Since Mustangs first started rolling off the assembly lines, they've been favorites on celluloid. From Goldfinger and Bullitt to both versions of Gone in 60 Seconds, they've been featured prominently on the silver screen.
Of course, with Hollywood always looking for larger-than-life stars for their films, not just any cars will do. Remarkably, the vehicles of Steve Saleen will be featured in no less than three big-budget productions set for release this summer, two of them Mustangs, and one being the recently federally-certified S7 supercar.
The S7 stars alongside Jim Carey in the comedy, Bruce Almighty, as the car God drives on earth. Carey plays a bungling news reporter who gets fired for botching a story. Like all good reporters, Carey blames someone else--in this case, God. The supreme being basically tells Carey, "If you think being God is so easy, you do it." They then switch jobs. The car fittingly wears the license plate, "Almighty 1."
As for the Mustangs, a silver S281 Speedster plays a major part in Hollywood Homicide, a murder mystery starring Harrison Ford and Josh Hartnett. The actors play the role of L.A. cops investigating the murder of a rap star, and the Speedster is Hartnett's daily driver. According to Steve Saleen, the Mustang is featured prominently in a lengthy--we're talking perhaps 20 minutes--car chase near the end of the film.
As for the Lizstick Red S281 Extreme we tested, it is featured in Fast & Furious 2, which is said to feature more domestic musclecars than before, but thanks to an alleged infusion of capital from Mitsubishi (supposedly enough to air condition Hell), the Vette, Viper, Saleen, etc., don't fare too well. Which is the complete opposite of how the car did in our testing, both instrumented and with the people on the street. In other words, it ran like the proverbial bat, and had folks tripping over themselves to get a closer look. It was so popular, we even had a police-sanctioned impromptu test session, the location of which will remain a mystery to all but those involved. Needless to say, "the man" was impressed, too.
Upgrades For '03
The entire Saleen Mustang lineup has gone through a thorough overhaul for 2003, and the results are the fastest, most refined Saleens to date. Starting with the S-281, Saleen upped the horsepower and torque through the use of a larger diameter exhaust system and reprogrammed PowerFlash engine management computer. Now, the exhaust system measures 2.5 inches all the way to the tailpipes, whereas on '02 models it necked down to 2.25 at the mufflers.
The PowerFlash has been altered to provide improved throttle response, better detonation control and a more optimal air-fuel ratio. Horsepower has gone from 285 at 5,100 rpm to 290 at the same rpm, and torque output is up 10 to 330 lb-ft at 4,100. Saleen also made its Sport Seats standard equipment. The base price for this glory is now $36,095 for the coupe and $40,114 for the convertible.
Naturally, the S-281 Supercharged didn't stand pat, either. There was a serious hardware change to this puppy. A Saleen Series IV Lysholm twin-screw supercharger replaced the Roots-style blower previously employed. The new blower provides greater thermal efficiency and works in conjunction with a new high-efficiency, high-density water-to-air intercooler. That means more power per pound of boost.
A 4-inch Saleen "Power Tube" routes air from the mass air sensor to the throttle body, which then flows through a new 80mm cast aluminum inlet tube to the twin-screw huffer. To take advantage of the blower, the PowerFlash computer has been recalibrated and the 2.5-inch high-flow exhaust system is standard. This ups horsepower by 10 and torque by 15, to 375 at 5,800 and 415 at 3,500, respectively. But that only tells part of the story, according to Steve Saleen.
"The new supercharger is unbelievable," he said. "The increases in maximum horsepower and torque don't begin to tell the whole story. The torque curve for this engine is much fatter and much flatter than last year's model. And the horsepower curve is much broader, so this motor pulls more strongly all the time."
Base price on the supercharged S-281 is $42,788 for the coupe and $46,807 for the ragtop.
E=Extreme
After only one year on the market, you'd be forgiven if you thought Saleen would stand pat with the S-281 Extreme, the top of the line Saleen ponycar. After all, it comes with a handbuilt 4.6, specially prepared for boost and insane velocities with forged internals and custom-ground cams. But Saleen did not stand pat. A 75mm throttle body replaces the previous 65mm unit, the supercharger blows through the new intercooler from the S-281, and the same high-flow exhaust system is fitted as well. A reprogrammed PowerFlash ties it all together and the result is 445 hp at 6,000 rpm and 450 lb-ft of torque at 4,000, increases of 20 and 10, respectively. Making the delivery even more enthralling is a 3.55:1 final drive, versus 3.08 in 2002. So you can imagine what our reaction was when Saleen wanted to know if we'd drag test one.
But not just any S-281E. While every one of these very limited production vehicles is special, we got to sample the very Lizstick Red model shot featured in The Fast & Furious, 2. We felt like such celebrities, even though the car gets blown up in the flick.
So it was off to Raceway Park for a little drag-o-rama. First we'd test it on the factory-issue Pirelli PZero Rosso tires (P265/35ZR18), then we'd give it a whirl on Mickey Thompson slicks. After that, it was a date with the dyno at Crazy Horse Racing.
Actually, let's give you the dyno results first. Corrected to 56 degrees, 12.5 percent humidity and a barometer of 30.05 percent, the Extreme punished the CHR dyno to the tune of 416.6 hp and 405.2 lb-ft of torque. Little wonder our drag strip numbers were as good as they were.
How good? Let's just say our worst pass on street tires was a 12.567 at 113.89. We followed that up with a pair of 12.23s at over 116 mph (best 60-foot of 2.004). After a brief cool down, we gave it one last shot on radials. Test driver Evan Smith slipped the clutch while feeding the throttle and got off with a very clean 1.902 60-foot. He found all four gears en route to a blistering 12.195 at 114.71 mph. That is far superior to our best-ever 12.43/113 in a stock '03 Cobra.
With 28x10.5-inch slicks, we had both good and less than great results. In the plus column, we clicked off a pair of 11s, an 11.945 at 116.24 and an 11.855 at 115.54. To the negative, no matter how high we launched the little 4.6, the car bogged--like going from 5,000 rpm to 500 before recovery. We attributed this to the combination of an aluminum flywheel and lack of gearing. This same car with 4.10s would be an easy mid-11-second ride.
Still, it's hard to argue with anything that goes 12.19 in factory trim. That's ZO6 Corvette territory, albeit at a greater price. With an MSRP of $60,586, the Saleen is nearly $10k more than the Vette. Of course, for this you get far greater exclusivity (fewer than 100 built per annum) and don't have to suffer the indignity of driving a Chevy.