Luckily, with the stock Saleen Racecraft suspension and gummy Michelin Pilot Sports, the extra thrust is manageable, and the combo has run 11.3 at 127 mph on track. We doubt the strip is the brothers' main concern, however, as certainly no effort has been made to pare any of the Saleen's beef. Quite the opposite, in fact, as the factory entertainment gear was no longer considered up to snuff and was yanked by the folks at Ultimate Audio in Winter Garden, Florida. The far more substantial replacements include an XM-ready, Sony MEX-5DI CD head unit, Alpine Type-X door and rear speakers, a pair of JL Audio 10-inch W3 subwoofers in a custom box, and a Kicker KX700.5 five-channel amp to drive everything. Other than the stereo upgrades, nothing much else was necessary in the Extreme's classy Recaro-equipped cockpit. So, with all said and done, the Blacks now refer to this as their "Saleen E on Steroids." Sounds about right.
 A smaller pulley on the Whipple...  A smaller pulley on the Whipple and an SCT Big Air mass air are some of the few external giveaways of the beefed and balanced assembly beneath. That, along with ported passages, stir 500 hp and pound-feet to life. |  |  The Black brothers didn't...  The Black brothers didn't have to do much in the Extreme's already top-class interior. But the tunes now sound notably better thanks to a major makeover in audio gear. |
Generally, I like to kill two birds with one stone. If we're going to be at a Mustang shop shooting a technical installation, we also try to hook up a couple of feature cars for the magazine. While I was working on a technical install at Lamotta's Performance in Longwood, Florida, the plan was to shoot Black's Automotive's Beryllium '02 Saleen Extreme for a feature, which is what you see here. Black's Automotive [(407) 830-8801] is a performance-car (primarily Mustangs) dealership in Casselberry, Florida, just down the road from Lamotta's Performance.
Even though the feature shoot went down as smooth as silk, the technical install at Lamotta's took longer than anticipated, as more parts were needed. So there I was with my mode of transport (the car at Lamotta's) all torn apart and an hour and a half from home. Thanks to the guys at Black's Automotive, I had wheels to get me back home on the weekend and days between working on the project car. No, the loaner car wasn't this Saleen-I could just imagine ripping the front bumper cover off that car-but Black's came through for me in a big way. Oh, yeah-Black's had plenty of nice Mustangs on the lot, too. From Fox bodies to '05-'06 Saleen Mustangs, Black's probably has a Mustang with your name on it.