Behind the Wheel of a 3,000-Horsepower Mustang Missile (Hot Rod)
This Pro Mod 1967 Ford Mustang pulls more than 3g off the starting line and can run the eighth-mile in 3.66 seconds.
What's it like to make a pass in a really fast race car? Aaron Wells, owner of this Pro Mod 1967 Mustang, gave us one of the most succinct descriptions we've heard in a while. Running in the Mid-West Pro Mod Racing Association, his supercharged Mustang has run a best time of 3.66 seconds at 209.75 mph in the eighth mile.
"Before each run, my dad and my friend Travis Cannon check the track to make the final decisions on the tune. When the car fires, I put it in high gear, roll through the water, and nail it. It's a rolling burnout; I don't use a line lock. At the end of the burnout, I go to neutral and hit the transbrake to engage reverse. I hold the reverse handle all the way through the backup. We adjust the wheelie bars, my dad will have me lined up, and just before I pre-stage, we spray deicer on the injector hat. The air moving around the throttle blades can cause ice to build up, which I can feel in the pedal because it sticks, and that's bad. With the throttle free, it will idle nicely around 2,200 rpm.
"Next, I flip a toggle switch that drops the Liberty in low gear. I can feel when that happens. I pre-stage, then inch forward with the hand brake. Once I'm staged, I hit the transbrake button and floor the throttle. The moment I see yellow, it's go time, and I send it. It's that simple," he says.
At that point, Aaron is experiencing nearly 3 g of acceleration. He covers the first 60 feet in just 0.930 second, and then the shifts start coming. "It starts moving hard right out of the hole, and it's usually nice and smooth. When the lockup comes in, it picks the front wheels off the ground, and it will do that about three different times." The computer handles the shifts based on rpm, and it's programmed to execute the shifts at 9,500 rpm. Based on his elapsed times, you can imagine how quickly the car covers the 660 feet to the finish line where he pulls the parachute handle.
(photo credit: Dominick Damato - Hot Rod)
