Last night our resident huggable Speedhunter, Antonio Alvendia went out to attend the launch of the new Ford Mustang… Being the world's number one drifting fanatic, his main interest was to point his lens at Vaughn Gittin's new Mustang.
The car's all carbon fiber body work was presented with an all blue finish. You can be assured next time you see this car, it will have its full Falken livery in place.
Although it has the appearance of a production style Mustang, this machine is every bit as hardcore a chassis built as Samuel Hubinette's new drift Challenger. The core of the unibody chassis is still in place, but it's been radically lightened by 400 pounds; everything that wasn't needed was cut away. The car tips the scales at 2600 pounds, which compared to the outgoing chassis' weight of 3100 pounds is quite a difference.
This season's Hasselgren race engine has been dropped in favour of a 4.6L Supercharged Ford Racing Aluminator crate engine. JR explained, the performance numbers on this engine just make sense for drifting….
It makes the similar hp and torque as the Hasselgren engine: 650bhp and 600 ft pounds of torque, but the key is that the power is available at around 3000 rpm, not 5000 from the old engine.
JR also stresses, this is more a turn-key engine solution, rather than a one-off custom race build, so they expect it to be far more reliable for next season.
He's been using this engine set-up in his practice car all year without trouble.
The chassis build itself is purpose designed for drifting and kissing barriers. Crashing is part of professional drifting and the new Falken Mustang will take plenty of abuse without trouble.
Some amazing fabrication work.
JR's new office. He is rightly quite excited about this machine… it now joins a whole host of new high end cars taking to the track for the first time next April. I can't wait for Formula D 2009!
:Rod
OFFICIAL SPEEDHUNTERS SUPPLIERS
i was reading some comments about the drifting challenger and how that level of sponsorship is ruining drifting. I can say that this mustang really doesn't do that, it doesn't seem over the top, and seeing watching JR's entrance with the mustang, it looks to be a sick machine. If I were falken, I wouldn't go ruining that already awsome paintjob, but marketing....the evil thing that it is wont stop it. Other than that, THIS CAR IS AWSOME!!!! I need to start saving...like now.
sweeeet!
dang that car is looking really good already cant wait to see it with the full livery!! Good luck to JR my favorite drifter for the upcoming season and this Mustang already looks way better than Hubinettes new Challenger... haha
dang this is gonna be fast, where was it revealed?
Yeah, but does it have rollerblade wheels at the corners to facilitate "barrier kissing"?! Huh?! ;D
Awesome car but i can't help wondering if...a lot of drifters are gonna see the direction Formula D is moving in and cars like these and return to the (dangerous) touge for a more authentic drift experience. This is the nature of motorsport in any form, technology, the pressure to succeed and the subsequent need for more sponsorship eventually move the sport out of reach of the average joe. Remember import drag racing?
car looks great
im quite impressed
and jr is a solid guy. good people
i wish him teh best in 09.
This car seems more more legit than the Charger. jr deserves his success.
Rad. I think it looks pretty cool even with the temp graphics!
Agreed, these cars are getting crazy. 600hp. Just got done watching JDM Option 2006 round 2 at Sugo and there's a flippin' 185hp AE86 in the top 16. There needs to be a Street Legal version or something. A lower level street car class. Anyway, amazing car. I really like the new Mustang 2010. Looks meaner! Needs IRS though. Come on Ford. Drag racers aren't the only guys buying stangs.
So Whats Gonna Happen To His Old Stang???
Its all over haha Gittins moving to a supercharger, Smoke Bomb: ON
I think it looks a lot more "real" than that horrible Challenger drift "car".
Now that's a proper radiator shroud.
way cooler than the challenger. its a car turned racecar not a rollcage w/ body parts taked on. this is the route mopar should have went. it would have saved time and not look so so blaa .
BTW, I do hope they keep the plain blue livery. Am I alone in thinking Falken's usual blue/turquoise livery is hideous?
^^^ you are alone
the car looks great, better than the challenger, and please bring it to nfs live
How much did that Mustang cost?......650hp.....carbon body work, MoTec standalone.....sure it's a work of art....
I really would like to see Taka (Aono) kick his ass on his low-hp AE86......:)....then what?
Wow drifting sucks these days
Correct me if I'm wrong here, but I recall that all the mechanical troubles were prevalent the last time JR used a forced induction setup. As a matter of fact, after he switched to the hasselgren setup, his DNF's seemed to dissappear, and he started finishing higher.
I think its just a nice sugar coated excuse. Considering Falken dropped 60% of their roster, a free (ford produced) engine is always going to be a nicer alternative to a 50K Hasselgren built race engine.
We all know the Hasselgren engine is much, much better.
Steve, I'm correcting you because you're wrong. If you know sooo much than you would know that the Hasselgren engine is NOT a better engine. Sure, it's loaded with trick EXPENSIVE one off parts and a ridiculous redline. But, it also has roughly a 13-15 hour runtime shelflife and needs to be rebuilt at around $25,000 a refresh. Same or better horsepower from the "free" FORD Racing crate engines +100 lbs. for the blower is better than a season of engine in, engine out, and loads of untimely timing chain problems.
Trust me, you have NO idea what you're talking about.
I'm glad you all (well most) like my comp car and the new style of the 2010 mustang. I personally love it! I saw it about 2 months ago and wanted to spill the beans so bad but I had to stuff deep down and not say a word. I'm glad the cat is finally out of the bag!! I cannot explain how excited we are to have dropped about 600lbs. had I have had that at Redbull I might not have made out with the wall!!!! . I love the new body! soooo mean!!!!!!Thanks for all the support as always guys!
Car looks great! But no FD decals =(
Looks hot JR. You should be top 3 at any event no problem next season. Bring it home for the E-town boys. And does this car also run a solid axle???
Jim, are you serious?? It was a Ford unvealing. It is a Ford sponsored car. Does FD sponsor any cars let alone this one? No? Well why would Ford put your decal on the car then????
As for the Engine situation. We feel we are making the right decision while running the aluminator is alot cheaper that was not a factor in the decision. I have been testing it all year and it is bad ass and easily available. The Hasslegren Engine did us well and you might see it pop up again sometime but not for drifting ;).
By the way Vaughn, I didn't mention the car is amazing! I was pleasantly surprised to see how well the finished product came out. Those are some very smart, and talented builders you are working with.You guys seemed to have thought of everything without making it look like a pile of tubes with body panels stretched over it. Keep up the great work and kick a$$ in 2009!
I cannot wait to see it in the Falken livery.
I love the new car JR it looks great and I will be at road atlanta for FD and this will be the first car I want to check out then the other members of DA