Looking racy and with the gruff to back it up, the Roush 427R Trak Pak is a dual-threat street machine and track runner. With an MSRP of $58,245, the supercharged, sharp-handling Trak Pak caters to those willing to pay for a turnkey car who also value the Roush name.
Horse Sense: Jack Roush's auto racing record is amazing. It includes everything from drag racing to road racing to Nextel Cup. To check out the 357 wins tallied so far, visit www.roushperformance.com, click on "About" and "Roush Racing Victories."
Is there one among the 100,000-plus people reading this magazine who hasn't dreamed of optimizing their good old street-driven Mustang for track or drag use? We certainly have, as evidenced by our in-house project '96 GT. It bristles with go-fast track goodies from Maximum Motorsports and slinks along the street from one open track to another.
We had to build our track car ourselves-OK, we had to talk Maximum Motorsports into building it for us. The point is, it's rare when new Mustangs arrive on showroom floors with the intent of driving the road-racing track. This is one of those rare times. Even better, it's Roush Performance that's offering a run of 100 road-course-ready Mustang GTs.
As the greater Roush organization has won umpteen Trans Am and GTO championships, in addition to its endless roundy-round experience, it's a safe bet that Roush's off-the-rack weekend track Mustang ought to be made of the right stuff. To find out, we borrowed a 427R Trak Pak and made merry for a week of street and track thrills, and it was good-as in a total blast.
From the rear, the Trak Pak offers a practical, Midwestern lack of flash-to-performance design. The big-tipped exhaust is loud enough to make itself known on the street, but on the track and wearing a helmet, we had to strain to hear shifting cues over the open-window wind noise.
The Trak Pak is superb for its intended market, which is the guy wanting a cool street machine coupled with the added ability of the occasional hassle-free day of track driving. This car truly delivers on the promise of driving to the track, ripping off some fast, satisfying laps, then driving home with the air conditioning on. Which is exactly what we did with it.
To straddle the divergent street and track worlds, Roush concentrated on tuning the chassis while relying on its standardized supercharged Three-Valve engine package for power. Thus, the engine is an internally stock Three-Valve 4.6 from Ford, but the induction is replaced by Roush's Eaton M90-based Roots supercharger and water-to-air charge cooling system, all nestled in a Roush cast-aluminum manifold and intake. The 73mm blower pulley fitted to the Trak Pak yields an appropriate 5 pounds of boost and 435 flywheel horsepower.
While this amount of supercharging is modest compared to the headlining mega-power options getting the buzz these days, it's wholly correct for a road-course car where the sustained high rpm and boost levels make heat soaking a real issue. Charge cooling is mandatory at the track, and keeping the boost to a low roar is also necessary to avoid detonation or frustrating power losses during a 20-minute track session. This is because the engine-management computer pulls ignition timing as the engine heat rises. Besides, 435 hp is plenty for track thrills when combined with the instant torque hit from a positive-displacement blower such as the M90.
Roush maintains the stock five-speed Ford transmission, but fits it with a more precise shifter. The handle is particularly tall and stout, and it features a traditional-and impossible to improve upon-round ball knob. Rear-axle gearing is 3.55 with a Detroit Truetrac limited-slip differential in place. The latter gives improved venting to the rear axle.
Thanks to Roush's immense racing history and success, we associate the name with hardcore performance, not nonfunctional hoodscoops such as this one. We have to admit the relatively minor body panel and graphics changes give the Trak Pak some visual rumble. We counted Roush signage in at least 24 spots around the car, with the only exterior examples being these Roush-charged scoop badges and the windshield banner. Track cars have often worn hood pins. Roush rigged it the right way-as additions to the stock release and wind latch. Underhood checks take more effort, but the hood won't blow broken glass into your face.
Roush stepped up to a coilover suspension for the Trak Pak to include single-adjustable shocks, progressive-rate springs, jounce bumpers, front and rear sway bars, and adjustable camber plates up front. The ride height is adjustable, as is rebound damping and camber.
Significant brake upgrades are also part of the Trak Pak. The vital front brakes are brought up to 14-inch two-piece, slotted rotors and six-piston calipers. Furthermore, brake ducts are fitted from the foglights to cool the front brakes during repeated, hard track action. The rear brakes maintain the stock Ford calipers but take a step up with slotted discs. As with the fronts, the rear calipers are fitted with stainless steel flex hoses, and they conduct high-temperature brake fluid.
While you may not normally think of the trunk when it comes to hot rodding, the Trak Pak Roush's bustle bears a quick peek. There you'll find a set of Hawk DTC 70 front and HT 10 rear racing brake pads. Putting all this go-fast hardware to use are 275/40-18 BFGoodrich g-Force KD tires at all corners, riding on five-spoke, dark-charcoal-painted alloy rims.
Inside, the Trak Pak cockpit is pumped up a bit for performance and definitely for appearance. The seats carry Roush leather surfaces, and the pedals sport new pads. The aforementioned shifter also makes a visual statement, as does the top-of-dash gauge cluster. For Trak Pak duty, the three-gauge cluster sports oil and water temperatures, as well as boost-pressure instruments. A shift light has been craftily incorporated into the gauge pod, between the left and middle instruments.
Outside, Roush decided the cost and weight of some dress-up parts would be good for business, so the Trak Pak sports a new fascia, chin spoiler, and nonfunctional hoodscoop, along with the prominent side-stripe graphics.