The object is simple. Take a bunch of Mustangs and lead 'em to a dyno for an all-out spec battle. We can't tell you how many Q&A letters we get from people telling us all the intimate details of their car, then asking our opinions on a) what the car will run on the track, and b) how much power do we think it makes? Unfortunately, there are way too many variables involved to accurately predict either answer.
In the case of dragstrip e.t., you have to take into account much more than just the parts on the car. You must look at the entire combination, from the front to the rear bumper--weight, tires, gears, driving ability, state of tune, and even the weather and track conditions. Similarly, engine power output depends not only on just the combination of parts (heads, cam, intake, exhaust, and so on), but also on how everything is tuned. Where's the fuel pressure? Was everything put together correctly? Any vacuum leaks or other non-obvious problems? Is the chip stock or aftermarket? All of these things make it impossible for us to estimate horsepower with only the list of major parts for information.
That's why we've put together this section. To give you at least a clue of how much power your car is putting to the pavement, we've assembled a whole bunch of Mustangs--both 5.0 and 4.6 models--with a large variety of engine combinations. We took them to three of our favorite Dynojet facilities: the Holland Communications tech shop in Southern California; Vinci's High Performance in Orlando, Florida; and Unlimited Performance in Delray Beach, Florida. Then we strapped 'em to the rollers and let it all hang out. The results speak for themselves. If you have a similar combination to one of the cars shown here, and it's in a good state of tune, chances are your numbers will be very close to what we found.
Check out the results in the sidebars below.