WE’LL TELL IT STRAIGHT

Our

test drive of the Mustang R-Spec takes place at The Bend circuit in South Australia. Its Supercars layout features 18 corners but for our purposes it might just as well be called The Straight — because that is where the Mustang RSpec shines.

Hauling past the pits at well in excess of 200km/h, the big coupe feels mighty as you work the heavy-duty manual transmission through the gears.

A throaty roar fills its compact cabin, and there is a surprising lack of whine from its supercharger as we race toward the first corner.

There’s no doubt this is a fast car yet it doesn’t feel as quick as other 500kW-plus machines.

Part of that is because it’s much heavier than a McLaren or Ferrari but also because the engine outputs are limited in the first three gears.

Owners need to take their car to the redline in fourth gear to experience the grunt they’ve paid for. And that involves doubling the highway speed limit. Even with carefully managed outputs, the rear Michelins struggle to contain the thrust.

You pitch the car in on impressive Brembo brakes, then attack corners with more pace than the regular Mustang thanks to lower, stiffer suspension with reworked shocks and adjustable anti-roll bars. Then wait patiently to deploy awesome power.

This Mustang is something of a skunkworks project, a passion project by a small group of engineers rather than a mega-dollar effort by one of the world’s largest makers. So you can forgive a slightly tricky gearshift and grabby traction control that hasn’t been recalibrated to match its power. Taming the Mustang is part of its appeal.