2002 Mustang GT - Asphalt Ballet

Progress Group's new offerings are in the middle of these extremes. As a spring, shock, and bar suspension system, it's designed to offer significant increases in handling at prices almost any enthusiast can afford.

In the meantime, Progress Group has put all its suspension parts and a few supporting bits from the aftermarket on this '02 GT demonstrator and sometimes drift-and drag and open-track-competitor. Naturally, we've given it the drift to lunch and twice-around-the-cloverleaf treatment, and can say we definitely like it, beginning with the looks. Those are Roush Stage III body panels on the front fascia and rear wing, lending to a slight aggressiveness. The composite hood is from Banshee Performance, while the rolling stock consists of ATS two-piece forged 18s. Measuring 8.5 inches wide in front and 10 inches wide in back, these handsome wheels fit impressively sticky and predictable BFGoodrich KD rubber front and rear.

Definitely more durable is the good, old American iron under the hood. The 4.6 GT engine is internally stock but augmented with a Vortech V-2 S-Trim running in the 9-10 pounds of boost range. A 255-lph Walbro in-tank pump supplies the fuel and 38-lb/hr injectors spray it. Distribution is handled by an off-the-shelf Vortech system-that makes it an Autologic chip. Iridium plugs from Denso greatly reduce misfiring in conjunction with one of AEM's new CD ignitions. Air metering is via the stock GT's 80mm meter, and the whole was installed and tuned by Factor X Motorsports in Las Vegas.

With either gearset giving 359 hp and 365 lb-ft of torque at the rear wheels, this Santini Custom Graphics yellow attention-getter is no slouch in the straightline department. At press time, quarter-mile testing had not been run with the blower, so we don't have a number or speed for the combination, but given a good launch from the compliant suspension and sticky tires, the times and mph ought to be good. Previously, without the blower and using 3.27 gears, the car ran 13.93 at 105 mph at Las Vegas Speedway, which is at 2,000 feet altitude.

In front, Energy polyurethane bushings were fitted only to the stock lower control arms, along with five-way adjustable Tokico struts. Jeff says he's found the Tokico adjustability well suited to the Mustang, with a number 3 setting good for the street and a number 5 the right thing on track. An easy, 10-second, screwdriver adjustment at the top of the strut is all that's required. Working with the higher spring and shock rates are Progress' 1.38-inch tubular front sway bar (a lower-cost but heavier, solid bar of identical diameter is optional).

A short-throw Roush shifter certainly crisped-up the shifting, but it was clearly the suspension that had stepped up big-time. Given its real-world spring rates, the ride was surprisingly good. The sharp-edged potholes and culverts came through a bit more authoritatively, of course, but without the spine-crushing harshness typically associated with lowered cars. A bit of baby-buggy vertical business is inevitable with shorter, stiffer springs. But in this case, just minor bits of it come through.

We attribute much of the hard-cornering stability to the trick rear upper control arm bushings-which, similar to the lower arms are greaseable. While we would really need some track time to fully evaluate this system, our initial impression is that this car will hang in there-with precision-either to the limit or close to it.

Drift Report
After two Driftassociation.com events in this car, Progress Group reports that drifting is not road racing! It's plenty difficult to drive-the pros, as always, make it look easy-and the car setup is slightly different.

Because drifting puts a premium on controlling spinning rear tires and does not penalize for a slower lap time, reduced rear grip is the order of the day. Progress accomplished this by fitting 265/35-18 BFGs in the back, bolting on a slightly larger rear sway bar, and adding the aforementioned 4.10 rear gears.

The gears proved just right for drifting, and combined with the other changes, they allow the driver to finely adjust the rear grip with the throttle. The more throttle, the more sideways and slower the car goes; the less throttle, the straighter and faster the car goes. It's counterintuitive at first, but that's how it is in all crossed-up maneuvers when the rear tires are already spinning.