We had fair conditions for our test. The track was prepped, but there was a storm moving in so the air wasn't optimal. Since this car was scheduled to go out to other publications after we had it, Ford asked that we not alter it from stock in any way, including drag radials. Fair enough. In bone stock trim and with a half a tank of fuel, we ran a slew of 12.50s, with the best run being 12.51 at 111.94. This is a very tricky car to drag race, especially on stock tires. You must come out gently, squeeze down the throttle and let the torque carry you away, otherwise you will smoke those BFGs until they are bald. Tip into the loud pedal even a touch too much or a tad too soon and you have wasted your run. The tires will just spin.
Also, just like at Milan, we found out that you can't powershift this car. The IRS just won't let you. Grab a hard 1-2 shift and there will be enough axle windup to rattle your teeth. It hopped so much on one pass that the car actually went sideways to the right. The quickest way down track was a good speed shift. Too bad. If this car had an 8.8 solid rear and slicks, we'd probably be bringing you the first 11-second production Mustang road test. We certainly had enough horsepower, even considering the 3750-lb. test weight. C'est la vie. No matter how hard we tried, we couldn't improve on the 12.51. Still, anything that goes 112 mph in the quarter bone-stock gets our attention and seal of approval.
Yo, Tony
Since most of The Sopranos is taped within 20 miles of our office, one faction wanted to pay homage by taking the R to as many of the show's sites as possible. The exterior's of Tony and Carmella's house are shot in North Caldwell and a friend of ours does the landscaping. A picture of the R in Tony's driveway would be amusing, as would a shot in Jersey City by the luncheonette that Uncle Junior haunts. Shopping at Satriale's Pork Store in Kearny might be fun, except it exists only as a store front for the show. No, the best place to go-especially given our staff's purient tastes-would be Club Badabing, the gentlemen's establishment where Tony's crew hangs out. It's on Route 17 just south of our office in Lodi and is actually called Satin Dolls. I recognized it as such the first time the club was featured on the show; perhaps that's why the show appeals to me. I feel like I know the players. It's as if I'm a cast member.
Naturally, it was Evan Smith who took the photos of the R in the parking lot at "The Bing." He was going to go in "purely for scientific purposes," but he changed his mind when I balked at him expensing his tips. Oh, well. The club's actually not as good as it seems on TV. New Jersey has a thing about alcohol and nudity so the girls must wear bottoms and tops. Imagine the idiocy of this. OK, so Jersey isn't perfect.
Neither is the R. It's close, closer than any Mustang that's come before it. Give us a Mach 460 sound system, A/C and a back seat and we'd say it was damn close. Thanks to old man winter and poor contracting standards, the roads around here are awfully poor. Except for those around Detroit, I've rarely encountered worse. It is on these real world streets that the R's suspension is exposed as a tad too harsh.
Actually, we didn't really think it was that bad until we got back in our '97 Cobra project car after Ford picked up the R. Suddenly, Superfly felt super compliant. If we lived in a place like Floriduh or California where the roads are typically much smoother, we more than likely wouldn't have noticed. Then you stick your foot in it and that 371 rear wheel horsepower makes its presence known-in a big way-and you could care less about ride quality. Anything that turns 112 in the quarter on street tires and tops out at 170 mph is bound to have a compromise or two thrown in just to keep it honest.
Yo, Alfredo
On the morning our orange test coach turned back into a pumpkin (in other words, Ford was picking it up), we had one more stop to make: Valley Performance in Belleville, N.J. Owner/friend Alfredo Bollotta was absolutely dying to ride in it. (Yes, everyone in New Jersey is Italian. Or wants to be.) To just see it outside his shop would probably make his day, but I was more than happy to let him drive it. Just a little. His buddy Spencer, owner of Spencer's Cycles, had just placed an order for a new Corvette and Alfredo had to show him what a mistake he'd made.
Alfredo never got the car over 30 mph, but you'd never have known it by the look on his face. He was demented. It was fun to watch. Talk about compromises, Spencer had considered ordering a ZO6 Vette, but couldn't because that model is available only on the hardtop and he wanted a convertible. See-we live in an imperfect world, although we must say Chevy isn't limiting production of the ZO6 to 300 units, and it does have a radio and A/C.
We had fun at Valley. One of Alfredo's customers is a police officer and he had a Polaroid camera in his car so everyone posed for snap shots with the almighty R. It was as if Tony Soprano himself had come by to ask for directions. Or to shake us down. I hadn't had anyone ask to take pictures of a test car since the first ZR-1 Corvette showed up at our offices back in 1989. Yeah, the R is in good company.
And then the car went back. It was sad. We miss it. It's a hell of an automobile. Too bad most people will never get to drive or ride in one. Let's see Ford SVT or SVE top this.