The Mach 1, by comparison, feels lighter than its missing 200 pounds would suggest. Of course, our test car did have greatly improved suspension geometry, but with a lighter clutch pedal, a smooth shifter, a thinner steering wheel rim, and--yes--lighter, more-alive steering, the entire car came off as eager and willing. The louder Bassani exhaust didn't hurt, either.
Final steps are fitting the aftercooler "secondary" heat exchanger andits coolant pump to the lower radiator support, along with making thefinal electrical connections.
But most of all, there is the power delivery. The refined--dare we say formal--Cobra has a rheostat powerband. Turn it up and you get more; dial it down and you get less. But the sound and the push in the back stay basically the same. It's not a bad sound, especially the arousing wind whistle from the Eaton blower at full throttle, and the push in the backside is plenty healthy. But compared to the centrifugal Mach, it's the brother that gets straight As and stays out of trouble.
Vortech's Mach starts off with enough snap to hold your attention, then piles on the power in an escalating rampage. It's going to go fast and it won't let you forget it. The combination of a hair more gearing and compression ratio, as well as the wheel blower's logarithmically increasing air delivery, makes the Mach feel more explosive than sveltely powerful like the Cobra. And given the Vortech SQ blower's quiet gear train, there is no whining to put up with at idle either. It's a lusty combination.
The Long Haul
If we have a caveat about the Vortech Mach, it's long-term durability. Unlike the Mustang Cobra, which was engineered from the get-go by Ford as a blower engine with an iron block, stupendously strong Manley connecting rods, and forged pistons, the Mach Four-Valve is definitely built on the light side.
Mach 1 engines are not simply Cobra engines wearing a party-hat hoodscoop. To reduce runaway parts counts in the modular engine line, and thus increase interchangeability from engine to engine, Ford has tidied up things in the parts bins. So, while the Cobra continues with the heavy-duty, high-cost innards, the five-speed Mach 1 engines use a low-rent cast piston, a pressed-metal connecting rod, the good eight-bolt Cobra crankshaft, and an aluminum block. Built to sparkle as a naturally aspirated engine, the Mach 1 Four-Valve has 10.25:1 compression pistons, which provide sporting amounts of cylinder pressure for themselves and their con rods in stock form.
What's more, Mach 1 fuel systems rely on a single fuel pump, along with smallish (for the fuel flow) fuel rails. Keeping the fuel tank at least half full helps--aftermarket fuel rails and somehow opening flow to the fuel pump inside the tank are much better.
Bolting a blower atop this combination thus produces excellent power at relatively modest boost pressures, but it must pay a price in long-term durability and has precious little in the way of reserve strength should detonation occur. Driven with a modicum of restraint--uh huh--and fed a steady diet of high-octane pump gas, we'd wager the blown Mach is good for many tens of thousands--likely 100,000--detonation-free miles. But rodeoed at every light and it's more than likely a piston or rod will let loose. Our advice is to buy the aftercooled option, run good gasoline at all times, and take it easy in hot weather. This is one combination with which you want to avoid detonation.
Conclusion
It's amazing how complex and well-engineered the Ford performance hobby has become since the innocent 5.0 days. Vortech has been there for nearly all of it, and this newest Mach 1 kit shows all the detailing and sophistication for which Vortech has become known. That it can kick a stock Cobra squarely in the teeth shows just how excellent is its performance. Clearly this is a mid-12-second car in the hands of even the average stroke. That it comes from a bolt-on Mustang with a blower kit installed is remarkable.