quicker per lap than a BMW M3 Coupe. Add the Laguna Seca package and there's another second to be had.
On the Street
http://media.il.edmunds-media.com/ford/mustang/2012/fd/2012_ford_mustang_actr34_fd_221111_717.jpg
The Boss still corners like a live-axle car.
Here's the amazing part about the 2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302: It's completely realistic to drive it on the street. Even the radical Laguna Seca package with its splitter and spoiler rides just fine if you're an enthusiast. In fact, in order to achieve proper balance, its front spring rates are lower than the base car. And the base car is downright livable. Dial back the dampers and you've got a well-controlled coupe that doesn't mind doing date night on Friday and track duty on Saturday.
Sure, get aggressive on an uneven back road and the chassis will still let you know there's an axle out back — but not before you've gone faster than just about everything else. We drove the car hard on one of California's rougher back roads and we're duly impressed with the control available. The Boss won't charge through uneven B-roads like an STI, but it will destroy the Subaru on a racetrack.
At the end of the day, the small compromise in street duty is more than made up in the overall experience. And you're not going to go this quickly in anything else for this kind of money.
Origins of the Boss 302
http://media.il.edmunds-media.com/ford/mustang/2012/fd/2012_ford_mustang_det_fd_221114_717.jpg
There's a number plate on every Boss 302 engine.
In case you don't know the original Boss 302's story, here are the CliffsNotes:
It was introduced in 1969 as a road racing car for the street. It was developed to win the SCCA Trans Am Series championship, which it did in 1970 at the hands of Parnelli Jones, partially due to a key victory at Laguna Seca Raceway. A total of 8,641 cars were sold over its two-year run.
For 2012, while there's racing involved, it's not the driving force behind the car. This time, it's simply the immodest goal of kicking a lot of ass, according to Ford's Group Vice President Jim Farley. Well, OK, those weren't his exact words, but that's a close translation. It's clear Farley wants the Boss 302 to be a flagship of sorts — a car that tells the world what Ford's engineers and resources can produce. And a car that is unrivaled in the way it accomplishes that task.
The 2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302 arrives with significant upgrades to nearly every system over the standard Mustang. It is more powerful, better handling, louder and quicker. And you can choose two levels of equipment: the standard Boss 302 and the limited-edition Boss 302 Laguna Seca package.