1999 Ford Mustang GT - STS Turbo Installation - Boost In The Back

"How can I get my car's picture in the magazine?" Or, more specifically, "What do I have to do to get my car featured in 5.0 Mustang & Super Fords?" These are just two examples of the million-dollar question asked of magazine editors. If we had a buck for each time we've been asked that by every proud 'Stangfreak we've encountered throughout the country, we'd be living like rock stars by now.

While this isn't a how-to on getting mag exposure, the information and photos might trigger an idea and hopefully put you on a path toward having your 'Stang splashed across these pages. It's a fact that time marches on and nothing stays the same. So we definitely welcome info on new cars and Mustang technology to help keep our ship afloat. Keep that in mind as you check out the 35th Anniversary Mustang GT featured here.

During our trip to the '05 SEMA show we got our first in-person look at a turbocharger mounted at the back of a Mustang. As a matter of fact, Squires Turbo Systems of Orem, Utah, showed us twin turbos at the rear flanks of a brand new '05 GT. We were definitely surprised and impressed by the sight, especially when we found out how much power they made. While SEMA put an exclamation point on the statement "2005 was the year of the new Mustang," our diabolical minds wondered more about the possibility of setting up an earlier (any year other than '05) Mustang with a remote-mount turbo system at the rear of the car, not the front/engine compartment. Enter Doug Van Den Brink and his '99 drift Mustang GT.

Doug was also at SEMA and was equally impressed with the STS setup for S197s. Doug is an up-and-coming privateer who competes on the SCCA's Formula Drift drifting circuit with his own hard-earned dough, and he isn't heavily sponsored like some of his competitors. He explained his plight of trying to keep the tires blazing with style-using a mostly stock and underpowered 'Stang-to STS-owner Rick Squires. Rick listened and offered to help Doug's cause with the setup you see here: a remote-mount, single-turbo system for a '99-'04 Mustang.

We got a tip about the union made between the drifter-an applicable moniker for 32-year-old Doug, as he's competed and won in several different forms of auto racing since age 7 before catching the drifting bug in 2004-and the radical turbo company and their venture together into relatively unknown Mustang territory (Dave Martis owns the first SN-95 car to receive STS's rear-mount turbo). So we hustled down to the heart of NASCAR, where we caught up with Doug and his adopted family at CP Racing as they finished the installation and performed the tell-all dyno tests on this unique setup.

The turbo system shown here is custom-Doug's drift car sits extremely low to the ground, so routing the rear-to-front tubing for the turbo and intercooler was a major challenge-and involved a ton of time in fabricating and fitting tubes, lines, mounts, and such. But Eric Oram, CP Racing's VP of sales and marketing and resident SCT tuning guru, tells us the wheels in his head are turning and hopefully his guys will have refined this new STS system into a more street-compliant deal sometime in the not-so-far future. Street cars generally sit higher, so the stock fuel tank would become the issue more than the turbo ducting.

You still haven't figured it out? You're still unclear about the criteria we use as a guideline for a Mustang's magazine worthiness? Show us something new, different, and cool like this turbo 'Stang, and your chances will be a lot better than if you say to an editor, "I want you to put my car in the magazine." We actually thought we were hearing things when we learned about a rear-mount turbo going under a '99 Mustang. But after seeing CPR's handiwork with the new concept from STS and watching its boost blister the dyno, all we can say is power at the back wheels has taken on a whole new meaning. Check it! 5.0

Dyno Results
So how'd it do? The STS rear-mount turbo fared well on CP Racing's Dyno Dynamics chassis dyno, which, for this test, presented data based on a Dynojet scale. We witnessed baseline (without turbo system) performance of 271.7 hp and 309 lb-ft of torque, which isn't too bad in its own right for a stock-head, stock-lower-end engine with only an intake manifold, headers, and a few other bolt-ons.

With Eric Oram spooling the turbo to nearly 8 pounds of boost, 423.3 hp and 469 lb-ft of torque were the impressive rear-wheel results-especially the torque gain.

It's critical to note that this engine and turbo combination are tuned for 93-octane pump gas. Boost isn't even close to set-on-kill levels, and air/fuel ratios averaged in the 11.7:1 range during the turbo pulls. Doug has plenty of room to turn this thing up when he gets an engine that will support it. But for now, getting the tires roasting will be the least of his worries-the Goodyears went into a full-on haze when Doug rolled into more throttle at 70 mph-when he hits the drift circuit in search of another championship.

The '05 Twins
As we mentioned earlier, we first laid our eyes on a rear-mount turbo system at SEMA. Squires Turbo Systems debuted its dual-turbo setup for the hot '05 Mustang at the show in Las Vegas, and automotive media went wild over it.

This system includes two Garrett T3/To4B Stage II turbochargers, an air-to-air intercooler, 39-lb/hr Cobra injectors, a DiabloSport Predator, and coated hot- and cold-side tubing. It pumps up the 4.6 Three-Valve to 447 rear-wheel horsepower and 480 lb-ft of torque.

While two turbos for your S197 may be a little too pricey for your budget-this set of twins will cost you nearly eight Gs-STS recently put the finishing touches on a more affordable, single-turbo system for '05 'Stangs, which should be available by the time you read this.