These aisles are filled with...
These aisles are filled with horsepower goodness from countless manufacturers. If it makes your Mustang faster, safer, or cooler, you can find it at the PRI Show. From brake hoses to billet cranks to fuel rails, it's all represented.
The 2009 PRI show covered 1,000,000 square feet inside the cavernous Orlando Convention Center. How big is that, you ask? With a pedometer (a device that measures the amount of distance a person walks) clipped to his belt on Day 1, your tech editor traversed every aisle from wall to wall and covered a total distance of five miles... totally indoors. A five-mile, early December stroll through a roomful of go-fast badness is something that definitely qualifies as walking in a winter wonderland!
Have you ever read a tech article here in 5.0 Mustang & Super Fords and wondered how we found out about the part being featured?
Yes, we receive calls, press releases, and emails from manufacturers about their new products all the time. There also are occasions when cool innovations are discovered totally by chance, while working at shops, checking out 'Stangs at shows, and so on.
While those methods of gathering intelligence on new parts obviously work pretty well, we also count on the major high-performance trade shows for finding cool new pieces to try out. Performance Racing Industry magazine's trade show, held every December in Orlando, Florida, is one such gathering.
Actually, as hard-core racing goes, PRI is the ultimate racing-parts-and-equipment confab for performance enthusiasts from all walks of brand allegiance. The show gives attendees an opportunity to experience the latest and greatest hardware (and see superstars from all facets of motorsports), as there are literally thousands of serious race pieces available to see, touch, and learn about over the course of three days walking the show.
For our crowd, parts for S197s-and even '10 'Stangs and Shelby GT500s-were the most-prominent items on display at the '09 show, but we also found plenty of stuff for beefing-up earlier Mustangs for total dominance on the street, dragstrip or road course.
As usual, your tech editor, Editor Turner, and Associate Editor Johnson converged on PRI and prowled every aisle in search of the hottest Mustangcentric newness, and the following photos and captions represent just a small sampling of some of the cool bits that we found for late-model Ponies.
Advanced Composite Products...
Advanced Composite Products
If Trans Am, Grand Am, GT1, or IMSA racing are more your speed as opposed to running the quarter-mile, Advanced Composite Products [(800) 832-8624;
www.acproducts.us] offers two variations of its clean-fitting fiberglass and carbon-fiber '10 Mustang bodies that are specific to the bodywork dimension requirements for those sanctions.
American Racing Headers
We've...
American Racing Headers
We've installed a pair of American Racing Headers' [(631) 608-1986;
www.americanracingheaders.com] long-tube offerings before, but not these monsters. ARH now has these 2-inch-primary-tube headers for '05-current Mustangs featuring 5.4-liter engines, like Shelby GT500s and Cobra Jets. ARH was the OE-supplier for the headers found on the Cobra Jet; these are aimed at improving the performance of your 5.4-equipped Mustang.
Auto Meter
On race day,...
Auto Meter
On race day, knowing your tires' air pressure is vital for maximum traction. One way to make sure your Mustang's pressure is up to spec is with Auto Meter's [(866) 248-6356;
www.autometer.com] Tire Pressure Monitoring System. The TPMS will keep you apprised of your tires' air pressure at all times, making sure you're getting the most traction available, and let you know if a tire should lose or gain air pressure due to changing weather conditions.