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2008 ROUSH 428R Mustang

Performance continues to pay tribute to Ford’s legendary history with the 428R Mustang, a limited edition pony car which follows in the tremendous success of their 427R model introduced last year and which remains in the ROUSH product lineup for the 2008 model year.

The ROUSH 428R Mustang will arrive at participating Ford dealerships in October 2007.

“We are continuing to honor and celebrate the heritage of the proudest models of Ford racing history – the 427, 428 and 429 (engines),” stated Jack Roush. “These are iconic numbers in the Ford world and it is an honor to put them onto ROUSH Mustangs and insert them back into the muscle car world.”

“The 427R is easily the most popular Mustang model that ROUSH has ever introduced to the market,” said Joe Thompson, ROUSH Performance’s vice president and general manager. “That vehicle will remain the cornerstone of our lineup, but to celebrate Ford’s history of automotive breakthroughs we will build a 428R in 2008 and a 429R in 2009. These cars are intended to be a collector’s edition with limited production that pays respect to Ford Muscle Car history.”

The 2008 ROUSH 428R Mustang is limited to 200 vehicles, each a potent street slayer with 435 horsepower and 400 lb.-ft. of torque thanks to the famous ROUSHcharger system, which, in the 428R is a chrome powdercoat which glistens when the hood is raised. Other under-the-hood goodies include ROUSH billet radiator and intercooler radiator caps, oil cap, and strut tower caps which add to the sparkling engine compartment.

The looks of the car continue on the exterior also, with the ROUSH front fascia, chin spoiler, hood scoop and rear wing adding to the muscular look. The locking hood pins show the world that there is something lurking under the hood, and the black bar high-flow grille adds to the aesthetics.

As for handling, the ROUSH suspension package makes it simple to manage the left and right turns. Changed by the ROUSH technicians are the front and rear shocks, front and rear springs, front and rear sway bars, jounce bumpers and an anti-wheel hop kit is installed at the Livonia, Mich., factory. ROUSH 18-inch cast wheels and high-performance tires grip the road, and the offroad exhaust system gives the ROUSH 428R the necessary growl expected from a V-8 Mustang.

The interior of the 428R gets the ROUSH treatment as well as ROUSH sport leather seating is installed, the white face electro luminescent gauge cluster, and the ROUSH short throw shifter with retro ball makes quick gear changes. Rounding out some of the interior upgrades are ROUSH sill plates and floor mats.

As with all ROUSH vehicles, the 428R comes with unique fender and decklid badges as well as a pair of engine bay plaques to authenticate this as an official ROUSH vehicle. Each vehicle comes with a Certificate of Authenticity signed by Jack Roush. The ROUSH 428R is available with either a five-speed manual or automatic transmission.

June 3, 2008 Posted by abomoslim | Cars | | No Comments Yet

2008 Saleen S302E Mustang

Saleen Automotive, North American’s premiere specialty vehicle manufacturer, unveiled its 620 horsepower S302E Mustang for 2008. The new “Extreme”, now represents the most powerful Ford-derived vehicle that Saleen has ever manufactured and a critical step in earning Saleen’s new respect for its products and its brand.

The new S302E raises the bar for American performance cars while never sacrificing on style and control. New for 2008, the car is affectionately known as the “Extreme” boasts a Saleen-built 302 cubic inch engine augmented by a patented Saleen twin-screw, intercooled supercharger. The combination delivers an unprecedented 620 bhp and 600 lb-ft of neck-snapping, tire incinerating torque. “We believe that we are in the process of creating a legendary new car. It’s thrilling,” says Saleen President and CEO, Paul Wilbur. “It seemed to make sense that as we go into our 25th Anniversary as a manufacturer in North America that we make our best and most powerful car yet.”

The Hardware and Engineering
In the automotive history books, all great cars incorporate great hardware and the S302E is no different. The new Extreme feature a litany of high quality performance parts that are a direct reflection of the company’s race engineering heritage, combined with the best thinking in automotive OEM performance engineering. For starts, the unique motor in the Extreme features a forged crankshaft, forged connecting rods, individually blueprinted forged pistons, 5 axis CNC aluminum cylinder heads, high flow fuel injectors, and high performance camshafts. All of these components have been orchestrated to mesh masterfully together, coupled with our best-in-class, patented Saleen twin-screw supercharger. When married to a short throw, 6-speed manual transmission and Max-grip rear differential, the Extreme screams to 60 mph in less than 4 seconds and clicks through the quarter mile in just under 12 seconds.

“This place represents a kind of automotive “mecca” for me. We are making limited volume, performance vehicles for people who really love cars, by people who really love cars. I cannot think of a better place to put my 35 years of OEM engineering history to work,” says Vice Chairman and Chief Technical Officer Chris Theodore. Theodore is best known as being the father of the Ford GT while Vice President of Advance Product Development at Ford Motor Company. “Now I am helping build great Saleen cars in the same factory that I architected for the legendary Ford GT.”

“This is the best motor that we have ever done,” says Powertrain Engineering lead Rob Simons. “We have really benefited from having Chris [Theodore] around. He brings perspective and experience to the company unlike anything that we have known prior.”

To get that kind of performance, the team had to get the S302E’s power to the ground. This is accomplished with standard 20-inch, 5 spoke forged aluminum alloy wheels wrapped in Pirelli P-Zero Rosso tires. Since power is nothing without control, the Extreme also features a Saleen Racecraft suspension and an all-new, second generation Watts Link system that is sure to help the driver maintain control through the corners. The chassis system is rounded out by upgraded 4-wheel disc brakes with ABS and traction control. This performance brake system features 15-inch vented, slotted rotors with 6-pistons calipers in the front and 11.8-inch rear vented discs with single piston calipers in the rear.