Offering a clean install of...
Offering a clean install of the Roush boost gauge is a vent pod for the '10 A/C vent. While this arrangement looks great, it does give up directional control of that airflow, which can be a downside in hotter climes. Peaking at about 5 pounds, the white-face boost gauge complemented the optional Roush white-face gauges in our tester.
Once the official dyno testing concluded, Allen offered to let us make some quarter-mile passes on the dyno. As I previously mentioned, I was only able to squeeze in a couple less-than-ideal passes at Bradenton Motorsports Park before a Saturday afternoon bracket race. I'm not a talented enough driver to just rip off a great pass on my first try. It usually takes a handful of passes to figure out just the right launch rpm, shift point, and so on. I managed a 13.62 on one hit and 107 mph on another, but I couldn't quite put it all together in two passes. I think with a bit more time, I might have been able to run a 0.30 or 0.40 on the street tires if I pulled a rabbit out of the hat. In any event, the mph reveals the car is good for mid 12s if the traction is there.
On the dyno and without the worry about traction, I made my first pass, dropping the clutch at 3,000 rpm and shifting at 6,000 rpm. (I tried 1,500- and 1,800-rpm launches at Bradenton.) The tires squealed for just a second, and the result was a 12.60 at 104.68 mph. I followed that up quickly with a 5,000-rpm launch and maintained the 6,000-rpm powershifts. (I tried 5,500- and 6,000-rpm shifts at Bradenton and traction was still an issue.) This resulted in a slight spin and an impressive 12.52 at 104.47 mph. Allen says that assuming the traction is there, the dyno passes are usually within a couple ticks of a real pass, which makes the 427R a pretty impressive unit, especially considering it's built more for the street and the road course than it is the dragstrip.