S197 Ford Mustang GT Shootout - Thundering Three Valves

3rd Place
Joe Marini
Clinton, Maryland
'05 Mustang GT
9.99/136
When we saw Joe Marini pull his Legend Lime '05 GT off the trailer, we had images of Project MILF floating through our heads. If only our former project car had gone as quick and fast as his S197.

To be honest, Joe's Mustang was a silent killer, as its turbocharged stroker engine purred like a kitten at idle while whispering efficiently when under full boost. The Stang lived most of the day in the mid- to low-10 second zone before turning up the wick and ripping off an astounding (and quiet) 9.99-second pass. The ultimate kicker was that, minus the car's track shoes, it passed the street-racer inspection.

4th Place
Brad Albert
Bethel Park, Pennsylvania
'05 Mustang GT
10.24/133
Brad Albert's '05 Mustang GT was one of the three turbocharged entries in the shootout. Although Brad made only two passes, he was right up there with everyone else, ripping off a pair of mid- to low-10-second laps.

His silver S197 used the 22 pounds of boost from the Powerhouse turbo to open up things, with a best run of the day, a 10.24. Of interest was that the powerplant in Brad's Mustang saw only a slight overbore of the cylinders to bring displacement up to 283 ci from the standard 281 stock figure. Either way, this mighty little poked mod motor held its own against all of those strokers.