The crowd went wild over the 17-inch drag wheels on our project T-top coupe, but we think these new 15-inch Street Lite hammers from Billet Specialties [(708) 588-0505; www.billetspecialties.com] are all that and more. Street Lites, unlike other lightweight, aftermarket wheels available for late-model 'Stangs, are DOT- and SFI-approved (accepts 5/8-inch wheel studs). When coupled with their bad style, that makes them one of the best alternatives to swapping wheels for the street or 'strip that we've ever seen. Sizes range from 15x3 to 15x10 with various backspacing.
We like to call the company CCW [(888) 577-0144; www.ccwheel.com], and it used to be rare to see a set of CCW wheels on a Mustang. However, with the classic two-piece Drag wheel available in five-lug Mustang applications, that should change. We've already seen these wheels on several '03-'04 Cobras and Mach 1s, but they weren't of the drag variety. Until now, we've only seen them in full-size form. However, a skinny 17-inch Classic Drag would look killer on any Mustang.
Some parts showcased at PRI are so new, the manufacturers haven't even released information about them. This was the case at the Canton Racing Products [(203) 481-9360; www.cantonracing.com] booth, where we found this cool, billet-aluminum remote oil-filter mounting block (PN 22-626) for 4.6 and 5.4 mod motors. The smaller, lighter adapter utilizes the factory mounting location and accepts 1/2-inch NPT and AN fittings as large as -10 for oil lines, as well as AN -16 fitting for the coolant line. The company also has a GT 500 intercooler reservoir on the way.
DiabloSport [(877) 396-6614; www.diablosport.com] has stepped up in a major way with its long-promised Trinity, the company's latest state-of-the-art performance programmer (PN T1000). While the beloved Predator isn't falling by the wayside, Trinity's sleek styling and touch-screen functionality represents the company's move to the next level of tuning and diagnostic devices.
Among its array of modular Mustang intake components, Dragon Performance Parts [(270) 791-8654; www.dragonperformance.net] had this Two-Valve intake on display at PRI. A direct replacement for '99-'04 Two-Valve Mustangs and '96-'98 Two-Valves converted to PI specs, this intake features a removable plenum cover and generous wall thickness to make easy work of porting for increased power. The intake is said to boast generous radii and optimal taper for improved airflow not only at the peak, but over a broad rpm range. Dragon reps say Anderson Ford Motorsport was testing one of the intakes before its final release so it should be available by the time you read this.
In the Dynomax [(734) 384-7806; www.dynomax.com] trailer, we found a New-Edge Cobra up on the lift featuring the company's 3-inch exhaust system for IRS-equipped Mustangs. Oh wait, that's not an actual car, it was a sticker on the ceiling of the trailer, but the exhaust was real. Aside from the exhaust display, DynoMax also had a listening station so you could hear one of the company's exhaust systems on a variety of vehicles, including a Mustang.
When you find yourself doing more grinding than finding of the gears in your 'Stang's stick tranny, Fidanza [(440) 259-5656; www.fidanza.com] comes through in the clutch--literally. The new 1.0 Mustang clutch (PN 381840; $232) is the company's low-cost/high-performance clutch package for mildly modified 5.0 and 4.6 Ponies. Each kit features an organic disc capable of holding 350 rear-wheel horses, a leg-friendly pressure plate (2,400 pounds of clamping force), and a new throw-out bearing, all for an extremely wallet-friendly price.
Budget 5.0 aluminum cylinder heads are always of interest, and it appears Flo TEK [(800) 270-0095; www.tristatecylinderhead.com] offers a set that may be too good to pass up. The company's 5.0X ($798 complete) heads are made of A356 aluminum and feature 1.94 intake/1.54 exhaust stainless valves, a five-angle valve job, 180cc runners, 58cc chambers, and high-performance springs. Rocker-arm mounting is your preference, as castings can be set up for either pedestal- or stud-mount arms. Based on the flow numbers we saw (248 at 0.600 intake/191 at 0.600 exhaust), these heads could probably work well on a Fox 'Stang that's receiving its first major (heads/cam/intake) high-performance upgrades.