I discovered that the longer you drive the S7, the smaller it feels. Suddenly, the 3-1/2 feet of rear overhang seems to disappear. It's nearly 80 inches wide, but who cares? All the controls-the brakes, the steering, the clutch, and the shifter-have the feel of a race car. The brakes take a little getting used to, as you have to apply more pres-sure (there's no power assist), but lean on them hard and the six-piston (front and rear) discs bring you to an immediate halt. The rotors measure 15 inches up front and 14 inches in the rear.
If you roll into the throttle, you won't smoke the tires into oblivion-they'll just beg for mercy. First, I punch it from 40 mph in Third gear and immediately catch up to slower-moving traffic. Funny, I didn't even notice those cars before.
"That was 120 mph," Tally comments nonchalantly. Gee, that took a nanosecond.
Repeating this exercise in Second gear snaps my noggin into the headrest and keeps it pinned there until I speedshift into Third as the tach climbs to 6,300 (6,500 is redline). Before lifting, I'm pretty sure I've exceeded the speed limit. Of Mars.
It's like having a drug hooked up to your right foot. Each time you dip into the throttle, your brain is skyrocketed into a place normal humans never go. This can't be good for you, but you can't stop.
"We have to reacclimate owners used to Ferraris and other high-strung supercars with narrow powerbands," says Steve Saleen, president of the company that bears his name. This isn't one of those fancy "furrin'" jobs that you have to rev to the moon to enjoy.
From a light, I get more aggressive in First. The tail starts kicking out as I blast off. Lifting a tad brings it right back in line, and a quick shift into Second and full throttle brings a hint of tire spin and a rush of acceleration that is mind altering.
But addictive acceleration is only part of the trip. In the S7, everything pivots around your butt. It's a clich, but the car becomes a part of you. Together, you can accomplish super-human feats. Hairpin corner? Don't slow down. Just crank the wheel, feed in some throttle, and you're blasting off. The only drama is your brain trying to crush itself on the inner wall of your skull due to the g-forces. No matter what you ask of the S7, it responds like a skilled lover, ready to make all your fantasies a reality.
What's funny is that all this race car poise and pedigree don't come at the price of a finicky nature or incorrigible road manners. The ride is reasonably smooth; despite the 19-inch front and 20-inch rear tires, the decibel level in the cockpit is conversation friendly; and the A/C blows so cold, you're prone to turning it down. In stoplight-to-stoplight, in-town meandering, the S7 was as well behaved as any stock Mustang. Except, maybe, for the riveting blasts from the exhaust pipes, of which someone should make a soundtrack CD. Imagine a Street Renegade car that bathes you in luxury and handles like an F-1 car, and you've got the essence of the S7 Twin Turbo.
At one point, I was behind the S7 at a traffic light while driving the S281 Supercharged Scenic Roof. Imagine having 435 hp and still possessing a 315-pony deficit. When the light turned green, we both jumped on it. By the time I was in Second, the S7 was so far ahead of me, I didn't think I'd ever see it again-fairly startling, considering I was driving an 11-second Mustang. Saleen claims the S7 is good for 10.6 at 139 in the quarter. Sad to say, I didn't get to drag test it, but anything that goes 139 should be a 9-second piece, no? My guess is, with an experienced drag racer at the helm, high-9s at 140-plus are possible.
What was nice, though, was knowing that all the S7's DNA was present in the S281 Supercharged and the naturally aspirated S281 Three-Valve, automobiles that a mere mortal could aspire to own. With its unique bodywork, sinewy suspension, and even more horsepower than before, the S281 Supercharged is the right vehicle for those of whom the S7 Twin Turbo is just a tad out of their price range.
Better still, a new 550-horse S281 Extreme should be available by summer of 2006.