2005 Zoom Project S197 Mustang - The Punisher

Horse Sense: It's easy to make a ton of horsepower with the newer modular V-8s. Bolt on a power adder and presto-lots of extra ponies to suck the paint off your house. But all that power is useless if your clutch can't transfer it to the transmission and, ultimately, the rear wheels. Check out Zoom's line of high-quality clutch components at www.zoomperformance.com to ensure all the horsepower you have makes it to the pavement.

Testing performance parts can be a tough job. The goal of R&D is to push parts as hard as possible to determine when they fail. When you build a good product, this can be difficult. To push parts, you need something capable of testing them to the limit and beyond, which is how this feature car came to be.

The guys at Zoom Performance were in a jam. They wanted to test for almost any condition their clutches would see, but not just any test mule would do. From blowers to nitrous, high-rpm dumps, and street-scene shenanigans, Zoom wanted a vehicle that could do it all and represent the company at shows and events. With S197 Mustang madness in full swing, Zoom decided to buy an '05 GT and turn it into the company's rolling testbed.

The first order of business was to give the GT's Three-Valve 4.6 some boost and juice. CP Racing in Charlotte, North Carolina, worked its magic by installing a Paxton Novi 2200 supercharger with a front-mount intercooler, then a four-bottle, 75-horse Nitrous Express system with a remote-control purge. CP Racing set up the Paxton for 10.5 pounds of maximum boost and installed a twin fuel-pump system with '03 Cobra 39-lb/hr injectors so the engine wouldn't starve for fuel.

Why four bottles?

The guys at Zoom wanted an ample supply of juice, not only for running on the street, but also for shows where an unsuspecting admirer could be given a quick scare by tripping the remote purge on the nitrous system. Zoom's Eric Waters took perverse pleasure in demonstrating this during our studio shoot with the Mustang.

Computer tuning with any power adder is an absolute necessity. The S197's computer is notorious for being unhappy with even the simplest bolt-on performance items without some tuning, let alone after installing a blower and nitrous kit. The technicians at CP pushed buttons on a DiabloSport Predator to get the Three-Valve running, making sure all the air/fuel ratios were in check, fuel flow was right, and everything was set to burn some rubber.

Testing began with Zoom installing its Stage 3 clutch setup, along with a Zoom aluminum flywheel. On high-revving engines such as the 4.6, an aluminum flywheel is a great power saver. The lighter weight of the alloy flywheel reduces the reciprocating mass on the end of the crankshaft. Reduced spinning mass means the engine requires less power to rev. Any time you lighten the rotating mass in an engine, you have instant power gain. With an engine that's better suited for high rpm, the motor will spin up to rpm faster.

The total package is eye-popping. With 552 rear-wheel horsepower on 93 octane, Zoom has a great test vehicle for beating on its clutch products. The black paint by Vizible Changez gives the look of obsidian, while the silver stripes by Stripe It add a nice accent to this '05.