2000 Ford Mustang GT - Bjonnes Improvement

Inside the GT, you realize... 

   

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Inside the GT, you realize that this thing is a race car. Gone are the air conditioning, the heater, the rear seats, and the stock front seats-Kirkey racing buckets weigh almost nothing. The shifter is by Steeda, and it runs the stock T45 five-speed-a smooth-shifting box from the factory. From the transmission, the power goes through a Ford Racing Performance Parts aluminum driveshaft and then on to the stock 8.8 rear packed with 4.30 gearing, Moser 31-spline axles, and a Moser spool. All this effort has gotten the car down to 3,000 pounds with driver.

With his amazing performance at the Modular Shootout, interest in Ken's GT really picked up on the Internet. But when he began spitting out high 11s from a bolt-on Two-Valve-well-people just couldn't get enough. In fact, his involvement with Jerry Wroblewski and Chris Johnson of Superchips Custom Tuning has led to a unique marketing deal for the once humble little Modular Depot site. Ken, Brandon, and Gene now sell the SCT software from their Internet site, which comes with access to a private forum for direct support from the software writers and designers. Ken is rightfully excited about this new venture with one of the leading forces in aftermarket computer programming.

For the '04 season, Ken is looking to push the envelope with the Two-Valve combination. Ron Robart of Fox Lake Power Products has become seriously involved in the project, and he will provide Ken with a 0.020-over short-block with flat-top pistons and further work to the cylinder heads. Also, prototype Fox Lake cams, valvesprings, and other top-secret valvetrain hardware will be utilized to provide the GT with a redline that's north of 8,000 rpm!

The big news out of Fox Lake is the new P-51 intake manifold. Ken has tested this intake with his stocker setup, but a new, yet-to-be-seen-by-the-public race version of this intake does exist. It has a larger plenum area with radically changed internals, and it will be on Ken's car in 2004. Ron and Ken are hoping for 375-400 rwhp from this package.

See what can happen when you take your Mustang to the dragstrip? You can modify it, race it, create a new Internet site, set a national record, and wind up in the pages of 5.0 Mustang & Super Fords. Not too bad, is it?

The low stance and striking BBS rims tell you something special is going on with this '00 GT. But it isn't until owner Ken Bjonnes fires up the free-revving modular beast and you hear the song of twin long-tube headers bellowing through DynoMax Bullet mufflers, that you know something hairy lives under the Cobra R hood. The V-6 bumper and Bullitt sidescoops are subtle additions that set off the car. Ken exhausted just about every trick in the hot-rodder's handbook to come up with a mid-11-second combination that still uses the stock 4.6 bottom end. That's outrageous performance for a 3,000-pound car without the sauce. The suspension consists of QA1 struts and shocks, Maximum Motorsports caster/camber plates, PA Racing tubular front-end components, and UPR control arms in the back. Maximum Motorsport subframes and a Reynolds Fabrication rollbar ties up the chassis tightly. When launched hard, the car really digs in, rewarding Ken with 1.57-second short times.