Vorshlag Weighs 2015 Mustang Performance Package GT 5.0 6-spd!
At long last an S550 Performance Pack 6-speed GT finally arrived in Dallas. Not the one(s) we ordered, but a stocking order GT with similar performance equipment. This has power leather seats (not the leather Recarcos we ordered) with Sat Nav, 12 speaker stereo, the bigger 15" 6-piston brakes, the 19x9/19x9.5" wheels, the works.
You have all seen the "magazine" weights thrown around, and like usual, the numbers are bunk. I swear these writers don't know how to work a set of scales.
We see this every time a new model comes out - either they weigh a car with a full tank of fuel, or two people inside, or lead weights in the trunk, or just parrot the marketing materials they were given. Can they just plain dyno and weigh a car for us gearheads, PLEASE??
Anyway, Corey White, top salesman at Five Star Ford of Plano and Mustang aficionado, gave me a heads up that their very first 2015 Mustang had arrived earlier today. I told him him to NOT let the make ready guys fill the tank with fuel, and asked what package it was. Turns out it was very similar to what we have on order (still on the fence about buying one - more on that in a second). It is the FIRST GT 5.0 Performance Package car he knows of in Dallas, as there was a production delay on these cars due to some changes to the placement of the catalysts.
This 2013 GT is caged and has all the W2W safety gear. With one seat it is almost 3300 even
After finishing up with a customer's delivery of his race-prepped 2013 GT (built for NASA ST3, see above on the scales) we loaded up our brand new wireless Intercomp digital scales and rushed over to Five Star Ford to get that puppy weighed. Why? Because I'm a skeptic about almost ALL data on cars, and only believe what I can see on my scales. So what's the magic number???
Turns out this thing is about 100 pounds lighter than all of the numbers the magazines are throwing around. 3718 pounds with low fuel - which we want, as low fuel levels are easier to compare between cars and often can be raced at for Solo or Time Trial (depending on fuel tank/pick-up). This weight is with the "Trunk Junk" (TM) removed, which includes the floormats, trunk mat, and the emergency tire inflation kit.
That stuff came in at 13 pounds, and there's likely another 15-20 pounds in the trunk mounted sub-woofer. It is removable but they asked me NOT to take it out, since this car is their very first 2015 and going right on the showroom today. After we weighed the car Corey told me to hop in and we drove to their fuel pumps to put a splash of 93 in the tank. Then he hopped out and said, "You're driving!" How could I say no??
We went on about a 15 minute test drive, re-striping the streets of Plano in Pirelli rubber.
The car drives REALLY well, rides very similarly to a CTS-V... good compression damping, firm but supple ride on the choppy concrete of Plano, and hauls ass when you give it the Go pedal. Motor feels strong for a zero mile car with similar acceleration to the 2011-14 GT or Boss 302. The PP cars all have the 3.73 gears and Torsen axle. The sticker price is shown below - which I'm sure Corey would sell this car for today. You can call him at 972-985-3600. And yes, he sells Mustangs and Raptors all over the 50 states. Tell him Vorshlag sent ya!
As always you can click any picture for a larger rez version
The ergonomics are spot on. I've sat in a couple of these but driving it was amazing. 6'7" Corey fits in here well, and my 6'3" frame was swallowed up with ease as well. The shifter feels GREAT and the lever is right where my arm wanted it. The steering wheel has a big FAT rim and gauges that were easy to read. The seats were good, but the Recaros are better - its worth the extra coin.
Loved the switch gear, the materials and leathers used were top notch, and the pedal spacing was perfect for heel-toe downshifts. Just a quick street drive, but I am hoping to get a few laps on this car Saturday at the
Five star Ford ECR Track Day!
Left: 2014 Camaro Z/28 with A/C and 3/4 tank, sans trunk junk = 3835 lbs. Right: 2011 GT Brembo Premium 6-spd, sans trunk junk = 3563 lbs
Closing thoughts... this car will be a hot seller. We happened to weigh a 2014 Camaro Z/28 today (equipped with A/C, see above) and it was 3835 pounds with 3/4 tank of fuel. So the S550 is considerably lighter, which is good news. I was pretty upset after hearing the (bogus) 3850+ pound numbers being thrown all over the internet and had essentially given up on these cars before they ever arrived. That was probably a bit rash, and now I am back on the Pro-S550 bandwagon. Look for new products for this chassis coming from Vorshlag very soon - and don't worry, we're going to keep supporting the S197 Mustang even after our 2011 GT is sold (look for a post about this right after SEMA and the OUSCI competition). The dyno numbers for the S550 look
very promising, and the Magnaflow exhaust gains were pretty huge (30 whp). The wheel/tire packages on these cars are SUPER heavy - we have a Forgestar CF5 18x10 that fits this car already in stock - so there's a lot of extra weight in the exhaust and wheels and power to be gained with simple bolts-ons already.
More soon!