Australia Gets 700HP Mustang to Make Up For Killer Everything

A Pony for crocodile country

One of the best things about the current generation Mustang is its global profile. With Ford capable of building its Mustang in both left and right-hand drive, the original Pony car has a presence in many more markets than ever before. One such market is Australia, where followers of the Ford brand love their V8-powered performance cars.  

This Pony can run

To supply a right-hand-drive Mustang with the appropriate performance for Australian Ford fans, the blue oval brand has done something special. It is called the Mustang R-Spec and it is a mean green machine if we ever saw one. 

>>Join the conversation about this Special R-Spec Mustang right here in the Mustang Source Forum!

Small design upgrades

Distinguishing this Mustang R-Spec are daytime running lights, a reshaped front bumper with larger air-intakes and some unique graphics. The black stripe livery extends from the trunk to the bonnet's front edge line. 

>>Join the conversation about this Special R-Spec Mustang right here in the Mustang Source Forum!

It is lower and grippier

The R-Spec rides on different springs to a stock Mustang. Coils sources from Ford Performance give it a 20mm lower ride height and there are MagneRide adaptive dampers to smooth over any surface imperfections. Rolling in the wheel arches are 19-inch alloy wheels, shod with Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires to ensure excellent mechanical grip. 

>>Join the conversation about this Special R-Spec Mustang right here in the Mustang Source Forum!

Roots blower and stick shift

At the heart of this Australian R-Spec Mustang is a 5-liter supercharged V8. The boost regime calculates to 2.65-liters of capacity and pressures at 12 psi. Those blower numbers should convert to 700hp, which makes this the world's most powerful right-hand-drive Mustang. Best of all, Ford is only building the Mustang R-Spec with a six-speed manual gearbox, instead of an automatic transmission. 

>>Join the conversation about this Special R-Spec Mustang right here in the Mustang Source Forum!

Pretty stock inside

The engine might be a radical evolution of Ford's V8, but this R-Spec car is quite standard inside.  However, an active exhaust system will go as loud or as quiet as you want. For safety and ease of use, there is a seamless Smartphone interface in the infotainment system that you'd expect from Ford is present also. 

>>Join the conversation about this Special R-Spec Mustang right here in the Mustang Source Forum!

Don't expect to see many of these

At the back of this R-Spec Mustang is a fixed spoiler, finished in gloss black paint. You might wonder where these R-Spec Mustangs are being produced, and the answer is that they are a joint effort between Ford Australia and Herrod Performance. Interestingly, they will be rare, too with only 500 of these right-hand-drive R-Spec  Mustangs being produced. 

>>Join the conversation about this Special R-Spec Mustang right here in the Mustang Source Forum!

More substantial at each wheel corner too

With 700hp, there is no way that the conventional Mustang suspension bits would cope. Considering the cornering speeds that this Mustang is capable of, it features enhanced suspension components. To cope, the Mustang R-Spec has adjustable stabilizer bars, which are respectively 5mm thicker in front and 3mm more substantial at the rear. That means that it can pull some significant lateral cornering forces at speed. 

It is a pretty cool Mustang for sure and we humble folks in the U.S. are jealous of such a machine is just for Australia. However, it's a pretty fair trade-off since we don't have to worry about killer bugs and snakes here in the states. 

>>Join the conversation about this Special R-Spec Mustang right here in the Mustang Source Forum!

For help with service on your Mustang, visit our sister site's how to section at MustangForums.com