Herrod mobilises forces
Mustang
man Rob Herrod has invested five years and more than 20 trips to the USA to ensure Ford fans get the right stuff as his performance push switches from the Falcon to the ’Stang. The result is closer ties to the factory, ADR compliance and streamlined logistics.
“I was made aware around five years ago that a big change was coming and to look forward to the Mustang hitting the shores of Australia in right-hand drive,” Herrod, the front man at Herrod Motorsport reveals to AMC.
“On average I would have been to the USA four times a year, building relationships.”
Those ties are now feeding a pipeline that will allow Mustang owners to inject something extra into their cars.
“The key to my work is building a car that is of original equipment quality and drives like a factory car, not a modified car. Plenty of people can build hot rod-style cars but not many can build cars that are like they came straight from the factory and look and drive like a factory car.
“Being a Ford Performance Part distributor has helped a lot when it comes to Mustang. Having a vehicle that is fully ADR compliant with warranty gives my customer peace of mind when it comes to re-sale and insuring.”
Herrod says his direct connection to Ford Performance Parts is the key component in a growing network of American connections.
“This, for me, was a major breakthrough as you cannot just open an international account with Ford Performance Parts. This took years of knocking on the door and now I feel and have been told I am part of the family. To have the technical support and back up from the factory parts engineers is a real bonus.”
Herrod Performance has developed a range of packages for the Mustang, from mild to wild.
“For the 2016 Ford Mustang GT 5.0 at we are doing a compliance and warranty pack, consisting of a Ford Performance supercharger kit, with the Ford Performance calibration, a Ford Performance compliance cat-back exhaust system, a Ford Performance lowered spring set, as well as a set of the Ford racing bonnets struts.
“When it’s all fitted in-house at Herrod Performance, the vehicle will then have warranty from Ford Performance USA for the driveline modifications and if we do the work before the vehicle is registered it will become a tagged Herrod Mustang, as it is complied with the necessary ADR requirements.”
The price of the package is $21,500, and Herrod says the supercharger lifts engine output from 306 to 490 kiloWatts, or 435 to 670 horsepower.
“Testing has seen a 12.1 second run, at 198km/h, in the quarter mile,” Herrod says.
Early interest in the Mustang upgrade package is strong and Herrod expects it to grow over the life of the car.
“In the past two months we have built over 15 vehicles and have over another 20 customers waiting on their vehicles for our compliance supercharger package.
“We have cars being sent from as far as WA where Australian fast bowler Mitchell Johnson has sent his car to us. We have cars from Newcastle, Canberra, Sydney and Adelaide.”
But Herrod is yet to shift his program into top gear.
“At the moment we are working through wordof-mouth and have not approached Ford dealers. We are letting them approach us.
“I feel it can only grow, as we are the only company with true ADR compliance and about to receive second-stage vehicle manufacturer status so our vehicles can be sent straight to us to be modified and fitted with a compliance plate to register the vehicle.”