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Spearco Mustang we drove. This particular car also had Spearco's front and rear spoilers;
a padded, small-diameter steering wheel; 1-in.-diameter front and 7/8-in. rear anti-roll bars;
heavy-duty front coil springs; a lowering kit for the rear leaf springs; and Koni shocks front
and rear. All these goodies and numerous others are available from Spears. The nicely
integrated spoilers give the Mustang a sporty appearance, but the steering wheel and suspension
drew only mixed reviews. The 13-in. padded wheel is nice to hold but too small: a compromise
size, perhaps 1 in. larger in diameter, would be better. Overall handling is much better than
that of a standard Mustang, but even with the $378 worth of chassis modifications the car still
doesn't handle as well as a stock Capri:
| | Mustang II
V-6 | Capri 2800
V-6 | Spearco
Mustang II |
| Lateral acceleration, g | 0.683 | 0.726 | 0.714 |
| Slalom speed, mph | 51.7 | 54.9 | 54.2 |
The skidpad improvement is less than expected because the turbocharger accentuates the understeer
problem. If you bring on the boost as the car is scrubbing around the skidpad in its normal
understeering attitude, the rear tires lose their grip momentarily and the attitude approaches
neutral. But once the rear tires regain their grip. which they inevitably do, the front tires
continue their outward course even more strongly than before. So the car goes around the pad in a
jerky series of
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grips and slides. Very untidy, both to look at and to drive. But on a road course, a situation
approaching real-world driving more than the steady-state skidpad test, the handling is
considerably better than stock. Here the turbo is an asset; you can come into a turn harder
and one gear higher than normal, brake smoothly for about the first third of the corner, and
then start applying power. The boost comes in and kicks the tail out smoothly, so the car
corners neutrally and the understeer which was so oppressive on the skidpad isn't a problem.
The improvement in transient response also shows up in our slalom: here the noseheavy Mustang
is only slightly slower than the better-balanced Capri. And as you'd expect from a car with
marginal wheel travel to begin with, lowering causes the car to bottom more easily and also
introduces harshness and mild pitching. The Koni shocks, however, hold these last two ride
irregularities to a minimum.
So with the Spearco modifications the Mustang owner has a car that is not only a match for all
its sporting coupe competition in any acceleration contest but one that won't embarrass the
driver on twisty roads either. But Mustang II owners had better not get smug or complacent,
though.. because Spears is making the necessary modifications to adapt his turbocharger kit to
the V-6 Capri (the alternator is on the opposite side of the engine and there are a few other
interference problems) and we don't think Capri owners are going to stand idly by while they
get their doors blown off by an upstart newcomer like the Mustang II.
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MustangII.Org
