White-faced instruments in...
White-faced instruments in the main cluster are optional. They glow blue-green at night, while the gauge pod lighting is white. Also curious is how the instrument cluster reuses the stock water temperature information-redundant to the more legible water temp in the gauge pod-instead of fitting an oil pressure gauge to this position. We did find the white-faced instruments easier to read on-track than the stock black-faced variety.
The results were impressive. Speed Ventures rented the big "roval" course at Fontana, giving us half the oval, complete with the towering Turn 1 and 2 banking, along with the infield road course. It was a great track for the Roush to play on, with the highest-speed sections in the western U.S., along with a mix of moderate and tight corners on the infield. Additionally, it didn't have the Mickey Mouse brake-test and pitch-it sections that bother such a large, heavy track car.
The power could really be unleashed. When we took it easy, we saw 125 mph on the banked Turn 2; when pushing it, 132 to 135 mph appeared on the speedometer. The 3.55 gearing was fine at Fontana, giving the right combination of acceleration and quiet cruising on the street. We could use Second through Fourth on most of the track, and Fifth on the oval when we wanted to rest the engine. We didn't wish for a more closely spaced (lower ratio) Fifth gear, as we were already going far too fast for a car with no 'cage or proper five-point harness.
Acceleration was exciting, the Roush blasting along with the best of the V-8 hot rods on-track with us. We didn't wish for any more power. Even better, what power we had was easy to dial in and out. The linear throttle and bulging torque made balancing the car (e.g., throttle steering) easy on corner exit, which is always a big part of track-driving fun. At the same time, there's so much power down low that you must be careful not to spin or abuse the rear tires or you'd bake them into grease balls. We tried the traction control on and off and couldn't tell a difference because Ford's software allows wheelspin (thank goodness), and we were able to drive smoothly due to the easily modulated power.
Temperature control was good: The oil got to 220 degrees, the water rising to 240 degrees when running all out. With the engine temps not out of line-most of the time the water indicated 220 degrees or so-the engine power didn't vary from the first to last laps. Granted, this was on a 60-degree late-fall day, so summer track sessions may require extra cooling or something less than a superspeedway to run on. We were even able to run without the supplementary engine cooling afforded by an operating heater/defroster, which made us more comfortable. Our lame, 91-octane, California-spec pump gas also seemed to work fine. We should also add that it was because of the Roush gauge-pod instruments that we were able to keep an eye on the temps and pressures-a requirement when pushing this long and hard.
Fitted with the optional carbon-fiber...
Fitted with the optional carbon-fiber dress-up kit, the Trak Pak's interior broods darkly in keeping with the serious driving it was designed to oversee. Roush's leather reupholstery of the stock Ford seats adds plushness while retaining daily driver ease of ingress and egress. For track use, however, the seats and stock three-point belt lack lateral support, so we'd be tempted to install a racing seat and five-point harness if much track duty was in the offing.
On-track, we found the shifting occasionally clunky and long-levered, but even if it sounds strange, the manly lever and precise efforts were reassuring in the heat of track action. The shifter gave good feel, and lightning-fast shifting isn't a road course requirement, especially not open tracking. We should add that the shifter strongly reminded us of the Roush Winston Cup car we sampled at Road Atlanta ages ago, so we took its personality as authentic Roush engineering.
Once again, the handling was a highlight, especially when driven just short of "rage." The precision and grip we enjoyed on the street was still there on-track. Add in the linear, powerful throttle, and the Trak Pak felt composed and at home. It certainly never surprised us or made a white-knuckle move.
Some of this composure is due to the modest-to-moderate understeer Roush has left in the chassis. This reassures the driver, with the only downside being a push developing before the fastest drivers would want it. In slower to medium-speed corners, the understeer is barely felt-probably never felt by the majority of Trak Pak buyers. The only time we found it noticeable was when pushing through the Turn 2 banking. That meant 130-plus-mph speeds came with some heavy steering down to the apex, followed by an understeering slither up to the imposing concrete wall on the exit. Previous experience has taught us this turn feels this way in the best-prepped Mustangs until more than 3 degrees of negative camber are dialed into the right front tire, so the Roush's performance was just within track-car bounds and impressive for a showroom-stock machine in this demanding, specialized scenario.