Steeda Autosports [(954) 960-0774;...
Steeda Autosports [(954) 960-0774; www.steeda.com] made its first appearance at PRI in 2002. Like us, Steeda reps left the warm of Florida to travel to the frigid North for the PRI show. There, they showed off Steeda's Mustang and Ford suspension and performance products.
Every year we Floridians here at 5.0 Mustang & Super Fords world headquarters break out our thermals and heavy jackets (except for Johnson, who barely has any warm clothes) and board a plane for Indianapolis. Why leave 70-degree temps, sunny beaches, and bikinis for temperatures in the single digits (with wind-chill factor) and snow and ice?
It's simple, really. We want to see the latest and greatest in the performance marketplace and pass on the information to our readers. If it meant traveling to Arizona in July or Wisconsin in January, we'd still do it.
The PRI show moved to Indianapolis from Columbus, Ohio, a few years ago to make more room for the growing event. If this year's attendance list and the blisters on our feet tell us anything, the PRI show may be looking for another new venue in the near future. Not only were the convention center and RCA dome packed to the gills, but also previously unused storage and staging areas were pressed into duty and filled to max capacity. For us, it meant lots of walking and lots of talking, but we weeded out the new Mustang stuff from the latest in roundy-round gear and packaged it all up for you here.
Accurate Technologies Inc.
Now here's what the long, cold, lonely winters of Michigan will do when you're cooped up in a shop with lots of tools, engineers, time, and money. Accurate Technologies Inc.'s ATI Motorsports division took the company checkbook to its nearest Ford dealer and bought a brand-new '02 SVT Focus and '03 SVT Mustang Cobra, yanked the drivetrain out of the Cobra, sprayed it liberally with Crisco, and shoehorned it into the little Focus. We're not talking just the engine and trans--we mean the IRS, the electronics, the brakes--everything--including the kitchen sink--and it all works. With ATI's background in Ford electronics, it was as simple as hooking up a stereo for the likes of us regular guys. Look for a complete feature, as well as power and handling numbers, and more in an upcoming issue.
Anderson Ford Motorsport
Anderson Ford Motorsport [(217) 935-3106; www.andersonfordmotorsport.com] has long been known for building wicked-fast Mustangs, but now the company is focusing some of its performance love onto the Ford Focus. Working with Hahn Motorsports, AFM bolted on a Stage II single-turbo kit and boosted the Focus' power output to 201 hp and 214 lb-ft of torque. Along with the turbo, the Focus featured 38-lb/hr injectors and a Bassani after-cat. AFM achieved those numbers with 10 pounds of boost. The company also showed off its new ram-air kits and upcoming Programmable Management System for EEC V-equipped Fords.
Aeromotive
Aeromotive [(913) 647-7300; www.aeromotiveinc.com] is seemingly always on the cutting edge of fuel-system technology. At PRI, Aeromotive's Steve Matusek showed off this proto-type fuel-flow datalogger for carbureted cars. The datalogger measures the fuel flow through the carburetor, and such information should help racers dial-in fuel-flow needs. The datalogger will show if fuel slosh from acceleration is hurting a car's performance, as well as keep an eye on several other carburetor-related issues.
ATI-ProCharger
With this new chain drive, ATI-ProCharger [(913) 338-2886; www.procharger.com] may have made belt-throwing a thing of the past. Displayed here on Doug Mangrum's Pro 5.0 Mustang, the chain drive solves what has plagued many supercharged Pro and Outlaw competitors. The chain drive provides a virtually indestructible link between the crankshaft and the supercharger. Not only will the chain drive solve any belt issues, but slippage should also be a thing of the past. We can't wait to see this new technology at the strip.
Bassani Xhaust
While Bassani Xhaust debuted its new BX line of aluminized systems at SEMA, PRI is where the company showed off its new '03 Cobra stem-to-stern exhaust system parts, shown here in front of Billy Glidden's reigning Pro 5.0 monster. We even caught Billy chatting it up with Bassani employees Todd O'Neil and Rebecca Torres. We heard the words "Daryl Bassani" and "bikini underwear" in the same sentence about Daryl spending the night at the Glidden home, and the image stuck with us for several hours. Poor Shannon! Now if we could just get Rebecca to send us that Babe of the Month photo she promised.
Be Cool
For you billet fans with dozens of whittled-out doodads on their Mustangs, you can now retain your factory or aftermarket radiator with these Be Cool [(800) 691-2667; www.becool.com] billet CNC radiator mounting brackets for '79-'93 Mustangs. The folks at Be Cool tell us a radiator for the '96-up Mustang is in the works as well.
BilletFlow
One of the cool products we saw for the '03 Cobra was BilletFlow's [(313) 388-8228; www.billetflow.com] billet throttle body and supercharger adapter. The throttle-body housing and throttle cam are CNC-machined from 6061-T6 billet-aluminum with "COBRA" engraved on top of the throttle body. The adapter has been computer-designed to maximize flow and volume, and it is cast from 356-T6 aluminum. The adapter is powdercoated to replicate a stock appearance. The throttle body is available in several colors, but we really liked the Sonic Blue hue. BilletFlow reports gains of 10-15 hp and 8-14 lb-ft of torque with no other mods, more if your Cobra has already received increased venom. BilletFlow also carries 75mm throttle bodies for 4.6 Two-Valves.
C&L Performance
Quite a few products at PRI were aimed squarely at SVT's '03 Cobra. One such company hoping to capitalize on the new snake's popularity is C&L Performance [(256) 882-6813; www.cnlperformance.com]. C&L unveiled its 95mm mass air system for '03 Cobras, which includes a 95mm mass-air housing, a K&N filter assembly, and an '03 Cobra-specific plastic heat shield. C&L also had its 80mm mass air system for '96-'01 supercharged 4.6s at PRI, along with its new Lightning systems.