Watch the World’s Quickest Automatic S550 Tear Up the Drag Strip
It’s good to be the king.
The S550 Mustang is still in production, but it will undoubtedly join the Fox Body as one of the most modifiable muscle cars ever built. The 5.0-liter Coyote V8 can make an obscene amount of power without needing much reinforcing. And Ford’s 6R80 automatic transmission can handle loads of torque.
While we won’t get into the age-old automatic-versus-manual debate here, we want to focus on this automatic 2015 Mustang GT owned by Lund Racing in Pennsylvania. This is no ordinary S550, it’s Lund’s “Mustang Development Vehicle.” Today, it’s the fastest six-speed automatic Mustang in the world. But it wasn’t always this way. This video from Alejandro Flores is a thorough history of the car, and how it went from a relatively stock ‘Stang to the world-beater you see here.
A wild journey to the top
As a naturally-aspirated GT, this pony ran an 11.37 quarter-mile at 119 miles per hour. Not bad. With a Vortech JT supercharger installed, and it runs 9.25s at 151 miles per hour. That’s seriously impressive. That was also back in 2015.
Now, three years later the Lund team decides to add a turbo. Today, the car has a massive turbo from HPP, a built Coyote engine from L&M, an intake manifold from a GT350, and COMP Cams state 3 NA cams. PBH also built and strengthened the 6R80. With these mods, this GT now sends over 1,300 horsepower to the rear wheels. At Maple Grove Raceway outside Redding, Pennsylvania, it ran an 8.29 quarter-mile on 17-inch wheels and skinny rims up front. Of course, the mad scientists at Lund knew it could take the car even further.
They modify the turbo plumbing to make room for a new cross member. Then, the suspension is altered to permanently take 17-inch wheels. And as it sits now, this GT has a world record time of 7.78 seconds in the quarter mile.
As Alejandro points out: “Lund now owns the quickest 6R80 Mustang… We own the quickest IRS Mustang, the quickest 6R80… and the best 60-foot on any stock automatic-equipped vehicle.” He points out that even with all the mods, it’s still controlled by the stock Ford computer. That’s seriously impressive.
“I know this record is not gonna stand, I get it,” he says. “But look, you’ve gotta hang your hat on something. It’s a pretty impressive feat.” We couldn’t agree more. Still, he points out that Lund has been the subject of controversy since they re-geared the transmission. But he clarifies that what they did is no different than swapping out the rear end and keeping the stock transmission. It’s still a stock 6R80 in every way.
Controversial or not, we congratulate Lund Racing for their stable of world-beating ‘Stangs. Alejandro predicts that the record will be broken “before the end of the year.” Nonetheless, it’s still a pretty damn impressive feat. Enjoy your time at the top, fellas. You’ve earned it.
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