Ford Mustang

A Wolf in Wolves’ Clothing: Roush MM-R727 Build

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a Ford Mustang fan. Countless hours in front of the TV as a kid watching Dick Johnson Race his green Group A Ford Mustang around Bathurst will do that to you. So, of course, you could imagine my excitement when Ford announced that they’d be finally selling the modern Mustang on our shores.

But hang on a sec. If the Mustang was going to be sold here to the Australian market, would that mean owning one here would be made just that little bit less special? I needed something that would stand out from the inevitable flood of ponies on Aussie roads. My name is Steve, and that’s where my Roush comes in.

Founded by a former Ford Engineer back in 1995, Roush Performance has been in the business of making Mustangs look meaner and go faster for quite some time. They don’t just do go-fast products either, their bread and butter is packages designed to build the Mustang up to an extreme look and road handling feel. Here in Australia, Mustang Motorsport is one of the only authorised Roush Performance distributors around, so if you want some Roush flavour for your Mustang, they’re your best bet.

I decided to opt for the Roush MM-R727 package, which is equivalent to what they would call the Stage 3 ROUSH package in the States. After seeing the MM-R727 absolutely smash the competition in the 2017 Ford Mustang Hot Tuner challenge, I just knew that that was exactly what I wanted.

So, what exactly did I get for my money? The first thing you’ll notice is the Roush body kit. Roush left no panel untouched when they designed this and the results are phenomenal. From front to back, Roush’s body kit package coupled with the stripes (which I reckon is a must-have when it comes to done-up Mustangs) makes an already aggressively styled car look properly villainous, especially in the hue of Magnetic Grey I chose. Seeing it for the first time, I got the impression that it was built to be in a feature film heavy on car chases scenes, which of course, sent the 10-year-old in me into a frenzy.

Inside, Roush has added a few special touches to make the Mustang’s cockpit just a bit more special to sit in. From the custom floor mats and illuminated sill plates to the simplistic gear knob and Roush build plaque stuck to the dash, it all works to make you feel like you’re driving something truly special.

Now, I’ll stop teasing you and get to the most important bit of kit you get with the MM-R727 package, and the main reason I opted for it. You might find this surprising, shocking even, but after driving the standard Mustang GT for a while the power from the naturally-aspirated 5.0L V8 started to feel a bit tame. 306kW is obviously nothing to sneeze at, but I was itching for more.

With the MM-R727 package you get Roush’s Phase 2 Supercharger Kit boosting the Mustang’s 5.0L V8 which gives you an ungodly 534kW at your disposal. To put that into perspective, that’s exactly 78kW from doubling the Mustang’s factory figure, which is still very impressive in its own right. The power is immediate, as is the nature with superchargers, and with that much power under my right foot, it makes for some pretty exciting times setting off the lights.

Roush also fettled with the exhaust, equipping the Mustang with their quad-tip Active exhaust. Which along with helping the supercharged V8 breathe better, also lets me tune the exhaust note between four modes. You get Touring, Sport, Track and Custom which let you choose anywhere between a don’t-wake-the-neighbours noise level to full-on tunnel run.

Of course, with all that power it’d be pretty stupid to leave the car’s handling abilities untouched. As part of the MM-R727 package, you get Shockworks 2-piece slotted rotors up front to compliment the Mustang’s enormous 6-pot Brembos. As for suspension, the MM-R727 equips the Mustang with Mustang Motorsport’s Shockworks fully-adjustable handling kit which not only drops the car lower the ground, but also transforms the car’s handling characteristics.

Traditionally with Mustangs, their ability to go around corners might have been considered somewhat of an afterthought. And with the amount of power that thing produces, you’d probably expect that taking this thing around a corner would be akin to something like wrestling an angry bear. But that’s where you’d be wrong. Thanks to the car’s handling upgrades, the MM-R727 goes exactly where you point it and gives you the confidence to keep pushing it around the bend without fear of veering into a tree. Which is something that I would’ve thought unheard of in a 534kW Mustang until I first took the ‘Stang out for a spin.

The Mustang’s tremendous handling ability also comes down a lot to tyre choice, which is why I opted to wrap the 20-inch wheels in Bridgestone Potenza S007A rubber. Its compound sits somewhere between a track and a performance street tyre in terms of softness, which translates into exceptional grip. And when you’ve got 534kW under the bonnet getting sent to the rear wheels, mountains of grip is exactly what you need.

The tyre offers an outstanding amount of feedback on where your grip levels are at any given moment, giving you the confidence to keep pushing it through the corners. When you start to feel the back end slide out, the tyres help you rectify the situation easily.

Since I primarily use the Mustang on the street, its on-road manners were of the utmost importance. And thankfully, the Potenzas are just as good putting around town as they were climbing through the twisties. At low speeds, the S007As ride extremely well, soaking up the bumps and produce absolutely minimal road noise – all the better when it comes time to open up the taps.

The Roush MM-R727 is a childhood dream fulfilled and turned up to eleven for me. Everything is done is such a way that makes sure that the car can keep up with such an enormous jump in power. But my favourite part about the car? The absolutely menacing road presence that this car possesses. You see a car like this in your rear-view and you move out of the way to get a better look. I find that happens a lot when I take it out, and I can’t say I know a better feeling than that. It’s essentially the perfect Mustang and she’s staying with me for life.

For more information on the Bridgestone Potenza S007A, click here

To view the rest of the ‘MY BUILD’ series, click here

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