Powerful engines and the Ford Mustang have been synonymous since the marque was introduced in 1964. And 50 years ago, big horsepower came from big displacement.
Today’s 2015 Mustang shows how far engine technology has shifted, the new GT’s 5.0-litre Coyote engine making those big blocks of yore look like comparative weaklings. The modern Mustang, with its dual overhead cams and four valves per cylinder, produces 435 horsepower — an awesome figure by any measure.
2015 Mustang GT with Hennessey Performance pack.
Hennessey, Driving
But for some, that’s still not enough. For them, for a select few owners of 2015 Mustangs, their cars will thunder with an astonishing 717 horsepower.
“This thing is uncaged, absolutely nuts,” says Don Goldman, a partner in Hennessey Performance, the company that offers an upgrade package for the new Mustang, including a supercharger, that boosts the output to 717 horsepower and 632 pound-feet of torque. Armed with this kind of power, the Hennessey Mustang charges from zero to 60 mph in 3.6 seconds, blasting through the quarter mile in 11.2 seconds at 131 mph.
“It’s the most horsepower you could ever get in a Mustang,” says Kelly O’Connell, co-owner of Heartland Ford in Fort Saskatchewan, the Alberta Hennessey dealer. The Hennessey Mustang produces that much horsepower on pump gas, O’Connell added, not racing fuel.
Of course, this level of performance will not be widely available. Hennessey will offer the upgrade for only 500 cars, and the numbers get even smaller for Alberta. Heartland will be able to upgrade only three 2015 Mustangs.
O’Connell said Hennessey Mustang buyers will pick the options they want on their pony car, then the dealership will install the Hennessey package.
Hennessey performance is not restricted to Mustang or Ford, and O’Connell says Heartland can install performance upgrades on a wide range of cars, trucks and SUVs from the Ford Flex to the Expedition to Chevrolet Camaros.
2015 Mustang GT with Hennessey Performance pack.
Hennessey, Driving
So far, Heartland has installed a performance package on a Ford Flex, turning it into a high-performance grocery getter. Where muscle cars often had hood scoops or other adornments that made obvious their capabilities, the Hennessey Mustang is low key with the supercharger fitting under the hood.
“The only thing that gives it away is the exhaust note,” O’Connell said in describing the car’s rumble. The Hennessey package includes the supercharger, upgraded intake, fuel injectors and fuel pump, engine calibration and testing, Hennessey badging and serial numbered dash and engine plaques, premium floor-mats and a three-year, 60,000-kilometre warranty.
O’Connell said the Hennessey package costs $79,000 — including the GT itself. If the customer wants the carbon-fibre ground-effects package, the price rises to $89,000. Additional options include Hennessey 20-inch wheels and a stainless steel exhaust system.
The Hennessey package obviously raises the performance on the 2015 Mustang, but the standard car has also raised the bar: it’s now equipped with an independent rear suspension, a huge upgrade on the solid rear axle on the car since its introduction in April 1964.
“The handling capability is second to none,” O’Connell said.
Heartland Ford has a new building along Highway 21 after operating out of a hard-to-find store located down a side street. The increased visibility has helped boost sales and O’Connell said some people have told him they didn’t know there was a Ford dealer in the community until the new building opened.
